Paw print keepsakes in Great Falls
Great Falls has an estimated 22,000 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.
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Great Falls, Montana
Who takes paw prints in Great Falls
Memorials around Great Falls often lean practical and durable: a granite marker by the ranch house, a walnut urn on the mantel, a small keepsake to carry in a pocket. No decision is required right away. Ashes are secure in the crematory's container indefinitely, and many families postpone choosing anything for outdoors until the ground has thawed and relatives can gather.
Great Falls has many military households who transfer every few years, and memorials that travel light work well for them: a compact urn, a fingerprint-style charm or a framed paw impression. Families with generations of roots on the plains may prefer a granite stone set on the home place instead. Dividing ashes among relatives is straightforward if you mention it when booking.
One advantage of a town like Great Falls is that people know each other. Your vet team has probably met your pet many times and will understand why a print matters. Small practices often keep a clay kit on the shelf for exactly this. If they don't, ask whether you can bring your own and take the print together in a quiet room.
With roughly 60,208 residents, Great Falls is the 3rd-largest of the 10 Montana communities we cover.
Great Falls sits within easy reach of Helena (72 miles), Belgrade (119 miles) and Bozeman (127 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Great Falls; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
22,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Great Falls
How we calculated this
60,208 ÷ 2.5 = 24,083 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 22,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
1,850
Estimated dog and cat losses in Great Falls each year
How we calculated this
22,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,850 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.
Where these figures come from: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
What local funeral habits mean for a print
Cremation is the everyday choice in Montana: about 73.4%[5] of people who die there are cremated. Pet aftercare tends to follow the same habits, which means most pets here end up as a small box of ashes. Ashes don't show a paw, a nose or the shape of a toe. That's a big part of why prints matter so much in high-cremation places, and why local crematories are so used to being asked for one.
That Montana rate is a human one, published by Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024). We quote it for Great Falls only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
When the weather works against clay and ink
With 6 months of freezing average lows, Great Falls winters are hard on posted parcels too. If you're sending a clay print away to be cast in metal or scanned for jewelry, wrap it well, avoid shipping over a weekend and send a photo or scan first where the maker accepts one. Then the original never has to leave your warm house at all.
Clinics and crematories in and around Great Falls often keep pets in cold storage before cremation, especially in January, February, March, April, November and December when collection runs can be delayed by weather. That doesn't prevent a print, but it helps to ask before your pet goes into the cooler. A quick print while the paw is still soft is far easier than one taken later from a cold, stiff paw.
What owners in Great Falls typically pay for a print
Engraving is the add-on that surprises people. By our estimate, name-and-dates engraving adds about 36%[6] to the price of a mid-priced wooden urn, and a paw print costs extra again. Before you pay for either in Great Falls, check your pet insurance: some wellness add-ons reimburse end-of-life costs, and one plan's add-on could pay up to $650 toward cremation, burial and keepsakes[7]. Read the policy wording, then ask for an itemized quote.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Montana 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.
Local rules worth knowing in Montana
Rules in Montana mostly cover the practical side of a pet's death: where a body can be buried, how deep, and where ashes may be scattered. None of it stops you taking a print. It's worth knowing, though, because a print set into a stone often goes where the burial or ashes go, and a landlord or homeowners' association can have its own say.
The official Montana local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Great Falls.
The Montana page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Great Falls's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
Your paw print plan for Great Falls
- Tell your child what's happening in plain words, then offer them a part in making the print if they want one. Our guide to print-making with children has age-by-age ideas for what they can do.
- Give them a real job: they can roll the clay, pick the card, or write the name.
- Let them press a hand or fingerprint next to the paw, if they'd like to.
- If the print is taken after death, let an adult or the vet do it, and show your child the finished keepsake.
- Make a copy for your child's room, so the original can stay somewhere safe.
- Come back to it later. One child wants it framed the same week; another won't look at it for months.
Shelf, wall or garden: where the print ends up
Chinook winds and deep cold are hard on outdoor pieces. Heavy granite or bronze stands up to gusts and freeze-thaw cycles; lightweight resin or thin concrete tends to fade, tip or crack. Anchor a marker firmly on compacted gravel so it stays level. Indoor keepsakes such as glass, ceramic or wooden boxes avoid the prairie weather altogether and suit any size of home.
Compare every option on our services page, or see how other readers answered in our polls, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones, try the free planning tools. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover Helena, Butte-Silver Bow, Bozeman and Kalispell, and every city in Montana.
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.
Whose print are you thinking about?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What worries you most about taking a print yourself?
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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
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Great Falls?
January, February, March, April, November and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 84°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Great Falls?
Usually yes. Helena is about 72 miles away, Belgrade is about 119 miles away and Bozeman is about 127 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Is Great Falls big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 22,000 Great Falls households keep a dog or cat and around 1,850 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 60,208), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
How do Montana attitudes to cremation compare?
Direct Cremate (citing CANA) (2024) puts the Montana human cremation rate at about 73.4%[5]. We show it on the Great Falls 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.
What if my family can't agree who keeps the print?
Take several. Clay can be re-rolled and ink prints are quick, so there's no reason to stop at one. If the original is already made, photograph or scan it and have copies made: framed ink prints, small engraved tags or matching pendants. Our ashes sharing planner can help if you're dividing ashes between keepsakes too.
Who else can take a paw print if my vet in Great Falls doesn't?
Several people can. The crematory that serves Great Falls normally makes one when your pet arrives. A mobile or home-visit vet may carry a kit. A groomer who knows your pet can tidy the paw fur and help you take one on a good day. And you can do it yourself with air-dry clay and a pet-safe ink pad from a craft store. What matters is that it happens before cremation or burial.
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] Montana had a 73.4% cremation rate in 2024, among the highest in the US. Direct Cremate (citing CANA), 2024.
- [6] Name-and-dates engraving adds about 36% to the price of a mid-priced wooden pet urn. Our estimate: midpoint engraving $32.50 ($25–$40) / midpoint wood urn $90 ($30–$150). How we calculate.
- [7] Embrace's Wellness Rewards add-on could reimburse up to $650 toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Pet Insurance Review - Does Pet Insurance Cover Euthanasia? (Dec 2023), 2023.
- [8] Around 765,000 U.S. families a year are likely open to a personalized pet keepsake. Our estimate: 1.5M pet cremations x 51% interest in personalized memorials. How we calculate.
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