Frequently asked questions

Simply visit Sponsor a Puppy and complete your details online. You will receive a welcome pack in the mail and through regular updates you will get to watch your puppy pack transform from cute eight-week-old pups into life changing Seeing Eye Dogs.

A Seeing Eye Dogs puppy sponsorship makes a wonderful gift for someone special. To make sure we can keep it a surprise and get all their details, you will need to contact our Donor Care Team via email at [email protected] or call 1800 422 007. This will allow us to send the welcome pack and progress updates directly to your loved one.

Your sponsorship provides a reliable, ongoing source of support. This stability enables us to plan ahead and ensure the continued care, training, and development of life changing Seeing Eye Dogs for people who are blind or have low vision.

Your sponsorship support helps fund essential aspects of the Seeing Eye Dogs program, supporting puppy health and training for the best chance for success. Sponsorship funds are used for vet treatments, vaccinations, and ongoing care to keep the puppies healthy and safe. 

It also supports follow-up visits, ongoing training, and assistance for clients and their dogs. The funds contribute to highly specialised training at our National Training Centre in Victoria and staff on-site to feed, care for, and enrich the puppies’ lives. Additionally, your sponsorship supports the equipment needed for graduating dogs, such as special harnesses and leads.

Seeing Eye Dogs puppies are generally named alphabetically according to litter for example, the ‘A’ litter might be Amy, Ascot, Angela, Abbie, Arty and Aztec then the next litter will be ‘B’ litter with Bear, Bertie, Belle, and Bosco. We cycle from A-Z but sometimes skip tricky letters like Q and X.  We only reuse a name once the dog has been career changed or released so no two active dogs in our puppy, breeding or training programs or any working Seeing Eye Dog have the same name. The names are usually only two syllables and easy to pronounce or call.

Your welcome pack, containing your first update from your sponsor puppy, photos, stickers and more, should arrive within 3 weeks of becoming a Puppy Sponsor.

We'll send you quarterly photos, videos and training updates on how your Seeing Eye Dog puppy is progressing. Your updates will be sent to you through the post and via email. You’ll also be able to access an exclusive ‘puppy sponsor only’ page to see videos and more from your pup’s.

Alternatively, you can opt for a paperless journey and only receive email updates by contacting our Donor Care Team via email at [email protected] or call 1800 422 007.

Sponsorship of each ‘pack’ lasts around 18 months, following the pups from 8-weeks of age right through to their formal training and graduation as a fully-fledged Seeing Eye Dog.

But your sponsorship doesn’t end when your puppy pack graduates. We’ll introduce you to a brand new ‘spokespuppy’ and your payments will automatically continue unless you cancel, allowing uninterrupted support. 

Training to become a Seeing Eye Dog is a very thorough process and not all dogs have the special skills or temperament required for the role. If a dog isn’t suited to life as a service dog or has ongoing health issues, they will be reclassified to a new role. We call this a ‘career change’ and it may include training with another accredited Assistance Dogs program (for a therapy dog role) or being adopted as a pet. We take the decision to withdraw a dog from training very seriously, always prioritising the welfare and safety of both the dogs and people who they support. However, our success rate is internationally recognised, and our team works hard to ensure the best career match for each dog. See 'About our dogs’ to learn more about the Seeing Eye Dogs training journey.  

Unfortunately, no. It's important that each Seeing Eye Dog puppy concentrates fully on its training with minimal distractions to give them to best chance at becoming a working dog. However, please remember that you'll be kept in touch every step of the way through regular updates. You’ll get plenty of videos, photos and updates from your pup’s volunteer carer to stay informed on their progress.

It costs more than $50,000 to breed, care for, and train a puppy to become a fully qualified Seeing Eye Dog. To make this possible, we operate a co-sponsorship program, allowing you and other generous supporters to share in funding the training for a litter of pups and other critical aspects of our work.

If your puppy doesn’t graduate and isn’t suited to become a working dog for another organisation, it will be rehomed with a loving family. You can learn about the process for adopting a ‘career change dog’ here or view the current dogs available for adoption. 

Yes, all puppy sponsorship donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. We’ll send you an annual receipt in July for donations made during the financial year. 

You can securely update your details online through our donor portal: https://donate.visionaustralia.org/login. Alternatively, you can update your details by contacting our Donor Care Team via email at [email protected] or call 1800 422 007. 

We understand that circumstances can change and that you may not be able to continue sponsoring a puppy with us. You can of course cancel your sponsorship at any time by contacting our Donor Care Team via email at [email protected] or call 1800 422 007. 

We’re always looking for caring individuals to look after our puppies in training. For more information on how to become a puppy carer, learn about becoming a volunteer or register for a puppy caring information session.  

Yes! If you're interested in making a significant contribution to support the training of a Seeing Eye Dog, you may have the special opportunity to name a puppy. This option is not included in our general puppy sponsorship program, so please contact our donor care team on 1800 422 077 to learn more.