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10 years ago, if a customer wanted a memorial for their beloved pet then they didn’t exactly have much choice. Nowadays, though, things are very different…with the explosion of the internet, more or less anything you can think of has become commonplace (although it’s fair to say that some pet memorial services are better than others!).

Since the beginning, we’ve done our best to add to what’s possible by giving you, the customer, products with genuine flair and real creative innovation! And the latest idea we have is something that should interest many of our customers.

In the past, we’ve only been able to offer square images. While these have been very popular, we recently realised that it’d be even better if we could offer round images too. And so we started researching how this could be done. Now, after testing the system fully, we’re proud to offer it, so please do get in touch on this site’s Contact page if you’d like to find out more!

As a result of this cool new idea, it’s led to the creation of a few new products in our rustic range of headstones and pet memorials. We’re currently sorting these out but should be back soon with an update on this, so be sure to return.

Thanks,

Team Pets At Rest

1) the type of stone you’d like

2) message you’d like on your memorial

3) font and design work

…AND we also do urns too! In fact, we have lots of products on offer, so feel free to drop by and peruse our new website (which you can read about by clicking here).

There’s a new feedback page up too!

Click the image and see the app!

As we’ve often said here on the Pets at Rest blog, Twitter (please follow us!) and social networking can be a wonderful thing. Not only does it allow us to spread the word about our products, but it means that every single day we connect with more people who do similar things to us; things which we both admire and think are progressing the industry in a new, exciting direction. If you didn’t catch our last blog, it was with Julie who runs one of the UKs most popular pet  radio stations: Dog Cast Radio. You can read the first part by clicking here.

This week, though, it’s the turn of iPet Memorial Lite — a great new online way of sharing that special bond we all have with our pets. Using the app, which was designed and created by Bill Gulbrandsen of Harvest Integrity Systems, Inc (US), pet owners can now take the legacy of their pet with them wherever they go. In the words of Bill himself, an established developer: “I am excited about getting iPet Memorial out to people that have experienced the loss of a pet.  I think that it is an awesome way to allow people to share about that special bond between owner and pet, as well as being therapeutic in the grieving process when a pet is lost.”

Presently, the app — approved just last week for the App store — is only available on Apple devices, although we don’t see that causing too many problems (aside from me, everyone seems to be using one or have access to an ipad or iphone, right?). Seeing as I wasn’t able to take a look at the app myself, I phoned Stuart Gebbie — the owner of Pets at Rest and creator of some mighty fine memorials in granite, slate and finest Italian marble — and asked him to do so for me and give me some feedback on what he thought.

First up, getting hold of the app is really easy. Just go to the App store and search for iPet Memorial Lite (free version). To access the paid version you’ll need to purchase it as normal, and then you’ll be sent a unique passcode which needs to be entered into the text field of the redeem page (get to this by clicking the Redeem button on the Featured page in the app store).

In terms of functionality, you can think of this app as having all the same qualities of a standard pet memorial. First up, you’ll be able to upload a favourite photo of your pet, and secondly you’ll be asked to enter all the information which would be present on a physical headstone: the name of your pet, it’s birth and death date, and a number of other pieces of key information (such as special thoughts and favourite memories). As you can see by clicking the image above, Bill and co have much more in the works, including more apps for a wide range of pets.

While it’s true to say that this isn’t the same as having a physical headstone or memorial you can hold and touch, it’s also a fact that there are a number of reasons why this should prove popular. For example, as a way of sharing memories between family members who live in different cities or even countries, this app offers benefits which a standard memorial will find difficult to compete with (although we’d love it if you’d have a look at the Pets at Rest site and see what we have to offer customers!).

The coolest dog around? Maybe, maybe…

Here at Pets at Rest, we may spend nearly all our time creating the very best granite, marble and slate memorials, but that doesn’t mean we don’t keep an eye on what’s happening in the rest of the pet world! And one thing we have noticed more and more of in recent years is pets wearing funny clothes and looking a little bit silly, as well as a boom in online shops offering dog and cat costumes etc…not only that but pets wearing jewellery and all kinds of other items more commonly associated with catwalk models and A-List celebrities! (In fact, we could name a few cats and dogs which are probably more famous than some celebrities, but we won’t. We’re nice like that.)

Britain’s Got Talent was something different, however. We really enjoyed seeing a dog up on the big screen doing its stuff and putting the human competitors to shame! Exploitation? In this case, we don’t think so.

So, what’s the future of pets and jewellery and strange costumes? Good question, anything could happen (let’s just hope we don’t see anyone dressing a German Shepherd up in meat like Lady Gaga any time soon…not that the meat would last long, of course, but that is hardly the point!).

