Could you provide a loving home and well-earned rest to a retired guide dog?
Our guide dogs have made a huge difference to someone’s life, enabling them to have years of independence and freedom. It’s common for our guide dogs to stay with their partnership family as a pet after their retirement, but sometimes this isn’t possible. When this is the case, we want to find them the very best retiring home, where they will be happy and loved in their later years.
Adopting a retired guide dog is a unique and rewarding experience. You’ll welcome an extra special, loving pet dog to your home, and you’ll also be supporting an important cause.
Rehoming a retired guide dog often means adopting an older dog. Most of our guide dogs retire when they’re between 10 and 11 years old, although there’s no fixed retirement age. It depends on when the time is right and on each dog’s individual needs.
Golden oldies make great companions, especially if you want a pet who is around a lot of the time, as they value their rest. They’re generally calmer and looking for a slower pace of life. But they’re also more likely to have age-related health conditions, such as arthritis, that will need to be managed.
Our guide dogs for rehoming are typically Labradors and golden retrievers; these breeds make up almost 80 per cent of our dogs. We can also have German shepherds, crossbreed curly coat retrievers and labradoodles.
Rehoming a retired guide dog is a wonderful way to welcome a new member to the family.
Here’s five reasons to adopt a retired guide dog:
It is a privilege to be able to give an older dog a home with fun and new experiences when they have served their owners so well and worked loyally for many years. Read about some of our rehoming success stories below.
Monty retired as a guide dog due to a health condition. Read how he enjoyed the rest of his retirement in a special home.
Guide dog Ossie, had to be retired early on in his career, find out how he went on to join a new family in a lovely home.
Velvet has a long and successful career as a guide dog and was ready for a new adventure. Read how she got on with her new owners.
Before applying to rehome a retired guide dog, you should consider how taking on an older dog may impact your life.
Our retired guide dogs are highly socialised, they will have spent the majority of their life in human company so will usually prefer to be with someone for most of the day. They may also experience separation anxiety from their partner. For this reason, our dogs can’t be left alone for longer than 4 hours in a day.
Ageing dogs will need some extra care, attention and patience, and they can develop new health problems. They will often need to see the vet more regularly and will need regular health checks. Our retired dogs for rehoming are more likely to have age-related health conditions, such as arthritis, that will need to be monitored and managed.
The cost of rehoming one of our dogs is up to £500, with reductions based on health and behavioural factors taken into account.
Ideally, we would ask that our rehomers take on all ongoing costs for your dog, which includes food, vaccinations, worming and flea prevention. As a guide, the PDSA estimates a minimum cost of £1260 per year for our dog breeds.
As a charity, we would also ideally ask that you take on any costs for future medical treatments. However, if your dog has an ongoing or serious condition you can discuss ongoing financial support with your Rehoming Officer.
You can fundraise for Guide Dogs by taking part in a challenge event, baking cakes or holding a quiz with friends and family. Every penny will help us provide life-changing services for people with sight loss.
Find your next volunteering role with Guide Dogs by providing a temporary loving home for a dog in training, whilst also doing the 'school run' for your dog throughout the week.