Pet Memorial Stones

A memorial stone is the one keepsake that lives where they used to be. In the garden they patrolled, under the tree they slept beneath, beside the back step where they waited for you. It sits outside in the weather the way they did, and it gives that spot their name back.

Every stone here is made to order with your pet's name, their years, and on most of them a favorite photo. Personalization is included, so the price you see is the price with their name on it. Standard shipping in the US is free on orders over $75 and takes 8 to 12 business days, with a faster option at checkout if you need it sooner.

Not sure where to start?

Three pieces cover most of what people are looking for. Each one is personalized with their name and their years.

Slate Pet Memorial Plaque with Photo$59.99Real slate with a natural edge, printed with their photo, their name, their years and up to seven short lines you write yourself. Two stands are included, so it works on a shelf or a mantel. Choose a paw with wings, a heart and paw, a cat angel or a dog angel. Personalized Slate Pet Grave Marker$44.99Real slate with a chiselled edge, laser engraved with their name, their years and one line of your own. The lettering is cut into the stone rather than printed on it, so there is nothing to fade, and it is built to stay outside through rain, sun and frost. Personalized Dog Memorial Stone$59.99A real stone, roughly 3 by 5 inches, sourced in Colorado and printed with their photo at high resolution in UV ink. It is water and UV resistant, so it holds up outdoors, and it arrives in a wooden box you can leave as it is or decorate yourself. Every stone is a different shape, which is the point. In Loving Memory Pet Stone$17.99A garden marker cast in resin to look and feel like natural stone, in a heart or a natural stone shape and two sizes. It is lightweight and waterproof, which makes it the easiest one to place outside and the gentlest on a budget.

More Ways to Remember Them

A stone is one way. These are the others, in case something here fits better than a stone does.

Stone, Slate, or a Garden Marker

These three look similar in a photo and behave very differently in real life. The right one depends almost entirely on where you plan to put it.

Natural stone, for outside

A real stone is heavy, irregular, and completely at home in a garden bed. No two are the same shape, so it never looks manufactured. Photos are printed into the surface with ultraviolet ink, which is what makes them water and UV resistant rather than something that fades in one summer. Choose this if it is going outdoors and staying there.

Slate, indoors or engraved for the garden

Slate is flat, dark, and takes fine detail. A PRINTED slate piece, like our photo plaques, belongs indoors on a mantel, a bookshelf or a desk, which is why those come with stands. An ENGRAVED slate piece is a different thing: the lettering is cut into the stone with no ink to wash off, so our slate grave marker is made to live outside year round.

A resin garden marker, for the easy option

Cast resin is molded to look like stone and weighs a fraction of what real stone does. That matters more than it sounds. It is simple to move when you mow, simple to bring inside for a hard winter, and simple to reposition when the garden changes. It is also the least expensive way to mark the spot.

A short answer

Going in the garden and staying there, choose the engraved slate marker, a natural stone, or the resin garden marker. Going on a shelf or a mantel where you will see it daily, choose a printed slate plaque. There is no wrong answer here and plenty of people end up with more than one.

What to Have Engraved

This is the part people sit with the longest. It helps to know that short almost always reads better than long. A stone is small and it is read from a few feet away, so one plain sentence carries more than a paragraph does.

Start with their name and their years. That alone is enough, and a lot of people stop there. If you want a line underneath, the ones that land are specific to your animal rather than general about grief. Something only your family would know.

Lines that work

“Smokey. 2005 to 2021. Our best good boy.”

“She waited at the window every single day.”

“Fourteen years of the very best company.”

“Our girl. Always right under the kitchen table.”

“You were never just a cat.”

“Thank you for every single walk.”

“He picked us, and he never changed his mind.”

Each of those is under 50 characters, which is about the working limit on a stone before the lettering has to shrink. The slate plaque holds more, up to seven short lines, so it is the one to choose if you have something longer to say.

Two small things worth checking before you order. Decide whether you want their years or the full dates, because families differ on this and it cannot be changed afterwards. And read the name out loud the way you actually said it. Plenty of stones come back reading Maximilian when the dog was only ever called Max.

Where People Put Them

There is no convention to follow, which is freeing once you stop looking for one. These are the places people choose most often.

Where they are buried. The most common reason people buy a stone. It marks the spot so it does not get disturbed, and so everyone in the house knows where it is.

Their spot in the yard. The patch of sun they lay in, the corner they guarded, the fence line they walked. Marking that spot works even when there is nothing buried there.