Click the logo to see our brand-new website!

We’d be the first to say that although we’ve been in the pet memorial industry for some time now, Twitter and social networking is slightly newer to us! We weren’t sure how our voyage into this aspect of the internet would go, but after a few weeks we’re pleased to say that we’ve had lots of lovely messages and kind re-tweets from people all over the globe.

We really do appreciate each and every one, so thankyou very much for the support!

Need a pet memorial? We cater for all kinds of pets, large and small; but this blog isn’t just about memorials, oh no…we’re also doing general interest blog posts like this one here, and soon we’ll be featuring other companies who we think are doing great things.

Thanks for now,

Team Pets at Rest

Yes, you are reading correctly!

Are you a new visitor to this blog? Well, if so then you may want to head on over to our new website — read the breaking news post here — and get an idea of what we’re about. Just a short blog this week, and this one is about all the various things we can do. A few examples are below:

1) memorials for cats and dogs in various stones! We can offer you amazing slate, the best Italian marble and all kinds of interesting formats. You can choose from square or rounded, upright or flat. Whatever you choose, we ensure the very best result by working through every stage with you.

2) memorials for horses, snakes, reptiles…you name it, we have probably done it! Got a question? You’ll more than likely find an answer to it on our website.

3) we’re not ONLY about memorials, we also write general-interest blog posts too and soon we’ll also be doing guest posts on some really interesting companies!

Our new website just launched! And yes, we are EXCITED. Want to read about all the great changes we’ve made and all the innovative new products we’re making the bench-mark for quality pet-memorials? Then you just need to click here.

And now, allow us to take you on a journey…

Imagine a perfect world: think about something happening in the best possible way and it happens without any effort whatsoever, leading to the ideal result. Or, perhaps, when you order something online you know exactly what you are getting before you order, as isn’t always the case when buying some personalised products. In this perfect world, when you open that box up, there are no nasty surprises. Instead of saying “I wish they’d done this…” you smile and say, with more enthusiasm than you can ever remember having: “this is exactly what I wanted. They have done a fantastic job!”

Please click the photo to read our About Us page! And don't forget we have a special offer on now...quote NEWPAR25 on our website and you'll receive 25% off for an entire month...

OK, so a perfect world is a dream we all have, and in reality that’s never going to happen (well, at least not in our life-times!). But does that mean that when you order your pet memorial product it has to be difficult, dull, or an experience to get over quick rather than one to take time with and enjoy? We certainly don’t think so, which is why we’re all about doing the following things in a pro-active way that doesn’t cause you extra stress at a time which we know is already sensitive:

1: we’re all about going to great lengths to work with the customer on their pet memorial. OK, so we’re a business, but we don’t see why we can’t look after every customer’s individual needs. Here at Pets at Rest, careful thought and attention goes into every single order. And it is YOUR order, after all. We listen to you and what you want, and then we do our best to make it happen just as you envisaged. It may sound like a simple philosophy but we’re finding it really works!

2: we’re all about art and graphics, aesthetics and beauty. For some reason we can’t quite work out, for the last fifty years or so, the pet memorial industry has been much too stagnant for our liking: too few designs on offer, with the art-work often applied crudely in a way that we just can’t be doing with (we must stress that this isn’t always the case, it’s just that we feel there is a huge difference between art and just a product which anyone can make). Which is why the most careful care and attention is applied to all pet memorial products we take on. If you’re not happy then we’re not happy, and if that’s the case…why are we in business, exactly?

Interested in finding out more about how we can help you? Please click the photo for all the relevant information...

3: we’re all about giving our customers a wide range of choice. We can’t deny that it’d be easier to present merely a limited scope of options, but easier doesn’t always mean the best product, does it? With every memorial we do, we discuss with the customer how and where they want lettering placed, how big it should be and how much space the photograph of their beloved pet should take up. Better still, we don’t just produce the product without consulting the customer after we have finished laying out the initial design. We always seek the approval of the customer before production, and, that way, if they have any other suggestions to make we can change things before the piece is created by our expert craftspeople.

Any questions? Feel free to email us at info@petsatrest.co.uk

4: we’re all about personality and style, flow and smiles. We’re all about one-off products which you won’t find anywhere else, which are designed solely with your pet in mind — horse, cat, dog or pig. Basically, we like to think of Pets at Rest as a company which genuinely cares about the legacy we leave behind. It’s worked wonderfully for us so far, and, thanks to the new website – more products, better design and even a real-time Chat function – we’re confident that this will carry on well into the future!

