Dog Chapel - St. Johnsbury, VT - Waychapels on Waymarking.com

In St. Johnsbury, off US Route 2, is the Dog Chapel.

The chapel is located within a space called Dog Mountain. From St. Johnsbury, go west on U.S. Route 2 about a mile to Spaulding Road on the left (north) - there is a 3-D sign visible from the road. Follow Spaulding Road to the sign on the left and follow that road a short distance to the entrance to the parking lot and the gallery and chapel nearby.

You will walk around the gallery first. The chapel is the building with a short spire and a sign with the words:

"Welcome All Breeds
All Creeds
No Dogmas Allowed"

It is a white building with white chapboard siding that has two clear sections - the sanctuary and a foyer. The two sections of roof are peaked and is metal. The end under the spire has three doors - two for humans and a very short one for medium and small dogs.

The first room you enter is an open space that has a door to the next room. The walls inside are covered with photos and notes. There is a book you can sign on a table. The walls are covered with notes and images in the next room, as well. On either side are benches that have the figures of sitting dogs at the ends. At the front are more wooden sculptures and people. There are stained glass windows on the sides and front that continue the dog theme.

Back to the gallery, there is a table and rug where cats have a place of honor - it still doesn't measure up to the dogs' chapel.

From the web site for Dog Mountain, as quoted from Stephen Huneck founder:

". . . I pondered the rituals we perform when a person dies, such as throwing a handful of dirt on the lowered casket to symbolize that the person has passed on, which helps bring closure for the living. Since dogs are family members, too, I thought it would be wonderful if we could create a ritual space to help achieve closure and lessen the pain when we lose a beloved dog. . .

But for months I couldn't get the idea of the Dog Chapel out of my mind. I wanted to build a chapel in the style of an 1820s Vermont church on Dog Mountain, our mountaintop farm. I wanted it to fit into the landscape, as if it had always been there. . .

When you visit the Dog Chapel you are totally enveloped with messages of love. It is a very moving experience - sad, certainly, but also uplifting - to see how much everyone cherishes his or her dog. Grieving for a lost dog is one aspect of the Dog Chapel, but equally important is celebrating the joy of living and the bond between dogs and their owners. I wanted people and dogs to have the most fun they possibly could. To this end, I have put in hiking trails, ponds for dogs to swim in, and an agility course for them to play on. . ."

Source of quote:
(visit link)

Donations are gratefully accepted, but not required - or buy something from the gallery. There is also a fitness area on the property, as well as trails that you can walk on with your dob.

Web site:
(visit link)

Visit Instructions:
• Include a photo of the Waychapel if possible.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/09/2018 Mychell visited it