Under a tree or in a flower bed. A stone tucked into planting looks intentional rather than sad. Plenty of people plant something new at the same time and let the two grow in together.

By the back door. For dogs especially, the door they waited at is the spot that feels most like them. A smaller marker sits well against a step or a wall.

Inside, with the ashes. If you have their ashes at home, a slate plaque next to the urn keeps the two things together and gives the shelf a purpose rather than just a container.

Somewhere you can visit. If you rent, or expect to move, choose something light. A resin marker or a slate piece with stands can go with you. A heavy stone in a garden you leave behind is a second loss you do not need.

There Is No Right Time

Some people order a stone the same week. Others find the box of collars two years later and decide then. Both are normal, and neither one says anything about how much the animal was loved.

If you are ordering in the first few days and you are not sure what to write, order the piece and take your time over the wording. If you are ordering years later, you are not late. A stone placed long afterwards often means more, because by then you know exactly which line about them is the true one.

How Much to Spend

Price here tracks the material and the size rather than the sentiment. All three tiers are personalized with their name.

Around $18. The resin garden marker. Weatherproof, easy to place, and the right choice if you want to mark the spot without thinking about it too hard. Also the usual choice when someone is buying several, for instance for a family that lost two animals close together.

Around $40. A slate photo plaque with a stand. This is where a photograph enters the picture, and for most people that is the jump worth paying for. It works indoors or in a sheltered spot outside.

Around $60. Real natural stone, or our slate plaque with photo, name, years, a message and an icon. These are the pieces people keep for decades and the ones to choose if this is the one memorial you are going to have.

If You Are Buying This for Someone Else

Buying a memorial stone for a friend is a kind instinct and it comes with one real risk, which is choosing wording that is yours rather than theirs. The safest version is their pet's name and years and nothing more. It is complete on its own and it leaves them nothing to wince at.

Use the name they used. If the dog was Bear to everyone but Barnaby on the paperwork, engrave Bear. If you are not certain of the years, a stone with only the name is better than a stone with a wrong date on it.

If you want to read more before deciding, our guide to pet sympathy gifts covers what helps and what to avoid, and twelve ways to memorialize a dog or cat has options beyond a stone.

Questions People Ask

Will the photo fade outdoors?
On the natural stones and the slate photo plaque, the image is printed with ultraviolet ink and is UV and water resistant, which is what keeps it from bleaching out in a season. Nothing outdoors lasts forever untouched, so if you want it at its best for as long as possible, a spot with some shade helps.

Can it stay out through winter?
The resin garden marker and the natural stones are made to. The slate pieces are indoor keepsakes and should stay inside, so if you want something that lives in the garden year round, choose a stone or the garden marker.

How big are they?
The natural stones are roughly 3 by 5 inches, which is hand sized rather than headstone sized. The resin marker comes in two sizes. People are often surprised these are smaller than they pictured, and then glad, because a small stone in a flower bed looks right where a large one looks like a grave.

Can I put two pets on one stone?
On the slate plaque, yes. It holds a photo plus up to seven short lines, which is enough for two names and two sets of years. On the smaller stones, one name reads much better than two.

What if I do not have a good photo?
Choose a piece that is name and years only. The resin garden marker is engraved rather than printed and needs no photo at all. A stone with a blurry photo on it is the one thing people tend to regret.

How long until it arrives?
Standard shipping in the US takes 8 to 12 business days and is free over $75. There is a faster option at checkout. If the stone is for a service or a burial on a set date, choose the faster option and order with room to spare.

Where to Find Support

A keepsake helps with the spot in the garden. It does not do much for three in the morning. If you are struggling, these are real services staffed by people who do this specific work, and none of them cost anything.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Runs a pet loss support hotline staffed by trained veterinary students, with current hours and the number listed on their pet loss resources page.

The ASPCA. Offers pet loss grief support along with clear guidance on end of life decisions, collected on their end of life care page.

The American Veterinary Medical Association. Keeps a plain, well written set of pet loss resources, including help with talking to children about a death and with deciding when it is time.

One piece of advice worth passing on if there are children in the house. Grief counsellors generally suggest saying the animal died, rather than that it went to sleep or was put to sleep, because the gentler words can make children afraid of sleep or of the vet. Cornell's page above has a section on children and pet loss if you want to read further.

Every stone here is made to order with their name on it. Standard US shipping is free over $75 and takes 8 to 12 business days, and there is a faster option at checkout. If you are not sure which piece is right, start with where it is going to sit, and the rest of the decision usually makes itself.