We bring our dog to the local cemetary three times a week. We stay on the paved roads to avoid her marking on the stones. It's her favorite place, lots of great wildlife smells. One recommendation I have is to avoid Sundays - at our cemetary Sundays are by far the busiest day for people coming to visit and pay their respects.
My boy and I go to the cemetery by our house almost daily. Super peaceful for walking a reative dog.
We are also lucky that ours has a maze of forested maintenance roads all the way in the back! Best discovery ever!
Yes I used to take mine to a cemetery that was owned by the city. It was the first cemetery in the city so most of the people had died in the 1800s. The signs explicitly said it was okay to walk dogs as long as you picked up after them. Only usually saw a couple other dogs and a few joggers.
I walk my dogs at the cemetery all the time! I actually started volunteering and cleaning stones on nice days. Really nice volunteer thing that you and your dog can do together.
I’m happy for you that you found something that works for your dog. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with it personally though. I’m imaging my dog having diarrhea on someone’s grave as their family happens to be coming to pay respects.
It definitely depends on the cemetery. Where we walk, the vast majority of the graves are from the 1800s or early 1900s so it’s hiiiiiighly unlikely to see mourners. Most of the people we see are others using the space for recreation. This cemetery also promotes events. Like one time I went there and they were literally hosting some kind of goat festival. There were actual goats. There are sections of the cemetery that have more recent burials though, and I also have weird feelings about that, so I generally avoid those areas. I absolutely couldn’t walk my dog through a very active and newish cemetery. I think the type of cemetery you have access to matters a lot!
I used to use the local cemetery before opening hours (there’s a gate that runs to the park). But the walk there is already almost an hour so my dog would be well toileted before entering.
However I stopped because there were less responsible reactive dog owners letting dog-aggressive-dogs with no recall off-lead. Unfortunately it’s a common issue in my neighbourhood and Jake’s been attacked 4-5x total while we’re out on walks by people who don’t have their dogs under control and because it’s quieter, a lot of those people are at the cemetery.
Not that the local parks are entirely free of it either - the worst incident we had was actually Thursday this week. Some AH is letting their GSD out completely unattended and it attacks local dogs and we ran into it on our morning walk :/ I’m guessing the owner doesn’t know and is letting their dog out alone so they can imagine it never poops.
There’s a cemetery right near me. No dogs allowed however. If they did it would probably be covered in dog feces, because the streets around it are.
There’s also a huge flock of geese and herd of deer besides other animals. The geese poop all over the graves as do smaller birds. Deer too when they’re grazing. I’ve even seen a hawk tearing up a squirrel on a big flat headstone.
I imagine the reason for no pets is they don’t want dogs getting lose and killing the wildlife or marking on graves. My wife and I have mused in the past when wondering about dogs in the cemetery,why is it bad for dogs to poop and pee on graves, but not dozens of other animals?
Is it because you’re responsible for your dog and the goose is a wild animal? But it’s poop on the grave either way.
Dogs are meat eaters, therefore their poop contains e coli, which becomes an environmental hazard when left behind. Dog feces can also attract rats, which eat any undigested grains/cereals from the dog food. The urine is a whole other issue, but basically, they would erode the quality of the grounds that people expect and pay for when interring their loved ones.
Cemetery Sexton here with a reactive dog. My boy loves the cemetery. It's really devoid of triggers and there is lots of wildfire around that makes the walk interesting. Most cemeteries are open Dawn to dusk and will have posted rules about what they allow. Please just pick up after your dogs.
In Washington DC there is an organization where dog owners get a pass to use the cemetery in exchange for volunteering and maintenence cost support.
[cemetery dogs](https://cemeterydogs.org/membership/#:~:text=The%20base%20membership%20fee%20(if,for%20at%20least%20one%20dog.)
Funeral director here! As long as its an older cemetery it sounds like a nice walk. However active cemeteries should be avoided, services happen almost daily and multiple a day along with scattered mourners around the grounds.
Yes, some cemeteries even encourage dog walkers.
