Community companion volunteer volunteer volunteer roles in Nottingham

Are you a dog lover? Do you have the time to help raise a life-changing puppy? Would you like to make a difference to someone's life? If you've answered yes to these questions, then this role could be perfect for you! 

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.

What you'll be doing:

• 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 e.g., 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.
• Completing short questionnaires about your puppy’s development.

You'll ideally have:

• A loving home with enough time to invest in raising a puppy and attending to their needs (e.g. 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 25-40kg).
• 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.

What you'll get:

• The satisfaction of knowing you're supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.
• The rewarding feeling of watching a mischievous puppy learn new training techniques to help them develop into a guide dog.
• The opportunity to participate in our bespoke world-class training programme – this can help you train your own dogs or advance a future career in dog handling.
• The opportunity to have a loveable, canine companion, proven to reduce feelings of stress and improve fitness – you’ll be out walking rain or shine!
• The chance to be part of the inspirational Guide Dogs community, meeting like-minded people and interacting with a community of puppy raisers in your area.
• A dedicated volunteer manager and fellow peers who will help support you throughout your role.

s 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 e.g., 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 pre-agreed 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.

Minimum age of applicant: 18.

To find out if this role is available in your area, please click 'Redirect to recruiter' at the top or bottom of the page, and use the postcode search function on the Guide Dogs website to explore local opportunities.

Are you a dog lover with room in your home to look after a dog during evenings and weekends? This could be the perfect role for you!

As a Training Dog Fosterer, you’ll provide a loving temporary home to a dog in training, typically for a period of 12 to 20 weeks, as they begin their journey to become a guide dog. You’ll get to see the progress your furry companion is making in their training and be a vital part of their journey, without the commitment of looking after a dog full time.

What you’ll be doing:

In this rewarding role, your support for a guide dog in training will include:

• Doing the school run for your dog in training! This will typically involve dropping them off and picking them up at an agreed time Monday to Friday at one of our regional centres or community teams, however, some sites may vary. There are some locations where we will be able to collect and return the training dog from your home. 
• Caring for your dog in your home such as feeding, grooming, free running and playing, following the advice of our expert staff.
• Helping your dog keep up with their training by reinforcing the techniques at home from our first-class training programme.
• Making sure your dog is not left alone for more than four hours in a 24-hour period. If you’re planning on going on holiday, let us know at your initial phone call so we can plan alternative cover for your future life changer.

Can I foster a dog?

If you’re hoping to foster a guide dog in training, here’s what we ideally look for:

• Being close to one of our regional centres or community teams so that your dog can get to their training. 
• The agreement of your landlord to have a dog in your home if you rent your home.
• A safe and secure area outside for the dog to go to the toilet.

However, we try to be flexible – for example, you’ll still be able to foster a dog if you live in London, even if you don’t have access to outside space. 

What you’ll get:

• The opportunity to have a lovable canine companion!
• The satisfaction in knowing you’re supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.
• The rewarding feeling of seeing your dog learn new training techniques to help them develop into a guide dog.
• An insight into our bespoke world-class training programme so that your dog’s training stays consistent at home, which can also help you train your own dogs or advance in a future career in dog handling.
• The opportunity to be part of the Guide Dogs community, meeting like-minded people in your area.
• A dedicated volunteer manager and fellow peers who will help support you throughout your role.

Training and support

You’ll attend a training workshop to understand the basics of our bespoke training techniques so you can confidently support your dog’s training at home. You’ll also receive ongoing guidance from your volunteer manager. If you have questions about the training requirements, we can answer these at your initial phone call along with any other support or accessibility needs you may have.

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any pre-agreed expenses related to volunteering with us, including veterinary costs, dog food costs and other materials needed for your dog’s training.

Minimum age for volunteer is 18.

We also have a respite fosterer role available in some areas, where a dog would stay with you full time before moving on to the next stage of its journey.

Please check out our website by clicking 'redirect to recruiter' at the top or bottom of this page to see what roles are available where you live.

If you have space in your home and heart, for a guide dog mum who will be bringing the next generation of guide dogs in the world, then this could be the role for you! A role where you can care and nurture for a guide dog mum and plenty of little puppies when they arrive. 

This role is available in areas of Berkshire, South Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire.

What you’ll be doing: 

• Providing a loving home for a guide dog mum who will be at least 12 months old, for around six years whilst they are in the breeding programme (with the option to re-home after this, once the guide dog mum retires at around 7 years-old.) 
• Giving a guide dog mum the care and support that our canine companions need, like feeding and grooming.
• Creating a safe environment for the guide dog mum when they are giving birth within your home and helping with the birth of future guide dogs, which usually happens once a year. (You don’t need any previous experience of breeding or having dogs – we have expert staff who will help you!) 
• Providing care and support for the newborn puppies for at least 6 weeks while they are still in the nest, including socialising them to the new sounds and first-time experiences in your home.

Can I care for a guide dog mum? 

If you want to care for a guide dog mum, here's what we ideally look for:

• A loving home with a secure garden.
• Access to a car, to support with any appointments needed for the guide dog mum.
• Live within an hour’s drive of the National Centre in Leamington Spa.

Guide dog mums can happily live with other dogs or children, however we wouldn’t place them with a male dog that has not been neutered. To determine whether you are suitable, we will conduct a home visit as part of the application process. 

What you’ll get:

• The opportunity to have a lovable canine companion!
• The satisfaction of knowing you’re supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.
• The rewarding experience of bringing the next generation of guide dogs in the world and caring for their mum.
• Our volunteers have access to our bespoke training techniques to implement with their guide dog mum a great bonus for any dog owners! 
• The opportunity to be part of the Guide Dogs community, meeting like-minded people in your area.
• A dedicated volunteer manager and fellow peers who will help support you throughout your role.

Training and support

Our volunteers also receive lots of support from their volunteer managers to help them implement the training modules, as well as managing the birth of new-born puppies. If you have questions about the training requirements, we can answer these at your interview along with any other support or accessibility needs you may have.

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any pre-agreed expenses related to the litter or your volunteering with us, including veterinary costs, food costs or any specialist breeding equipment.  All you may need to buy is a bed and grooming equipment.

Minimum age of volunteer: 18.

To find out if this role is available in your area, please click 'Redirect to recruiter' at the top or bottom of the page, and use the postcode search function on the Guide Dogs website to explore local opportunities.