About Bounce and Bella

Bounce & Bella is a UK dog treat and food brand founded in Lancaster by childhood friends Darren Clunie and Andy Irvine. Every product we sell is grain-free, free from derivatives, and made with clearly listed ingredients. No exceptions.

Two lads from Lancaster

Darren and Andy grew up together in Lancaster, North Lancashire. As kids they spent much of their time playing footie, and their dogs were just hairy siblings that were wonderfully hilarious and unpredictable parts of the team. No Xbox, no internet - just football, dogs, and some mighty fine nettle-whacking sticks.

That's what Bounce & Bella is built on. Dogs are part of the team. A much-loved member of the family. And they deserve better than what most brands are selling.

The name reflects the partnership - Darren is the one bouncing from idea to idea, Andy is the one who prefers to think things through carefully first. Every good team needs a bit of bounce and a bit of bella.

How we started - and why we almost became part of the problem

When Darren and Andy launched Bounce & Bella, they did what every other pet food company does. Same treats. Same ingredients. Same shortcuts. They were outsiders to the industry and had no reason to question what everyone else was doing.

Then Darren's body intervened.

He developed a grain intolerance. Nothing dramatic - just his system making it increasingly clear that grain and he were done. He cut it out, felt better, and moved on.

And then it hit him.

Sorrel - Darren's Belgian Shepherd - had spent years itching and struggling with digestion. Vet visit after vet visit. No clear answers. They'd tried everything they could think of. They'd read the labels, bought what looked like decent food, done what responsible pet parents do. And still Sorrel suffered.

The labels had hidden it perfectly. "Cereals." "Meat and animal derivatives." Legitimate-sounding words that mean almost nothing - designed to obscure rather than inform. Grain in various forms is the main filler in most big brand treats and food, packed in cheaply and quietly while the front of the bag makes health claims. Derivatives fill the rest. And nobody - not Darren, not Gill, not the vets who saw Sorrel - connected the dots.

Darren could choose to stop eating grain. Sorrel couldn't.

The guilt of realising what had probably been going on for years - combined with the anger at an industry built on language designed to keep pet parents in the dark - changed everything. Bounce & Bella stopped being like every other pet food company that day.

We can't go back and fix what happened to Sorrel. We can make sure it doesn't happen to your dog.

Our three promises to you

Everything we do at Bounce & Bella comes back to three things:

1. We want to help end your pet parent worries over hidden nasties.
2. We do that by offering simple, tasty dog treats and food with just a few premium, clearly named ingredients.
3. No weasel words. No "cereals." No "derivatives." Just ingredients you can read, understand, and trust.

Which means you can relax - knowing exactly what your dog is eating, every single time.

Why we don't use grain or derivatives

Grain - wheat, barley, cereals - has never been a natural part of a dog's diet. It's used as a cheap filler by big brands to bulk out products and protect margins. The result is treats and food that cause digestive problems and itching in dogs who can't properly process them - while the packaging tells you everything's fine - better than fine!

Derivatives are worse. "Meat and animal derivatives" is a catch-all term that lets manufacturers use whatever animal parts are cheapest that week - without telling you which animal or which parts. The ingredients can change from batch to batch. You genuinely can't know what's in there.

We don't use either. Every ingredient in every Bounce & Bella product is listed clearly, so you always know exactly what your dog is eating.

What makes Bounce & Bella different

Every product in our store is grain-free - not a range, not a section, everything. We also never use derivatives, artificial preservatives, added sugar, or artificial flavours.

Our training treats contain five ingredients. Our beef chews contain one. We think the ingredient list should be short enough to read without losing the will to live.

Bounce & Bella has been featured in The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Express for our approach to ingredient transparency and the growing demand for dog food that pet parents can actually trust.

A small team, seriously

Bounce & Bella is still a two-family firm. Darren and Andy run it full-time, with help from Lucy - our customer care contact, who always has a houseful of dogs. When you reach out to us, you're talking to a real person, dog lover to dog lover. No bots, no scripts, no offshore call centre.

We're based in rural North Lancashire.
You can reach us at darrenc@bounceandbella.co.uk.