Royal Canin

The role of a guide dog is so important in supporting people with sight loss to lead active and independent lives. Therefore, it's essential that each dog receives a diet matched to its specific nutritional requirements to keep it healthy, happy and able to work every day. Royal Canin helps us to select a diet for each individual guide dog from its wide range of professional and veterinary foods.

Personal support service to guide dog owners

Royal Canin also goes that step further to ensure that guide dog owners receive the support they need. Their dedicated customer support team provides a personal service and arranges for orders to be delivered swiftly to guide dog owners' homes, with priority given to vulnerable clients. The relationship is carefully managed with regular contact, so that deliveries are left safely in the right location for the guide dog owner, keeping to strict safety guidelines.

Supporting the weight management of guide dogs

Talking scales initiative 

Weight management in dogs is increasingly becoming a problem nationwide in the general population. Even a small amount of extra food inadvertently given can add up over time, leading to excess weight gain, which can cause health issues. Research has shown that when using a measuring cup, dog owners can overfeed by up to 80%!

For people with sight loss, it's even more of a challenge to monitor the quantity of food they give to their guide dog, as many are unable to use standard kitchen scales.

Royal Canin is helping us address this problem through a new pilot project by funding the provision of digital talking scales to 200 guide dog owners.

By enabling people to manage their dog's weight better, there is a greater likelihood of the dogs leading a longer, happier and healthier life. It also reduces the risk of cutting short the guide dog's time as a working guide for the owner.

The scales are already having a positive impact on the lives of guide dog owners and their dogs.

Supporting the lifetime of guide dog Robin

Royal Canin is supporting the lifetime of now-qualified guide dog Robin, a yellow Labrador retriever cross, who is helping his owner Mark to live a more active and independent life.

Partnered on Valentine’s Day 2022, Robin is Mark’s second guide dog, and they’ve been getting out and about together ever since.

Mark said, “With Robin, it means, on an ordinary day, I can get out and exercise. I can go out to town and do jobs. It means I can go and get on a bus. My daughters live a way away, but with Robin, I have the freedom to get out and see them. My son lives in Cheshire, and I’ve been on the train with Robin to visit him. Robin is great on public transport.

Robin has made a huge difference in my life - he’s given me the freedom for everything. He gives me the hope that I wouldn’t have without him”.

Raising awareness of sight loss

Royal Canin is active in sponsoring and supporting some of our key events and fundraising activities, helping us to raise awareness about the challenges of sight loss and the importance of the work that we do. For example:

• Supporting our key events, providing gifts and prizes

• Providing nutritional advice and all training products in our 'Good Dog!' training subscription packs

• Running major social media campaigns in support of our work and partnership

A truly committed team

Even the staff at Royal Canin are committed to getting involved personally, with their national account manager looking to run the London Marathon and fundraising in aid of Guide Dogs. Another member of the team, Emma (pictured below), has even rehomed a guide dog named Alfie!