Keeping your pet's paw print in White Bear Lake, Minnesota
White Bear Lake has an estimated 8,600 dog- or cat-owning households. If yours is one of them, a print taken now, or before cremation, is the keepsake you can't go back for.
- Take the print before cremation
- Clay, ink or cast, explained simply
- Published prices, no guesswork
White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Arranging a paw print around White Bear Lake
The older houses close to the lake in White Bear Lake often have small, shady yards, while the postwar neighborhoods farther back have more open lawn. A tribute might be a weathered stone in a hosta bed, a hand-lettered cedar plaque on the fence, or a little urn set on a sunporch shelf. Some families wait until the ice goes out in spring to settle on something, which gives the first raw weeks room to pass.
Some White Bear Lake families choose a keepsake that echoes the water: a small glass orb with a trace of ashes swirled inside, or a painting of a favorite stretch of shoreline. Others prefer a locket holding fur or a paw impression pressed into clay. Ask about prints and fur early in the conversation, because they have to be taken while your companion's body is still in the provider's care.
There may be no ceramic studio or engraver in White Bear Lake, but that matters less than it used to. Most jewelry, engraving and print-art makers work from a photo or scan of the print, sent by email, and post the finished piece back. Photograph your print flat in daylight, keep the original safe at home and shop around online without sending anything irreplaceable.
White Bear Lake is home to about 23,392 people, the 47th-largest of the 67 Minnesota communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Saint Paul, about 9 miles (14 km) away, which is where some providers serving White Bear Lake are based.
White Bear Lake sits within easy reach of Maplewood (3 miles), Oakdale (6 miles) and Shoreview (6 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from White Bear Lake; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
8,600
How many dog- or cat-owning households White Bear Lake has (estimate)
How we calculated this
23,392 ÷ 2.5 = 9,357 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 8,600. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
720
Estimated dog and cat losses in White Bear Lake each year
How we calculated this
8,600 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 720 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
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.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Ashes, graves and the print that comes first
Roughly 68.5%[5] of deaths in Minnesota end in cremation, which often means one family holds both preferences. A grandparent may want the dog buried under the apple tree while a younger owner would rather have ashes on the mantel. If that debate is happening in your house, start with the print. Everyone agrees on it, it has to come first anyway, and it buys you a calmer hour to decide the rest.
The Minnesota figure comes from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). It describes people, not pets, so read it as a sign of local attitudes rather than a pet statistic.
Clay, ink and the local climate
Plaster and cold don't mix well. Plaster sets more slowly in a cold room, and if the water in it freezes before it cures, the cast turns chalky and crumbles. In January, February, March, November and December, mix plaster with lukewarm water, let it set somewhere warm indoors and never leave a curing cast in a car, porch or shed overnight. The same goes for air-dry clay.
If you're planning a garden stone with your pet's print pressed into it, the White Bear Lake winter will decide your timing. Concrete and mortar need temperatures above freezing to cure properly, so take the print now in clay or ink and keep it indoors. In spring, once the ground has thawed, you or a local stonemason can use it to make the outdoor memorial.
What owners in White Bear Lake typically pay for a print
Compared with the cremation itself, a print is a small line on the bill. Private dog cremation averages about $260[6] in the US, while paw-print add-ons at crematories range from about $10 to $76[7]. The bigger spend comes later, if you choose jewelry: a paw-print bangle bracelet from one crematory network costs $385[8]. Use the table to plan what fits your budget in White Bear Lake.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Minnesota overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What Minnesota allows after your pet dies
Paw prints sit outside most regulation, but the aftercare around them doesn't. Your local council or city, and the wider rules for Minnesota, may limit burying a pet at home and scattering ashes in public places. Check the notes below before you plan a garden memorial with your pet's print pressed into it.
Not sure which office covers White Bear Lake? The Minnesota local government directory is the official list.
Start with the Minnesota rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat White Bear Lake's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
What to do first, and what can wait
- If your pet is still with you, don't wait. Pick a quiet, settled moment, perhaps once they've eaten or come back from a walk, and make the print then. Prints taken while a pet is alive tend to come out sharpest.
- Choose your method. Clay for something to hold, ink or inkless paper for engraving and jewelry later. Our kit chooser helps you decide.
- Trim the tufts between the pads with blunt-tipped scissors so the pads, not the fur, make the shape.
- Hold the leg, not the paw, push down evenly in one motion, and raise it again without sliding. Make a few attempts and choose the sharpest one.
- Dry clay slowly indoors for two or three days, turning it, then seal it with a matte acrylic sealer.
- Photograph or scan the print flat in daylight. Makers can work from that image, so the original stays at home.
Shelf, wall or garden: where the print ends up
Frost heave is strong near the lake, where the soil stays moist into late autumn. Any outdoor marker in White Bear Lake should be dense stone or cast metal, bedded on crushed rock rather than turf, and sized so it won't be buried under the first big snowfall. Keep it away from where plows and shovels pile snow, and check it each April as the ice leaves the lake.
or look at how readers voted in our polls, read our guides and latest articles, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, run the numbers with the free planning tools. More local pages: Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington and Brooklyn Park, the Minnesota overview and every city in the United States.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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When did (or will) you take your pet's print?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Questions people ask
Does the White Bear Lake climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 81°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March, November 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.
Is White Bear Lake big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 8,600 White Bear Lake households keep a dog or cat and around 720 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 23,392), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Will I have to travel to Saint Paul to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Saint Paul (roughly 9 miles from White Bear Lake) 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.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from White Bear Lake?
Usually yes. Maplewood is about 3 miles away, Oakdale is about 6 miles away and Shoreview is about 6 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
How do I get a clear print from very furry paws?
Trim the tufts between the pads with blunt-tipped scissors, leaving the fur around the edge, which gives the print its outline. For cats, long-haired dogs and rabbits, an inkless kit or soft clay often works better than ink. Rabbits have no pads at all, so clay shows the long shape of the hind foot beautifully.
How do I get my pet's paw print in White Bear Lake?
You have three options. Take it yourself at home with clay or an ink kit, ideally while your pet is still well. Ask your vet or in-home euthanasia vet to take one at the appointment. Or ask the pet crematory to take one at intake, before cremation. Whichever you choose, ask for it in advance and check the print is clear before your pet leaves.
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 Minnesota's cremation rate at 68.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] CareCredit's 2025 cost study put the US national average for private dog cremation at $260 (range $206-$473). CareCredit (Synchrony) - How Much Does It Cost To Euthanize a Dog? (2025 ASQ360 procedural cost study), 2025.
- [7] Paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32, from $10 to $76. Our estimate: median of [$10 clay (AGP), $15 laser engraving (AGP), $49 ink (Final Gift), $76 clay (Final Gift)]. How we calculate.
- [8] A paw-print bangle bracelet costs $385 and a cremation cuff bracelet $125 at Final Gift. Final Gift Pet Memorial Center – Memorial Products, 2026.
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