Explore our dog volunteer roles
Find a volunteer role with dogs near you today
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Volunteer with our dogs and help support them on their journey to becoming a guide dog. You could provide a loving home for a guide dog puppy, volunteer to walk a working guide dog or foster a guide dog in training. In all these roles, you’ll be offering invaluable support to our organisation and getting hands-on with our canine community.
Find out more about specific volunteer roles with our dogs in the descriptions below, or you can search for all of our current dog volunteer roles near you by using our postcode search. And don't forget to take a look at our frequently asked questions!
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‘You provide a home, a bed, toys, love and attention and you train the pup for the first year of its life. We get so much from it, it’s so rewarding’.
Provide a forever home for a guide dog mum and give temporary loving care to a litter of future guide dogs when they arrive.
Provide a forever home for a guide dog dad, helping to shape the future of guide dog breeding.
Provide invaluable support to a guide dog owner by exercising their dog in their local area.
Provide invaluable support to your local Guide Dog office, by providing day-to-day care for our dogs to help them settle during their training to become a life-changer.
Provide a temporary loving home for a guide dog puppy, helping to reinforce their training whilst they are away from their Puppy Raisers.
Provide a loving home to a guide dog puppy for just over a year, giving them the basic skills they need to start their guide dog training.
Provide a temporary loving home for a dog in training, whilst also doing the 'school run' for your dog throughout the week.
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‘Tom and I always wanted a dog but we both worked full time in the office. When we heard that when you foster for Guide Dogs the dog is out training all day, we thought it was a really nice way to have a dog.’
Lisa is a Puppy Raiser for Guide Dogs. She is on her second puppy, a yellow Labrador called Archie. She said:
‘Now I’m doing it, it’s good and it’s a big part of my life now. I didn’t realise we needed this, but it’s been the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. It’s made such a different to the whole house, the whole home. It’s hard work, toilet training and the sleepless nights. But I love the training aspect of it, and people’s reactions when they say “oh wow that dog is so well behaved”. It’s given me an eye opener. I’m learning new things and it’s an experience for me. It’s the best thing; it makes you feel whole’.
Yes, you can! You can go on holiday, even if you are caring for one of our dogs.
We have specific volunteers who provide short-term cover for our volunteers whilst they are on holiday. You’ll just need to let your volunteer manager know and they’ll organise all the cover for you, leaving you free to start planning your vacation.
Yes, you can! Before you start your role, we’ll ensure all the necessary checks have taken place to ensure that both your own pet and the dog will be comfortable. We'll also ask about the number of pets that you have within your house; the more pets within a household might mean a higher likelihood of unsuitability for the role. This is due to the time and focus our dogs will need through their training.
Yes, you can! We have plenty of volunteers who work alongside doing their volunteering role. However, it’s important to consider what level of commitment you can give alongside your working life when deciding which volunteer role is right for you. For our longer-term roles, like Puppy Raising, your working arrangements may need to be more flexible.
Yes, you can! Before you start your role, we will ensure all the necessary checks have taken place to ensure that both your children and the dog will be comfortable.
We believe that our volunteers should never be left out of pocket. For volunteers that will be caring for our dogs in their home, we will cover all food and vet expenses associated with our dogs, alongside any pet insurance and specialised equipment for our dogs.
For all our volunteers we will cover any reasonable travel expenses occurred through volunteering.
All our volunteers have a dedicated volunteer manager to support them throughout their volunteer role. They will be there to answer any questions, settle any concerns and generally offer a helping hand.
Before you start, you will receive full training and will be offered the opportunity for any further training that you might need. So, you don’t need to worry if you don’t have any previous experience, as we will give you all the training you need.
As you join the Guide Dogs community, you’ll also be in touch with fellow volunteers who you can share experiences and stories with along the way.
Once our dogs complete all their training, they’ll either be matched with someone with sight loss or given a more suitable future career if being a guide dog isn’t for them.
All you need to do is visit the postcode search box above and type in your postcode. A list of available roles in your area will come up and you just click apply on the right one for you. You will then be taken through the application form and then you click submit at the end.
The minimum age to volunteer with our dogs is 18.
You can call our volunteering office 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday.
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