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Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is a national charity dedicated to supporting visually impaired people, as well as families of children with autism.

Established in 1967, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind has grown to become one of the most renowned, beloved and trusted charities in Ireland. At the heart of their mission is the drive to help people become more independent, more mobile and live more fulfilling lives.

This charity’s life-changing services include:

  • Guide Dogs for people who are vision impaired
  • Assistance Dogs for families of children with autism
  • Orientation and Mobility Programme
  • Independent Living Skills
  • Child Mobility Programme

As a valued, long-term partner of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Royal Canin is the main food supplier for all of their dogs in training and client dogs. Our complete and nutritionally balanced formulas play a vital role in maintaining their dogs’ ongoing health and wellbeing. This means that Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind can continue to provide meaningful support for those clients who need it.

Find out how you can help

The success of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is built on a foundation of community support. 85% of this charity’s income comes from fundraising and charitable donations from all over the country.

You can give your support to this charity in a number of valuable ways, including:

  • Fundraising – Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind has over 1,500 Volunteers located all over the country. These teams plan and run a variety of fundraising events in their local communities including street collections, shopping centre table sales of gift items, raffle ticket sales, collection box distribution and collection, church gate collections, fun sponsored events and sports, table quizzes, golf classics, dinner dances and much more.
  • Sponsorship – Individuals or Corporates can sponsor the training of a pup as it aims to become a Guide or Assistance Dog.
  • Corporate Partnership – Whether you are a small company wanting to support a specific project, or a large company looking for a strategic relationship, the charity can tailor an innovative corporate partnership to match your needs and provide a good fit with your core values.
  • Home socialising – This involves taking two 7-week-old puppies for a week and introducing them to all sorts of sounds and experiences so they are strong and ready to move onto Puppy Raising.
  • Puppy Raising – Puppy Raisers have a pivotal role in helping a pup become a Guide or Assistance Dog by fostering one of the puppies from age 7-8 weeks until approximately 12-15 months. It gives you an opportunity to learn new dog training skills from the Early Training Team and the challenge and reward of changing someone’s life.
  • Breeding Dog Holding – Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind own their own breeding colony. Volunteers across the country hold brood bitches and stud dogs in their homes which involves caring for these dogs as part of your family, and facilitating their travel to the Training Centre in Cork for breeding.
  • Temporary boarding – To give their dogs the best chance of success, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is always looking for Temporary Boarding Volunteers who live or work within the local area of their Training Centre on Model Farm Road in Cork. These Volunteers drop the dogs off for ‘school’ in the morning at the Training Centre and collect them at the end of the day.
  • Gifts in Will – Leaving a life-changing gift in your Will is an amazing act of kindness and a powerful way of transforming someone’s life. Your gift is greatly valued and significantly helps us continue the charity’s vital work.
  • Rehoming – Not all dogs born and entering the training programmes qualify as Guide or Assistance Dogs. From time to time there is a need to rehome dogs that have been withdrawn from training or retired from working life. The future care and welfare of the dogs is of upmost importance.
  • Headquarters crew – With a very busy office and a huge number of projects and activities happening all the time, Volunteers are always needed to help out.
  • Kennels – Kennels Volunteers support the Dog Care and Welfare team in a number of roles that include activities such as play sessions, grooming, walking, preparing feeds, cleaning kennels, and maintenance work.

Give support now.