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What you can do to volunteer
A guide dog pup will one day be a guide dog. To get there our pups will rely on the skills, knowledge, energy and creativity of Guide Dogs volunteers. They are vital to the training of pups right through to their life as a working guide dog, as well as many other things. By volunteering for Guide Dogs you'll be helping to make a huge difference to the lives of blind and partially-sighted people. But that's not all - you'll be part of a great team, you'll be learning new skills and we promise you'll have a lot of fun!
Not just a walk in the park
A working guide dog has to guide its owner through many different environments and situations. Our 1,000 puppy walkers ensure pups become familiar with busy shopping centres, public transport and family life. They look after the puppy until it’s just over a year old – full time commitment – and teach basic commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘come’. Puppy walking can be quite a challenge – particularly saying goodbye when the pups leave for their specialist guide dog training at just over a year old – but it’s enormously rewarding. If you are interested in becoming a puppy walker, please visit our puppy walking pages.
On the road
Driving is a crucial service provided by Guide Dogs volunteers across the country. Dogs, puppies, equipment and people often need to be transported short or long distances, locally or nationally. All you need is an ordinary driving license with use of your own vehicle. We pay the mileage and provide the company! you are interested in becoming a volunteer driver, please visit our volunteer driving pages.
Money makes the world go round
We couldn’t provide our services without cash. We want everyone who needs our services to benefit from them free of charge, so we rely on people raising funds to help pay for every stage of our work. Whether they’re taking up a Guide Dogs marathon or collecting on the high street, our fundraisers are the lifeblood of the organisation. If you are interested in becoming a fundraiser, please apply now or if you are interested in a sport or team challenge please visit our challenge events.
Bed and board
From experience, there are some dogs in their final 10-12 weeks of training, who may benefit from a home environment rather than a kennel environment. Although kennels is a more consistent and routine environment, we do need to provide the right accommodation for the individual dog which will enhance their performance as a future guide dog. With the dog relaxed and confident, we are able to make a better match between our customers who are blind or partially sighted and work towards a successful working partnership in the future.
Our growing number of volunteer boarders drop off the young dogs with their trainers each morning, collect them later and care for them at weekends. Boarders also look after working guide dogs when their owners go into hospital or in other emergency situations. If you are interested in becoming a boarder, please visit our boarding pages
