Meet The Family

Hi, I'm Amy. There's a version of this story where I tell you about products and carefully curated selections and a passion for quality. All of that is true. But it misses the point entirely.

Barks & Bunnies exists because of the animals who have shared our life - the ones still here, the ones we carry with us, and the one who started it all. It exists because I believe that what you do matters. That the opportunities to do better, be better, try harder are almost endless - and that taking them is always worth it. It exists because my husband Leigh believed in something I was building before I fully believed in it myself, and because two small girls think that a red panda called Archie deserves a happy new home, and they are absolutely right.

There's a shop here. But there's a world here too. Scroll down and read Albie's story - and the thread he still weaves today. Meet Orla, who carries it forward. Discover why we aren't just Barks, and meet the Bunnies who wrote the chapters before we had even begun.

If you're here, you have a bark, a bunny, or both. It's your world too.

Orla, our golden princess. Kizzie - Kismet - because she was always meant to be.

They are my dogs and I adore them. This business exists because of the life we share - not the other way around. They are here because they are loved, not because they are useful. That distinction matters to me more than I can properly explain.

Kizzie came to us on 19th February 2013. Orla arrived on 4th December 2024 - the newest chapter, still unfolding. Somewhere in her bloodline, Santa still runs. Which means somewhere in her, so does Albie.

I think about what they feel. They can tell me whether a bed is comfortable, whether a treat is worth eating, whether something is genuinely good - in a way I never could alone. My job is to research it, understand it, find out what it's made of and who made it and whether it was made with care. Together, we get closer to the truth than either of us could manage separately. That's the standard I hold everything to.

He was Albert before he was Albie. Named after the Royal Albert Hall, on a coach journey, years before we'd even found him. His dad was called Santa - which tells you something about the kind of dog he was going to be. He was born somewhere across midnight -31st December 2010 into 1st January 2011, the exact moment lost in the turn of the year. Some things are just meant.

He had a sensitive tummy. So I started making his treats myself. Just for him. Nothing more than that. The training treats were named after his tricks - High Five, Roll Over, Take a Bow. The quieter ones after the moments - Time for Bed, Winter Walks. We named them because they meant something. They were the tricks I had taught him and some of his most favourite moments - the last treat before bed, the excitement of a cold winter walk where the smells seemed more enticing than ever.

And then one day it came to me on the sofa. Barks & Bunnies. I shouted it through to my husband in the other room. We both laughed and knew that was the one.

Barks & Bunnies opened in 2013. In the early days, Albie had his own voice on Twitter. If you were there, you might remember him.

He is the reason this exists. Orla and Kizzie have a world because of him.

Before Albie, there were rabbits. Four of them, across the years, each one teaching us something.

Daisy and Duke came to us on 19th February 2007 - rescue rabbits who arrived with the names Maid Marion and Robin Hood. We renamed them almost immediately. Duke was actually Marmaduke - because he had such presence, such handsomeness, that he needed a name with weight to it. Daisy loved the snow and the rain and was completely unbothered by either. Duke was a naughty boy who got away with it because he was charming.

Libby came next - patient, gentle, tolerant in a way that Duke absolutely relied upon. Then Chuzzlewit, a handsome chap from rescue who made himself at home and never really stopped. A solid, quiet presence who matched Libby's calm perfectly.

And Kizzie - born six years later on the same day and month that we adopted Daisy and Duke. We noticed. She is called Kismet, after all.

The commitment to give them the absolute best of everything was never in question. It was always there, long before there was a business to show for it.