An outdoor memorial for your pet, made for Dublin
By our estimate, about 18,000 households in Dublin have a dog or cat, and roughly 1,500 of those pets are lost each year. Many end up remembered with a stone in a garden bed; here's how to choose one that lasts.
- Wording that fits a small stone
- Flush, raised or with an ashes compartment
- No pressure: a stone can wait until you're ready
Dublin, Ohio
Local makers and practical limits in Dublin
Because a lot of Dublin households came here for jobs and may move again, memorials that pack easily are popular. A handsome urn for a bookcase, a pendant with a pinch of ash, a nose print pressed into clay: each goes wherever the family goes. When a grown child who lives out of state also wants a share, confirm the total volume with your provider before choosing sizes.
A bio urn paired with a native sapling, perhaps a flowering dogwood, a serviceberry or a swamp white oak, suits a Dublin backyard. The Irish heritage the city celebrates also draws some families to plant a small ornamental tree in a shady corner. Plant in April or October, water deeply every week of the first summer, and check your HOA's front-yard rules first.
In a town the size of Dublin, there may be no monument company at all, and that's fine. Online makers ship small stones anywhere, and a larger center such as Columbus usually has a monument company that will engrave a pet marker. Rural makers are sometimes the most flexible: many will cut a small marker from leftover granite if you ask directly.
Dublin is home to about 49,094 people, the 18th-largest of the 106 Ohio communities we cover. Columbus, roughly 13 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Dublin run from there.
Families in Dublin often end up using a provider from Powell (5 miles), Hilliard (5 miles) and Upper Arlington (7 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
18,000
Dublin: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
49,094 ÷ 2.5 = 19,638 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 18,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
1,500
Estimated dog and cat losses in Dublin each year
How we calculated this
18,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,500 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
To check the figures yourself, see Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
Burial, cremation and headstones in Ohio
In Ohio, about 59.1%[5] of people are cremated and the rest are mostly buried, so both traditions are familiar. That balance shows in pet memorials too: some families here bury their pet whole in the yard and mark it with a flat granite stone, while others bury ashes under a smaller marker or keep them in a stone with a sealed compartment.
That Ohio rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Dublin only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
When to install, and what the seasons do to stone
Think about where the snow goes in Dublin. From January, February, March and December, the piles from a shovel, snowblower or plow sit longest and melt last, leaving a stone in slush for weeks. Place the memorial away from the edges of drives and paths, and never chip ice off it with a metal shovel, which can nick polished edges.
Order in winter and set in spring is a good rhythm for Dublin. Mortar and construction adhesive don't cure properly in the cold, and January lows around 21°F are far below what they need. If your stone has a separate base or a glued plaque, ask the maker to assemble it in the workshop rather than on a cold day in your yard.
What a pet memorial stone costs in Dublin
Pet cemeteries price very differently from garden stones. By our estimate, the median starting burial price across 15 US pet cemeteries is ~$600[6], and a small pet's whole-body burial across five posted price lists comes to ~$350[7], often before any marker. One natural burial ground charges $250 for a boulder headstone, with engraving from $670[8]. A stone for a Dublin garden avoids those extras.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Ohio: Ohio costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Burial, HOA and cemetery rules in Ohio
If you own your home, you can usually place a garden stone wherever you like; the stricter rules concern burying a body, not marking a spot. If you rent, ask your landlord before burying anything or setting a stone in concrete, and choose a stone you can lift and take with you. Below are the burial and scattering notes we have for Ohio.
Not sure which office covers Dublin? The Ohio local government directory is the official list.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Ohio level first; our Ohio rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Dublin or your HOA adds anything.
Ordering a pet memorial stone, step by step
- Let your child help choose the spot. A place they can get to by themselves, or look at from their bedroom, tends to mean more to a child than any adult would guess.
- Start with a stone they decorate themselves. A smooth river rock and some weatherproof paint pens keep a child busy and included when the loss is freshest.
- Ask them for one word or line to include. Years on, it's usually the child's own phrase that the whole family holds dearest.
- Show them the proof before you approve it, and let them check the spelling of the pet's name letter by letter.
- Keep the homemade stone next to the carved marker, or move it inside onto a shelf after the permanent one goes in.
- Give each child a job on the day: one carries the marker, one arranges pebbles around the edge, one waters whatever you plant beside it. Our guides have more ideas.
More ways to remember your pet in Dublin
Many Dublin neighborhoods have homeowners' associations with rules about what can go in a yard. A low, flat stone tucked into an established planting bed usually passes without any fuss, whereas a statue or upright marker might not. Central Ohio's freeze-thaw winters split cheap concrete, so granite, slate or a piece of Ohio sandstone is the better long-term choice for a garden spot.
read our guides and latest articles, use the free tools before you ring anyone, Every option Dublin families choose between is on the services page, or look at how readers voted in our polls. If you live between Dublin and Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton and Akron, either page applies. Every other community in Ohio, and all of the United States, is listed too.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
What feels like the right amount to spend on a garden stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Which stone would you choose for your pet's marker?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Memorial stone planner
Plan size, material and engraving length so your wording fits the stone.
Memorial tree finder
Pick a tree for a planting urn that suits your climate, space and pet.
Questions people ask
Will I have to travel to Columbus to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Columbus (roughly 13 miles from Dublin) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
How do Ohio attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Ohio human cremation rate at about 59.1%[5]. We show it on the Dublin page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
Does the Dublin climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 85°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Dublin?
Usually yes. Powell is about 5 miles away, Hilliard is about 5 miles away and Upper Arlington is about 7 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Can I bury my pet in my backyard in Dublin and put a stone on it?
In many places you can bury a pet on land you own, with rules about depth and distance from water, but cities and homeowners' associations can be stricter. Check the local notes on this page and your HOA rules. A stone marking the grave rarely needs any permission of its own once the burial itself is allowed.
Is it too late to get a stone for a pet who died years ago?
Not at all. Many families order a stone months or years later, once they know where they'll settle or when the grief has softened enough to choose words. If you're not sure exactly where your pet was buried, a stone can mark the general area or a spot in the garden they loved.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Ohio's cremation rate at 59.1% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Across 15 US pet cemeteries' posted starting burial prices, the median entry price was about $600. Our estimate: median of starting prices [400,185,300,550,575,99,660.44,730,740,850,850,800,850,600,600]. How we calculate.
- [7] Across five posted US pet-cemetery price lists, the median whole-body burial for a small pet, including plot and opening/closing, was about $350. Our estimate: median of [Rainier $150 plot incl. first burial, Cedar Bend $290, Forest $350, Great River $750, Precious Memories $1,500]. How we calculate.
- [8] At Great River Natural Burial, a natural boulder headstone costs $250, engraving starts at $670, and pet caskets cost $170–$250. Great River Natural Burial – Pet Cemetery Pricing, 2026.
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