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Andrea Cooper walking confidently with her guide dog

Guide dogs for young people

Guide Dogs has a long and successful history of providing a guide dog for people aged 16 or over. In 2006 a three year pilot project was established, to assess both the practicalities, as well as the benefits, of providing a guide dog to young people under the age of 16. Those young people who trained with a dog during the pilot phase made excellent progress and the impact of the dog really can be described as ‘life-changing.’

In light of this, the charity has decided to remove the minimum age for guide dog ownership, and to carefully roll out the provision of guide dogs to young people under 16, across the UK.

Read frequently asked questions (faqs) on young person guide dog ownership

Watch and listen to the case study videos of young people that have benefited from Guide Dog ownership.

Download a PDF advice leaflet about guide dogs and children and young people. (2MB)

There are also further general FAQs about guidedog ownership

Contact us for further queries and to make an enquiry



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"I’m in and out now on walks all the time – meeting friends, to the park and going in to the city shops. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do all this before."- Andrea Cooper