A warm welcome to all of you! I'm Lauren from Our Northern Hound!

Whether you have been following us on social media for a little while, or if you have had a chat with us at an event, we wanted to reach out firstly and thank you all for your support so far!

If you are just finding us, welcome! We are a small, family run business based in Sheffield. The website went live at the beginning of April this year and we have a lot of exciting things planned for the future!

As a way of introduction, we want to tell you 5 things about our business that you may not know...

1. We are a small business

Our Northern Hound is run by husband and wife duo Lauren and Alex and our dog Bonnibel (official product tester). We are based in Sheffield and have been attending events locally as well as launching the website in April 2022. Both of us grew up in homes where our dogs were integral parts of the family and this mindset fuelled our passion for finding products that we could get excited about; items that we could recommend based on our experiences and research.

2. The brands we stock

We handpick every brand and product that we stock. We have some big brands who are trailblazing the need to reduce the carbon footprint of pet ownership and also some small and medium brands who are creating some exciting products. We absolutely love to work with small creators who are putting love and passion into each item they create. We love to work with businesses who handmake their products in the UK. We love to shout about the successes of the brands we work with!

3. Our crafted range is in development

At heart, we are creators. At the moment, we have a number of items in development that are yet to make their way onto our website. If you follow us on social media, you can see some sneak peeks of some of the items we have been working on!

4. You can find us at events in Sheffield

We are based in the green city of Sheffield! We are lucky to have been involved in a number of events over the past couple of months and we are excited to be booking in future stalls so we can chat to you all in person. The first event we attended was the fantastic 'Paws with a Cause' charity event at Hillsborough Sports Arena. We love to get involved in local events and there are some amazing businesses and people creating these wonderful opportunities that are fantastic for the dogs in our community! In May we attended Sheffield's new Quayside Market and in June we had a stall at the One Fun Day charity event at RSPCA Sheffield.

5. We want you to ask us questions

When Bonnibel was a puppy, the amount of research I put in to everything I bought was...time consuming. It's a habit I haven't quite given up yet because I find it fascinating. I wanted to do my best for her, so I spent hours comparing materials, what size toys I should buy, what added ingredients I should avoid, what 'human' treats could be shared. This is why we wanted to share useful tips, tricks and information through our social media channels and through this blog!

We noticed that at fairs, it's easier for questions to be asked! Our customers tell us about their dogs, what they have tried before and how it worked out. Based on those conversations, we usually can give a few recommendations on what items or habits could work. We want to provide this service on the website too; please do shout up if you'd like to try something new for your dog but are at a bit of a loss to know what to try! Think of us as your dog's personal shopper!

So that was 5 things you may not know about us! We'd love for you to say hello (or ask us any questions!) in the comments below.