If you want to learn more about guide dogs, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some facts you might not know about our life-changing guide dogs:
If you want to learn more about guide dogs, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some facts you might not know about our life-changing guide dogs:
Typically, our guide dog puppies are born in the home of a volunteer Breeding Dog Holder who get them off to the best possible start. Then, at around eight weeks of age, they’re transferred to the National Centre for their puppy health checks, before going home to a volunteer Puppy Raiser.
Once our dogs start their training at around 14 months old, they stay at our regional centres or with one of our wonderful volunteer Fosterers where they develop their social skills among other things – this is their last stop before being matched with their guide dog owner at around two-years-old.
We work with a range of volunteers – some of whom work with dogs and some who don’t – and we couldn’t do the life-changing work we do without them! We’re so grateful for their support.
Our guide dogs are either named by the staff at our National Centre, or through the ‘Name a Puppy’ scheme, whereby an individual or a group of people can choose the name of a puppy after fundraising for our charity.
Although many people now think of Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers as typical guide dog breeds, the first guide dogs trained by Guide Dogs UK were German shepherds. Their names were Folly, Judy, Meta and Flash.
Guide dogs start their learning journey from the moment they’re born, exploring the world around them and learning to interact with people and their litter mates.
Their formal training journey begins at one of our regional centres when they're approximately 14 months old. This training usually lasts for around six months, but each of our dogs are individuals, and some learn at a different pace to others. Once they’ve completed their training, they’re then carefully matched with their guide dog owner.
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Guide Dogs UK is the largest guide dog organisation in the world, with a National Centre, five Regional Centres, and numerous Community Teams, and is also the proud recipient of the Guinness World Record for the most guide dogs trained by an organisation!
It's also part of The International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) - the leading organisation that accredits its member organisations that meet a comprehensive and internationally recognised set of standards. The international guide dog community is far-reaching and there are accredited organisations all over the world. However, it’s not a legal requirement to be accredited - so technically any organisation or person can train a guide dog.
‘Assistance dogs’ is an umbrella term used to describe highly trained dogs who provide a form of support for people with a disability or medical condition. Guide dogs are a type of assistance dog, as are hearing dogs, psychiatric assistance dogs, medical detection dogs, and seizure alert dogs. There are also specially trained dual-purpose assistance dogs, who help people with more than one disability.
We ensure that every guide dog is suited to the environment in which they’ll live and work – for some dogs this is a rural or suburban environment, but for others this is an urban environment. For example, if we believe a dog will thrive in a busy and stimulating city, then we ensure they’re trained and live in that environment before beginning their partnership.
People partnered with assistance dogs, including guide dogs, are legally permitted to access almost all premises and transport. This only applies to qualified, working assistance dogs.
The Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Northern Ireland) prohibits businesses and service providers from denying access to people with guide dogs. This includes restaurants, shops, taxis, and planes.
There are some areas that do remain off-limits to guide dogs. For example, a guide dog may not be able to go into strictly sterile areas, such as surgical theatres in hospitals, or food preparation areas in restaurants. If you need to enter these areas, the service provider must ensure that your needs are met by offering a reasonable adjustment, such as watching your guide dog in your absence and providing sighted assistance.
Guide dogs in training do not have rights of legal access to the same places as qualified guide dogs; however, we rely on goodwill to help us to familiarise our young dogs to all the different environments that they will experience as a qualified guide dog. Many shops and establishments will allow our guide dog puppies and dogs in training to enter, in order to support their training.
At the end of 2024, there were 3,197 working partnerships in the UK. We also provide a buddy dog service; family dogs who help to improve the confidence of young people living with sight loss. There were 347 active buddy dog partnerships in the UK as of 2024.
Many people think that only Labrador retrievers make excellent guide dogs; but in reality, other breeds such as golden retrievers and German shepherds, make excellent guide dogs too. We also train a carefully selected variety of crossbreeds, including:
Although these are the most common breeds of guide dog today, in the past, breeds such as Border collies, Leonbergers, Italian spinones, Irish water spaniels, and flat coated retrievers were also used!
It’s a common misconception that only people with total vision loss are eligible for a guide dog – this is not the case. If you have remaining vision, you may still be eligible for a guide dog – providing that a guide dog partnership is right for you.
A guide dog will spend more time living as a family dog than they will working. When they aren’t working with their guide dog owner, they’re just like any other dog – they love playing, sleeping, and keeping their guide dog owner company. They need the same care and attention as any other dog.
Our guide dogs are individuals, so there isn’t a set age at which they retire. However, on average, our guide dogs retire at around 9-10 years old.
We carefully monitor each of our guide dogs within their partnership, and fully consider the needs of both the guide dog and guide dog owner before we think about retiring a working dog.
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Once our life-changing guide dogs retire, they enjoy their well-earned rest living as a family dog. Many retired guide dogs stay with their owners, but this isn't always possible.
If rehoming is necessary, our guide dog owners can nominate a familiar home, often family or friends. If no suitable option is available, we may reach out to volunteers who’ve previously cared for the dog or find a loving home through the general public.
Did you know our guide dog service is funded entirely by charitable donations? It costs £77,000 to breed, puppy raise and train each guide dog, and £25,000 to support each partnership throughout their working lives together. We cover all expenses relating to our dogs, including food and vet bills.
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Find out the answers to frequently asked questions
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Learn how your donations are helping us to continue our life-changing work.
Learn about our breeds, and why they make excellent guide dogs.