Supporting the work of Guide Dog Services
Can you volunteer?
Guide dogs are one of the most well-known services the RNZFB offers. And there are many opportunities to get involved in supporting the work of Guide Dog Services by volunteering your time.
Breeding stock guardians
A small percentage of guide dogs that excel in several areas of selection are chosen to parent the next generation of guide dogs. Breeding stock guardians take responsibility for providing a family home for one of these dogs, caring for it and making it available for public relations and guide dog programme requirements. Ideally, we prefer you to live near to our South Auckland centre and you need to commit to having your dog for the duration of its life.
Volunteers find it rewarding to follow the progress of 'their' dog's litters through the years. If you are interested, contact Guide Dog Services on 09 269 0400 or email: gds
Once you have been interviewed, accepted and given a dog, Guide Dog Services will continue to support you and provide food and equipment, veterinary care (including worming and vaccinations), dog registration (through Animal Management at Manukau City Council), and boarding for your dog if you go on holiday and can't take it with you.
Puppy walking
You can help to train a guide dog of the future. Each year Guide Dog Services places around 90 puppies with volunteer puppy walkers to provide the puppies with love, care, socialisation and confidence in their first 12-18 months of life.
Puppies need:
- Love and companionship
- To be treated like a member of the family and to be housed inside
- Regular and frequent walks and socialisation
You can apply to be a puppy walker if:
- You are over the age of 16
- You have a fully fenced, dog-proof section
- You live in suitable environment to raise a dog
- You do not work full time and therefore have enough time to correctly socialise a puppy to the required standard
- You are physically able to socialise and control a dog
- There is no more than one pre-schooler in the house
Puppy Development staff will interview you at your home to assess your home for safety and to discuss what is involved. Once you have been accepted and have been given a puppy, Guide Dog Services will continue to support you and provide monthly visits, food and equipment, veterinary care (including worming and vaccinations), dog registration (through Animal Management at Manukau City Council), and boarding for your dog if you go on holiday and can't take your puppy with you.
As a puppy walker you get regular opportunities to compare notes and meet with other puppy walkers and breeding stock guardians. To become a puppy walker email gds, phone 09 269 0400.
Adopt a dog
At different stages of their lives and for various reasons, our dogs
will need a career change. Usually this is because they need to be
retired from working guide dog life for health reasons, or simply
through old age. Sometimes it's our younger dogs who have shown that
they are not suitable for guide dog work and have been withdrawn from
the training programme.
This is when we look to place our dogs in new, permanent homes where they will be well looked after and thought of as one of the family. With the right home environment these dogs can make wonderful pets.
Find
out more about adopting a dog
Kennel and Boarding Services
The tasks allocated to the generous people who volunteer their time to help out in the guide dog kennel facility may include:
- grooming dogs
- assisting with free-running and walking dogs
- assisting with cleaning of the kennel facility
- refreshing water buckets
- laundry - endless towels and blankets to be washed and dried
- helping with cleaning up after the dogs have toileted
- weighing and bathing dogs
- washing dog feeding bowls after meal times
- spending one on one time with dogs - TLC.
We typically get people who just love dogs and are in a position to offer a few hours or more each week. 8am to 11am weekday mornings are particularly busy with cleaning, but every little bit helps. Anyone interested should contact GDS enquiries, 09 269 0400 or email gds
If you are interested in short or long term boarding of dogs at your home, you can apply if you are over the age of 16, have a fully fenced, dog-proof section, live in suitable environment to raise a dog, and are physically able to control a dog. You will be provided with the same level of support as outlined above.