AND, if you didn’t know yet, over at the new site we’re running a great new promotion…quote the special code NEWPAR25 and you’ll receive a 25% discount on anything for an entire month!

Before we leave you, don’t forget to read our latest post all about the new website. And, if you’re on Twitter and Facebook then so are we, so let’s connect and see where things take us.

Our great new website has just gone live! AND, did you know that we're running a special 25% off promotion? Click the picture to visit us now!

If you’ve visited the Pets at Rest website in the past couple of years, then hopefully you won’t have been disappointed: everything was in place so that new customers and returning customers alike could find what they wanted easily enough. As well as this, every aspect of our service was linked directly to the website – and this blog you’re reading now – so that you didn’t waste hours trying to find out costs or what we had to offer. We also started using Twitter and Facebook a lot more, and that has proved itself to be a great way to connect with people and keep everyone up-to-date with all our daily happenings – which is what it’s all about, don’t you think? We like the fact that you can contact us directly if you need to, and we feel that interacting with our customers makes for a much more personal service.

No, it's not a joke. YES that does say 20% off for returning customers!

Then again, here at Pets at Rest we don’t like to just sit around; we’re all about progression, and one of the best ways good progress is made is by listening closely to all the comments we get; we don’t think any business can do without it, really. So it was with this combination of feedback and a want to make the site even better for you, the customer, that a new and superior web-site was conceived. It’s been a long time coming, and now we can finally say that Pets at Rest has been born again – this time with an even greater emphasis on simplicity and customer service. After all, there are literally millions of confusing and boring websites out there, so when you come to us we want to make you feel perfectly at home in a friendly environment suitable for anyone, no matter what their level of computer literacy. Not to mention make it all easier so that what can be a sad and difficult occasion can be turned around into a worthwhile experience.

Oh, and don’t forget that we’re also doing a special promotion right now…quote NEWPAR25 on the site and you’ll receive an impressive 25% off anything for a month!

Great products. More choice than ever before. AND we'll work with you at every stage to ensure you're completely satisfied. Can you really blame us for being enthusiastic?

And now back to the improvements. Firstly, if you’re sick and tired of websites which have no email address (ours is info@petsatrest.co.uk) and designs which are too much hassle to navigate, you won’t need to worry about this with our new site. It’s clearer and simpler than the last version, at exactly the same address, and the format allows you to peruse all the options available to you within mere seconds. On top of that, we’ve added rapidly changing images on the Homepage so that within just a few moments you get a really good idea of what we can do. Another thing we’ve done is to add a real-time Chat function in the bottom right of the screen, as well as a latest products section on the bottom right (our white marble range is now even better, so that whatever kind of pet you’re looking to create a legacy for — horse, dog, cat or snake — you’ll be able to find something exactly suitable and within your budget). Additionally, we’ve enabled customers to sign up to our PR and News subscription service, which many people are doing, and which is getting them all the news as soon as it happens.

That’s not where it ends, of course, because behind the scenes of Pets at Rest our staff have been busily adding yet more products to the ever-expanding range (one which was great before but is now even better!). Now, within just a few minutes of visiting the website you can view Urns and multiple design ideas, so that by the time you’re ready to email us with your query, we’re all on the same page and looking forward to working together!

Very often, the clients who come to us at Pets At Rest – managed and overseen by owner and head technician Stuart Gebbie – are just as interested in the process of sandblasting as the excellence achieved by the final result. A captivating and completely unique way to transform an ordinary-looking piece of stone, sandblasting has evolved and stood the test of time, proving itself to be the ideal medium for transferring words, images and even photographs onto a hard surface that will not easily succumb to rain, sleet and other abrasive elements.

A technique which (as the name suggests) harnesses the power of sand, combining it with force to burrow away at the surface of anything from slate to marble – and even the hardest of stones: granite – sandblasting began life over 125 years ago, and has since rapidly progressed, using the most advanced technology to create brilliantly artistic work. And this is what interests Pets At Rest – by staying true to the origins of this much under-rated art-form and focussing on providing a solution for any vision that a customer might have, the best results are frequently obtained. The best part about sandblasting is that with practice, almost any design, no matter how intricate, can be accurately reproduced.

And if you thought that sandblasting ended with stone, you’d be mistaken. Pets At Rest are also specialist’s in sandblasting on glass and many other materials. Interested in discussing the potential uses of sandblasting to create a stunning memorial to your beloved pet? Stuart’s always happy to hear from you, and is available by mobile on or on email by clicking here.

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