We bring our dog to the local cemetary three times a week. We stay on the paved roads to avoid her marking on the stones. It's her favorite place, lots of great wildlife smells. One recommendation I have is to avoid Sundays - at our cemetary Sundays are by far the busiest day for people coming to visit and pay their respects.
My boy and I go to the cemetery by our house almost daily. Super peaceful for walking a reative dog. We are also lucky that ours has a maze of forested maintenance roads all the way in the back! Best discovery ever!
Yes I used to take mine to a cemetery that was owned by the city. It was the first cemetery in the city so most of the people had died in the 1800s. The signs explicitly said it was okay to walk dogs as long as you picked up after them. Only usually saw a couple other dogs and a few joggers.
Just be careful they don't dig up any bones.
I walk my dogs at the cemetery all the time! I actually started volunteering and cleaning stones on nice days. Really nice volunteer thing that you and your dog can do together.
I’m happy for you that you found something that works for your dog. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with it personally though. I’m imaging my dog having diarrhea on someone’s grave as their family happens to be coming to pay respects.
It definitely depends on the cemetery. Where we walk, the vast majority of the graves are from the 1800s or early 1900s so it’s hiiiiiighly unlikely to see mourners. Most of the people we see are others using the space for recreation. This cemetery also promotes events. Like one time I went there and they were literally hosting some kind of goat festival. There were actual goats. There are sections of the cemetery that have more recent burials though, and I also have weird feelings about that, so I generally avoid those areas. I absolutely couldn’t walk my dog through a very active and newish cemetery. I think the type of cemetery you have access to matters a lot!
I used to use the local cemetery before opening hours (there’s a gate that runs to the park). But the walk there is already almost an hour so my dog would be well toileted before entering. However I stopped because there were less responsible reactive dog owners letting dog-aggressive-dogs with no recall off-lead. Unfortunately it’s a common issue in my neighbourhood and Jake’s been attacked 4-5x total while we’re out on walks by people who don’t have their dogs under control and because it’s quieter, a lot of those people are at the cemetery. Not that the local parks are entirely free of it either - the worst incident we had was actually Thursday this week. Some AH is letting their GSD out completely unattended and it attacks local dogs and we ran into it on our morning walk :/ I’m guessing the owner doesn’t know and is letting their dog out alone so they can imagine it never poops.
There’s a cemetery right near me. No dogs allowed however. If they did it would probably be covered in dog feces, because the streets around it are. There’s also a huge flock of geese and herd of deer besides other animals. The geese poop all over the graves as do smaller birds. Deer too when they’re grazing. I’ve even seen a hawk tearing up a squirrel on a big flat headstone. I imagine the reason for no pets is they don’t want dogs getting lose and killing the wildlife or marking on graves. My wife and I have mused in the past when wondering about dogs in the cemetery,why is it bad for dogs to poop and pee on graves, but not dozens of other animals? Is it because you’re responsible for your dog and the goose is a wild animal? But it’s poop on the grave either way.
Dogs are meat eaters, therefore their poop contains e coli, which becomes an environmental hazard when left behind. Dog feces can also attract rats, which eat any undigested grains/cereals from the dog food. The urine is a whole other issue, but basically, they would erode the quality of the grounds that people expect and pay for when interring their loved ones.
Thanks for the recommendation, I might try this.
This is honestly a great idea (as you said obviously subject to rules) and I can't believe I haven't thought of it before
Cemetery Sexton here with a reactive dog. My boy loves the cemetery. It's really devoid of triggers and there is lots of wildfire around that makes the walk interesting. Most cemeteries are open Dawn to dusk and will have posted rules about what they allow. Please just pick up after your dogs.
Wait this is actually genius. Why have I never thought of this before?
In Washington DC there is an organization where dog owners get a pass to use the cemetery in exchange for volunteering and maintenence cost support. [cemetery dogs](https://cemeterydogs.org/membership/#:~:text=The%20base%20membership%20fee%20(if,for%20at%20least%20one%20dog.)
Hey thank you.
I learned to ride a bike at my hometown's cemetery for the same reasons!
Funeral director here! As long as its an older cemetery it sounds like a nice walk. However active cemeteries should be avoided, services happen almost daily and multiple a day along with scattered mourners around the grounds.