Puppy Walking
Help socialise tomorrow's guide dogs. Become a puppy walker in the Guide Dog Puppy Development Programme.
We place around 100 puppies each year with volunteer puppy walkers. Their important role is to socialise the young dogs, introduce them to situations they will encounter as guide dogs and provide them with love, care, and confidence during their first 12 months of life.
The puppy then returns to the Guide Dog Centre for four to six months of training where it is assessed on a variety of different personality and temperament traits, health aspects and guiding tasks.
You can apply to be a puppy walker if you:
- Do not work full-time
- Have a suitable and safe environment for a puppy
- Live near a main city centre
Guide dog puppies need:
- Company most of the day
- A safe, fenced section
- To sleep inside
If you would like to become a puppy walker a puppy development staff member will interview you, assess your home for safety and discuss what is involved. Ongoing support is provided through the Puppy Development Department and includes:
- Monthly visits
- Food and equipment
- Free vet visits
- Free registration through Animal Management, Manukau City Council
- Regular opportunities to compare notes and meet with other puppy walkers
Free board is available at the Guide Dog Centre if you go on holiday and can't take the puppy with you. Air New Zealand kindly lets your puppy accompany you at no cost when travelling within New Zealand.
As a puppy walker, your guide dog puppy should accompany you almost everywhere you go. That's how they learn!
Guide dogs, guide dogs in training, guide dog puppies and breeding stock are legally allowed into any public place and on any public vehicle, so being a puppy walker won't restrict your activities.
There are always puppies to love!
To find out more about Guide Dog Services or becoming a puppy walker please contact us at:
Freepost 70894
RNZFB Guide Dog Services
Private Bag 94002
South Auckland Mail Service Centre
ph: 09 269 0400
email: gds
website: www.rnzfb.org.nz
Each guide dog costs over $22,500 to breed, raise, train and match to a blind, deafblind or vision-impaired person and are provided free of charge to RNZFB members.
Guide Dog Services receives no government funding. Costs are covered solely by public donations, sponsorships and legacies. A monthly gift of $15 or more as a Puppypal will make a huge difference.
To become a Puppypal, make a donation or leave a bequest please contact us at:
Freepost 70894
Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
Private Bag 99910
Newmarket, Auckland
ph: 09 355 6900 or 0800 DONATE (366 283)
email: funding
website: www.rnzfb.org.nz