Follow an amazing puppy's journey to transform a life

How your sponsorship will help

As Canine Partners receives no government funding, we rely solely on public donations and legacies to keep creating these life-transforming partnerships. We have lots of very deserving people on our waiting list, who want a canine partner to help them regain their independence, but we can only help them with your support.

Each partnership costs £30,000, from selection as a puppy right through to the dog's retirement.

Your sponsorship will help cover the £7,500 it costs to take an amazing puppy on its initial journey to the start of advanced training.

Frequently asked questions

• How long does a My Amazing Puppy sponsorship last?

  We'll send you an introduction pack when you first join, which will include a cute dog toy, a certificate and a gorgeous photograph of your chosen puppy. We'll then send you further 'Pupdates' throughout the year to let you know how your chosen puppy is progressing with their vital first training steps. Once your chosen puppy has moved on to start advanced training your sponsorship will automatically transfer to one of our newest puppy recruits.

• How often will I receive Pupdates?

  You will receive your first pupdate a few months after you join the programme. You will the receive your other pupdates every four months.

• What happens after 12 months?

  After 12 months your canine partner puppy will move on into advanced training. At this point we will contact you to offer you another puppy to sponsor and will write to you with his or her details. Advanced training takes approximately three months and this is where our amazing dogs turn everything they learnt with their volunteer puppy parent into the skills that will enable them to go on and transform the life of someone with a disability.

• Can I sponsor more than one Canine Partners puppy?

  Absolutely! We will always have two puppies for you to sponsor, and these will change on a four monthly basis, so you will be able to sponsor as many Canine Partners puppies as you like!

• Do you always use Labrador puppies for canine partners?

  The most widely used breeds for a canine partner are Labradors, golden retrievers or Labrador/retriever crosses. We do have some poodle crosses to support those partnerships that may suffer from allergies.

• How is my money used?

  Your generous donation(s) will go towards funding the puppy training of a Canine Partners puppy. This money will help towards covering the cost of puppy food, training and veterinary bills.

• Can I Gift Aid my membership?

  If you're a UK taxpayer all you need to do is complete the Gift Aid information as you sign up for membership. We can then claim Gift Aid on all donations you have made in the last four calendar years until further notice. To qualify for Gift Aid you must pay an amount of UK Income and/or Capital Gains Tax equal to the amount we reclaim on your donations in that tax year. Please notify us if your tax circumstances change. Thank you.

• Are these real Canine Partner puppies in training?

  Whichever puppy you choose to sponsor is a real Canine Partner puppy (with their names changed to protect the personal information of those involved.) Due to the nature of training, our sponsorship scheme operates in a retrospective way. As much as we’d love to, we’re not able to offer sponsorship of dogs currently in training as part of My Amazing Puppy - only dogs who have already successfully completed their training. This is because some of the puppies currently in training may not succeed in becoming Jacketed Assistance Dogs, which would create admin costs for us, and disappointment for our donors. We can reassure you that your donations are going towards the care and training of the amazing puppies that our Puppy Parent volunteers are working with right now.

• Am I the only person sponsoring this Canine Partners puppy?

  It costs £7,500 to put a future working canine partner puppy through its puppy training, so the idea of our My Amazing Puppy scheme is to give you and others like you the opportunity to help co-fund the training of one of our amazing puppies.

• Will I be able to meet my puppy?

  While we understand how exciting it would be to meet your sponsored puppy, unfortunately this isn’t something we’re able to offer. That’s because the My Amazing Puppy sponsored dogs have already finished their training and are now busy supporting people with disabilities. Bringing them back for meet-and-greets could risk disrupting their work and their important bond with their partners.

  You are also more than welcome to join us at one of our open days where you’ll be able to watch a real-life demonstration of how we train our dogs and the life-changing tasks they can offer people living with disabilities.