Puppy Raiser

• Guide Dogs Scotland

• VO102884

As a Puppy Raiser, you'll provide a 6-8 week-old puppy with the vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog. You'll be looking after a puppy for 12-16 months and will guide him or her through training, socialisation, the introduction of new environments and experiences while providing a loving home.

There might be the odd chewed slipper along the way, but nothing beats the rewarding feeling of loving and raising a puppy who will go on to make an enormous difference to someone living with sight loss.

You’ll be:

• Engaging with our world-class training programme to prepare your puppy for the next stages of becoming a guide dog


• Providing care and support for your puppy at home eg, loving, grooming and feeding him or her


• Socialising your puppy and introducing him or her to a variety of environments to increase confidence – this can be as simple as taking your puppy with you to the shops, office or park as you go about your everyday life


• Teaching your puppy to be comfortable alone - gradually building up from a few minutes to a maximum of four hours


• Taking your puppy to monthly puppy classes and interacting with other puppy raisers in your community whilst refreshing your training and sharing tips


• Meeting with your Volunteer Manager as frequently as needed to discuss any changes or issues with your puppy

An ideal puppy raiser would have:

• A loving home with enough time to invest in raising a puppy and attending to their needs (eg, toilet training). If you work from home or have hobbies, you'll need to be available to give the puppy regular attention alongside these


• Someone at home who is physically able to handle large breed dogs (around 25-40 kg)


• Access to a car, so that you can get your puppy used to travelling


• The agreement of your landlord to have a dog in the property if you rent your home


• A safe secure area outside for your puppy to go to the toilet

As a volunteer you'll have access to our world-class training programme, to implement with your puppy in training, a great bonus for any dog owner! This is delivered in an interactive and engaging manner, using a mixture of different learning techniques virtually eg, videos, documents and e-learning modules.

Examples of the modules you'll have access to include:

• Food manners


• Greeting new visitors


• Being home alone


• Settling in new environments

You'll receive plenty of support from your volunteer manager who will help you work through these training modules with your puppy. We also offer puppy classes for puppy raisers in the local area to get together, share stories and provide refreshers on training techniques.

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any expenses related to volunteering with us, including veterinary costs, food costs for the puppy and other materials needed for the puppy’s training. We will also pay an optional allowance of up to £100 a year to offset additional costs, and we have working agreements with certain bus and train operating companies, letting you take your puppy on short training journeys free of charge.

For more information or to apply, visit www.guidedogs.org.uk/puppyraiser.

Travel details

At your home, in your local area.

• About
• Location
• Notes

Restrictions

Minimum age: 18
Children under 16 are not allowed to walk the puppy but we encourage the whole family to be involved in some of the puppy’s development.

Volunteers (aged 18-25) taking part in this opportunity are eligible to claim Saltire Awards hours for their activity.
Find out more

This volunteering opportunity is also advertised across East Renfrewshire.

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