I found this email I received to be kinda strange. I've never heard of it being done.

"I have a really close friend that lost her dog that she loved and misses very much.
She wants to make a pillow out of her pelt that a taxidermist who was able to give her from the pet.
However, the taxidermist could not or would not doing the pillow making for her.
Can you or the company make a pillow using the pelt if the pelt were sent to you?
If I knew how to sew and had the equipment, I would do it myself."

That’s definitely odd. I’ve lost some good ones but dang that’s creepy.

Commercial trade in dog or cat fur is illegal. Does that apply when crafting one for someone else for money? I have no idea.

So the taxidermist skinned the dog but wouldn't make a pillow out of it?

If it has been tanned it looks like easy money for someone that has the ability craft a pillow out of it

Our local taxidermist has been known to freeze dry mount a couple of pets for folks.

I have a book on taxidermy that basically forbids it. It is an old book but it warns that you cannot capture the emotions and relationship you have with a beloved pet by preserving any part of their physical body. That isn’t the purpose of taxidermy. Should be for trophy/ memory or science…like museum pieces.

Yes I agree, it is creepy to want that done.
I have had clients in the past who refused to bury their deceased pet, put them in the freezer and would occasionally take them out and sit with them on the couch. That is insane behavior and very disrespectful towards your pet. Let them rest in peace

Our beliefs on morning after loss are really :developed tradition and Mundane compared to much of the world.
...to me it's odd; to them- not

At the outdoor show in Harrisburg PA ,
There was a taxidermy display of a full mount beagle , running a full mount rabbit ,
I thought it very well done , but it drew a lot of mixed emotions..

Who ever owned that dog has a mental problem. There is nothing wrong with missing the dog and wishing it was the good old days, but it is dead they need to figure that out.

Something like this?

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HEQus1iVa9o?feature=share[/video]

Any possibility it’s an anti? Sounds a little hinky to me.

I wouldn't have a problem making a pillow out of it for her.

D C, you mentioned that commerce in pet parts is illegal. Can you cite that? If it is a federal law then she would have to have it made in her State and not send it across State lines.

If it is illegal, the way you could tell if she is a anti trying to entrap you, is to offer to make it for free. If she declines, then that would make me suspicious.

That's really Strange.

Late 90's I sent some feral cats to NAFA via UPS in Stoughton. They were not happy. I figured I could still get a buck or so for them. I thought cat skins were still the preferred drum skin for banjos.

I always said I was going to have my GSD tanned when she kicked it

2 things stopped me

first she was shedding bad loosing clumps of hair very near the end so it wasn't the beautiful coat she had always had
90# and she would have graded very well any year before she kicked it at 14-15

the second my wife said no

she also kicked it while I was away hunting

I had actually gotten the idea from the Polish cabin at Old World WI where the prized family dog had been tanned and used as the trim on the overcoat.

you know waste not , everything can have a second use.

Why not I’ve seen people take small dogs to taxidermy to immortalize them , not for me but whatever floats one’s boat

When I was a kid we moved into a new house and my mom went over to introduce herself to the neighbor- he was skinning a poodle for a lady that wanted it mounted- that young man became an ornithologist and worked for the Milwaukee County Zoo. She was creeped out.

think about it this way , owner is in their 80-90s not doing great and was always comforted by having the dog lay on their lap or next to them, not going to start a new puppy no energy for that would probably trip on a puppy and break a hip or might have had to move into the assisted living already.

it would depend a bunch on the story , set expectations low as you don't know what condition the fur is in or if it is blue , the hair might slip , not having done domestic dogs before.

if it isn't illegal in whatever state that person or you are in , I don't see why not.

I would suggest just skin and tan and felt back rather than a pillow

Eh I could see someone that had a dog that liked to lay on the couch wanting a pillow to sit on the couch. Not too crazy is it?

Think of how many people would think our sheds were crazy. lol.

Pete- did you hang out in Plainfield Wisconsin as a kid