Puppy Parent Volunteer

Canine Partners is a registered charity that transforms the lives of people with physical disabilities by partnering them with assistance dogs. Our amazing dogs bring a greater independence and quality of life to their partners, offering support, security, companionship, and practical help with everyday household tasks.

Canine Partners are looking for caring family homes in North Surrey to raise, socialise and train puppies and young dogs up to the age of 18 months old. Ideally with-in 45 minutes’ of GU16 post code.
 
If you can support Canine Partners by helping raise and train one of our puppies or dogs, we would love to hear from you.
By volunteering you will:
o Be a valued member of our Charity
o Know that you are integrally involved in the care and training of a dog that will change the life of a person waiting for their Canine Partner
o Benefit from the companionship and enjoyment of having a dog in your life without lifelong commitment or costs associated with dog ownership
o Have the opportunity to meet like-minded people
Opportunity to develop your knowledge of puppy development and training

 

 
What is involved?
We consider this a full time volunteer role as the puppy / dog will live with you from 8 weeks old until it is ready to progress into advanced training. This is between 14 to 18 months old
 Be available for and attend training session that will involve:
o home visits
o virtual online training
o one-to-ones
o regular group puppy training classes
 Regular visits within your local community to various environments to expose the puppy to the following conditions in order to socialise them: busy town environments, car travel, public transport, children, cats, other dogs (different breeds), and other domestic animals
With our guidance, support and advice from our expert trainers, they will teach you the fundamentals of puppy socialisation as well as simple commands and exercises. For example:
o Home behaviour
o Social behaviour
o Walking on a lead
o Off lead exercise
o General obedience
 Maintaining the dog’s health and welfare and, via support and training, to recognise behaviour/health concerns and report them immediately to your Canine Partners trainer
What we require from you
 The primary puppy parent must be 18 years or over
 Have a dog friendly secure garden and a designated dog toileting area (this will be discussed during interview)
 If you are a dog owner, you can have two pet dogs of suitable temperament. Your pet dogs will be assessed as part of the home assessment. They must be over 18 months of age
 At home for most of the day and live within 45 minutes of the requested location
 Time to provide the puppy with the socialisation and education it needs in order to prepare it for advanced training
 Stamina to manage an young active puppy / dog
 Access to own transport to travel to classes and training locations on a regular basis
 Understand that the dog in your care remains under the ownership of Canine Partners
 
Support and Training
 Induction process which includes submitting of information form, telephone interview, home visit, training and handling sessions
 Each volunteer is allocated a Canine Partners trainer as their first point of contact
 Receive regular training, resources and other important information via your trainer, this may be in the format of physical copies, digital or in person
 No previous dog ownership experience is needed but you must meet the criteria listed above to be considered
 Holiday cover arranged
 Payment of expenditure such as mileage to and from a training session with a Canine Partner representative
 Invitation to join our Official Canine Partners Community Facebook Group

Mission Statement

We will change the lives of disabled people using expertly trained dogs to improve physical, emotional and social wellbeing.