How Can I Be Sure My Beardie Has Passed?

My 8 year old beardie Shade was diagnosed with cancer back in Feb. ( made a previous post about it, he made a remarkable recovery btw ), but I believe I just witnessed him have a seizure and pass. He's been a bit lethargic lately but I thought nothing of it because he seems to go through periods of fatigue and then periods of lots of energy. His tank is in my room and I got up after a long nap to check him and watched him open his mouth and wriggle to one side and then proceed to do it on the other side all while seemingly digging his face into the ground while doing it. Then he went slack with his mouth open. That scared me so I picked him up and he was totally limp, I tried syringing him some water and he took it, but now his jaw is totally slack and won't shut. He's an old boy and with cancer I knew he wouldn't be around much longer ( especially coming from a pet shop and not a breeder ). I tried to flip him to the side a bit to see if he'd correct himself and he's very unresponsive, I just feel a little helpless in this situation.

If Shade has passed, I really don't know what to do with his body. I have a large dog and I'm nervous he'd try and dig up whatever we would burry Shade in, and I don't want to just throw out his body.

Thanks so much

Once you're sure he's gone (I'm sorry), you can still bury him if you choose to. Just place something heavy like a cinderblock on top of the site, and that should be enough to prevent your dog from digging him up. You can also try sprinkling cayenne pepper on and around it. Your dog will find that scent less than enticing.

I'm sorry to hear this =(. If he isn't responding if you flip him over in your hand or if you touch his eyelids then he is probably gone. A vet office may be able to cremate him or know someone who can if you don't want to bury his body as it is. In addition to the idea of using a cinder block (or cement) to protect him from being dug up, you could encase him in something like a pot with a lid you can seal up with caulk or similar and then bury that.