Homemade Pet Memorial Tribute Idea

by Texas Homesteader ~

Saying goodbye to a beloved pet is never easy, but as a pet owner it’s a path that you’ll probably experience for yourself at some point (if you haven’t already). Our pets become part of our family and when they pass it’s heartbreaking.

Many people like to create a simple tribute at the burial site for their pets as a final keepsake. Come see what we did to honor our beloved pet.

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

Our Ranch Dog Bailey

Most of you know we adopted a mini-schnauzer from an animal shelter many years ago. We named her Bailey.

Sadly she’d been abused mightily by her previous caretakers. It took several years before Bailey was able to even begin to overcome her fears. But over time she healed emotionally.

She was a pure joy to us and we worked hard to give her the best and happiest life experience possible here on the Homestead, especially after the hard life she’d endured previously.

She had 100 acres to explore alongside us as we went about our chores. There were rabbits for her to chase and grasshoppers to stalk. She didn’t stand a chance catching the rabbits but oh how she loved the chase!

Wherever we were, she was at our side. She enjoyed romping in the pastures with RancherMan to check on the cattle or hanging out with me in the garden.

She was part of our everyday lives and was right there with us wherever we went. We loved her, and she loved us.

As she got older the walks became shorter since she didn’t have the energy she once had. Her sight was dimming and her hearing nearly gone.

Even though there were fewer and shorter walks in the pasture, she spent lots of time right there in my lap. We were always together.

But when she got very old there came a time when her little body just couldn’t go on. With many tears there came the heartbreaking time when we had to say goodbye to our beloved Bailey Girl.

RancherMan & I were both devastated to lose her. So we decided to make a lasting memorial as a tribute to our beloved pet Ms. Bailey. Here’s what we did:

Pet Tribute Idea: Finding A Pet Silhouette

Her final resting place was beneath to a tree, a place where she would many times lay in the shade watching me in the garden or relished in chasing rabbits.

I found a *Metal Schnauzer Silhouette Garden Stake online and placed it on her gravesite. They’re sold in several different breeds, but this Schnauzer silhouette was truly the perfect image of our sweet Bailey.

Although I loved the Schnauzer garden stake placed at her final resting place, I wanted a marker too.

It’s recommended that you allow the ground to settle from several months to a year before topping the pet burial location with a marker. After that time RancherMan & I made plans for adding a stone marker.

Using A Concrete Mold For A Decorative Marker For A Pet Memorial

For Bailey’s marker I decided to use a decorative *Concrete Mold Template to make various pretty round-topped stones. It was very easy to do:

Prepare The Ground. Level the area to prepare for pouring concrete.

Place Concrete Template. Lay the concrete template where desired. (NOTE: some say you need to spray the inside of the template with oil to get it to release the concrete when you remove the mold, but we didn’t and it worked just fine.)

RancherMan drove a small piece of rebar at the back of our template so that he could reinforce our metal Schnauzer silhouette when it was placed within the marker.

Mix Concrete. In a large container no smaller than 5-gallon bucket (larger is better), mix concrete until it’s about the texture of very thick cake batter. Don’t make the concrete too thin or it might not hold its shape.

Remove Air Pockets. After the concrete is added into the mold, tap concrete with the flat side of a trowel or your hands to make sure any air pockets are filled. (make sure you’re wearing rubber gloves to protect your skin)

Allow Concrete To Settle. Allow concrete mold to stay in place at least 10 minutes before removing. You want the concrete to be settled enough to stay in place when you remove the concrete mold. But waiting too long you could run the risk of the concrete sticking to the template or the unused concrete in the bucket beginning to set up before you can make additional stones.

Option To Make Marker Larger. If a larger marker is desired you can place the now-empty mold onto an adjoining space. (We made ours just one 17″ x 17″ template size.)

Add Embellishments. While the concrete was still wet I inserted the metal stakes of my mini-schnauzer silhouette into the concrete.

Allow Concrete To Cure. Now just allow the concrete to cure and harden for several days, a week or more is preferable.

Easy Accents For A Stone Marker

The concrete template shape results stones that look rounded and natural. But there are other ways to accent your cement stones:

*Cement Colorant Powder – There are several natural colors to choose from, just mix the powder into your cement before pouring the colored cement into the mold.

*Concrete Stain – Semi-transparent color to brush onto your finished concrete ‘stones’.

*Customized Dog Tags – Some people use their pet’s existing tags but others like to order a special customized tag to include more sentimental information. We considered pressing Bailey’s dog tags into the cement but decided on another option.

Customized Pet Memorial Plaques

There are other ways to personalize your pet’s memorial too. Many people like to add a *Customized Pet Memorial Plaque. You can add whatever sentiment you like, whatever brings you and your family comfort.

Adorning The Pet Memorial With Pet Collar

I decided to use Bailey’s red collar and personalized tags on the pet tribute. RancherMan fitted the circumference of her collar to work well with the monument. I love the way it looks.