Rehome a dog

Could you give an incredible dog a forever home? By adopting a dog from Guide Dogs you’ll get a loving pet and you’ll also be supporting an important cause.

Our dogs available for rehoming

Dogs who haven’t completed guide dog training

Most of our dogs that are in training go on to qualify as life-changing guide dogs for people with sight loss, however, some dogs have health conditions or behaviour needs that mean they couldn’t complete all the stages of their training. They’re still incredible dogs, but they’re much better suited to life as a family pet with people who can provide the time, patience, care and commitment they need.

Retired guide dogs

We’re also looking for forever homes for our guide dogs who have reached retirement age. Many guide dogs remain with their partnership family as a pet dog after retirement, but this isn’t always possible. Find out more about rehoming an older dog from Guide Dogs.

A retired guide dog with its new owner in the woods

Freddie is such a character, I can see why he couldn't be a guide dog but to us, he is a cheeky boy who is now a big part of our family.

Freddie's new owners

Is rehoming a dog from Guide Dogs right for me?

The welfare and wellbeing of our dogs is always our top priority and our experienced Rehoming Officers are passionate about finding the right homes for our withdrawn and retired guide dogs.

We often receive applications from people looking for a ‘perfect pet’. But the reality is that our dogs available for rehoming often will have health conditions or behavioural needs that need to be monitored or managed.

Our team will help you consider everything involved in adopting a dog, so we can be sure to get it right for both you and our dogs. We know the full history for each of our dogs, including their health, temperament, likes and dislikes, which means we can make the best rehoming match for each dog and family.

If you’re able to provide the time, patience, care and commitment required to look after a dog with an existing condition or an older dog and be flexible about the breed, this will increase the chance that we can find the dog for you.

Eligibility

You’ll need to be over 18 years old to apply.
If you live in a rented property, housing association or council-owned property we’ll need you to provide proof that you’re able to have a dog living in your home.
Your home will need to have a safe and easily accessible area for the dog to toilet.
Our dogs have been used to constant human companionship, so they can’t be left alone for more than 4 hours in a 24-hour period. This means if you work full-time outside of the home we won’t be able to match you with a dog.
We ask that your dog be only looked after by a member of your household and not extended family or friends or professional dog walking services.

All dogs have their own unique quirks and personalities, and so do ours. They’re very special and provide lots of love. Often our dogs may not have qualified as guide dogs as they have health conditions or behavioural needs. This may mean you need to make some lifestyle adjustments, cover the cost of ongoing treatment or provide your dog with more training.

These health and behaviour needs can range from mild to severe. Health conditions can include skin issues, joint problems, eye conditions or epilepsy. Behaviour needs can include poor recall, being easily distracted, being reactive to other dogs, separation anxiety, issues with travelling or being too strong on the lead.
The cost of rehoming one of our dogs is up to £500. We can sometimes reduce this cost to take into account health or behaviour factors. This fee covers our rehoming costs and goes towards our vital services to help people with sight loss.

All of our dogs have:

Microchipping

Health checks

Vaccinations

Regular preventative treatment against worms and fleas.

We will also offer insurance for the first four weeks after rehoming. We would then ask that you take on any ongoing costs.

Looking to rehome one of our dogs?

Dave, a 17 month old German Shepherd, sitting in the garden, looks to the camera.

Meet Dave

Dave is a 17-month-old German Shepherd with a sweet, puppy-like personality. He’s looking for a calm, pet-free home. Families with older, dog-savvy children who respect his space may be considered. Dave can be vocal and reactive on lead, especially around other reactive dogs, so he will need a private, enclosed area for safe off-lead time. Dave travels well in the car, is happy to be left alone for short periods and thrives on learning new things. Dave is extremely intelligent and would love to explore fun training activities like scent work or trick training with his new family.

How can I rehome a dog from Guide Dogs?

To help us understand a bit more about you, your lifestyle and the type of dog you’re looking for, we’ll email you a link to our application form within a few days. Please complete the application form as soon as possible. Please note, our dogs will have health conditions or behavioural needs that meant they couldn't continue in the training programme or it was time for them to retire as a guide dog. If you’re able to accept a dog with additional needs this may increase the chance we have a match for you.
Your application will be reviewed by our Rehoming Officers who are passionate about finding the right home for our dogs. If your requirements match the needs of our dogs, or we need any further information, we’ll contact you. If we don’t think we’ll be able to match your requirements with one of our dogs, we’ll let you know. We’ll continue to check your application against the dogs we have available for rehoming for six months. Due to the large number of applications we receive we’re unfortunately unable to provide regular updates about your application.
Once a potential match has been found, our Rehoming Officers will contact you. We’ll provide a full background history about the dog, including full transparency about any existing health conditions or behaviour needs. We’ll then arrange a virtual or in-person visit to assess your home environment. This is to check the suitability, such as to check your garden is secure or to understand more about any other pets in your home.
Congratulations, you’ve been matched to rehome a dog from Guide Dogs. We’ll arrange for you to meet the dog at one of our Regional Centres and in most cases you’ll have the opportunity to take your dog home on that same day. On some occasions, depending on health or behavioural needs, the handover may be delayed until after a specialist visit, such as a pre-booked vet appointment. Our Rehoming Officers will usually check the partnership is going well within two weeks and can provide further advice or support, or help recommend an external training or behaviour expert.

Get started by registering your interest

a Labrador x golden retriever sitting in the garden

Rehoming success stories

Read some of our inspiring rehoming stories.

Black German Shepherd Dusty looking up towards in the camera in an open field

Dusty's story

Dusty, a black German Shepherd, was unable to continue her guide dog training due to a health condition. Find out about her rehoming story.

Black and tan German Shepherd Pudley laying down in the sand at the beach with sunny blue skies

Pudley's story

Read about how we found Pudley, an excitable German Shepherd and former guide dog in training, his special home.

Rehomed golden Labrador, Monty, laying down

Monty's story

Monty retired as a guide dog due to a health condition. Read how he enjoyed the rest of his retirement in a special home.

Frequently asked questions

We’re not a rehoming or rescue charity, so we don’t have any specific rehoming centres or images of all the dogs available to be rehomed. Our dogs for rehoming are usually looked after by our amazing volunteer community until we can find their forever home.

When we find a potential match for you, we’ll arrange an appointment at one of our Guide Dogs Regional Centres, which is usually the centre closest to you. Occasionally we may match you with a dog who is currently living outside of your area, and you may be asked if you can travel to a centre that is further away.
No – we don’t rehome very young puppies. Our puppies are raised by our volunteer puppy raisers, and it’s often when our dogs start formal training, around 12-18 months old, that we discover whether they are likely to qualify as a guide dog.

If you’d like to find out more about looking after a guide dog puppy as a volunteer please read about our puppy raiser role.

Volunteer with our dogs

If our rehoming service doesn’t sound quite right for you or you want to try out looking after a dog, you may be interested in one of our dog-focused volunteer roles. Volunteering as a puppy raiser or fosterer is a great way to support our work. If you become a foster home, you’ll receive guidance on your dog’s health and behaviour from our experts, and you won’t have to worry about the financial costs of being a pet owner. If you’d like to find out more

Visit our volunteering page