Anyone who has really loved a dog knows they stop being just an animal

I nearly did not write this. I am not one for putting myself forward, and my sisters will laugh when they see it. But we have heard the same thing from so many women now that it felt wrong to keep it to ourselves.

So here it is, from our kitchen table to yours.

There are three of us. Maeve, Niamh and me. And there are a lot of dogs. Years ago we started taking in dogs who needed a second chance. Some arrive frightened, some arrive old, some just need someone to sit with them until they trust the world again. We feed them, we pay the vet, and we keep them close.

If you have ever loved a dog, you already know what I am about to say. You know the weight of them leaning against your leg. The way they find you on your worst day. The feeling that, whatever happens, someone in the house loves you exactly as you are.

That feeling does not leave when they do. It just goes looking for somewhere to live.

That is really why the Béibhinn exists. We wanted to hold that one feeling in something small enough to keep against you. So we made a little pendant of a woman holding her dog close to her heart. One quiet gesture. The hug we all know.

We made the first few for ourselves. Then people started asking where they could get one.

We did not expect the messages. The one we hear most is not about jewellery at all. It is women telling us they finally have a way to carry a dog that meant everything to them. Some wear it for the one asleep at their feet right now. Some wear it for one they lost and still talk to.

I will be honest with you. People often expect it to cost more, because a piece made and finished by hand usually does. There is no catch. We keep the price fair on purpose. Part of every one goes straight back to feeding and caring for the dogs still waiting with us, and that matters to us more than anything.

If there is a dog you carry in your chest, whether they are curled up beside you now or waiting somewhere you cannot follow yet, I think you already know whether this is for you.

It will not change anything. But reaching up and feeling that little hug against you, on an ordinary Tuesday, is a small comfort I would not want you to go without.

From the three of us, and every dog who found a warm bed here, thank you for reading.