After many happy years as a working assistance dog, we start looking at retirement. Dogs naturally start to slow down as they get older so we keep an eye on how they are coping with their work. The dog’s Instructor starts to talk about semi-retirement at around 9 years old. Most dogs officially retire at 11 or 12 years old.
Some clients like to keep the dog if they are able to. Others arrange for him to be re-homed with family or close friends. If these options are not possible then we have a long list of people who would like to re-home our retired dogs.
Because of the invaluable help assistance dogs give, many people request another dog and are matched to a successor dog. Meet one of our successor dog partnerships.
Giving a home to a retired working dog or a withdrawn dog in training is a valuable and rewarding experience. We look for people who have owned dogs before and have experience and patience, plus live within one hours’ drive of our centre in Banbury.
Retired assistance dogs
Our dogs are normally retired at about 9+ years old. Dogs in their twilight years can give many years of companionship but there are additional considerations to be made when re-homing an older dog. It is likely that the dog will require more veterinary visits and it may need a special diet. Our retired dogs are re-homed with a minimum donation of £20.
Withdrawn dogs
Sadly not all of our dogs meet the high standards required to become assistance dogs and from time to time we have to withdraw a dog from training. Withdrawal occurs for either behavioural or health reasons. If the reasons are behavioural then they will often need additional training from their new owners. If a dog is withdrawn due to health reasons then we will discuss these in detail with you so you are fully aware of the type and severity. The cost of a dog withdrawn from training is a minimum donation of £150.
Rehoming list
Due to the high volume of enquiries, the rehoming list is closed until further notice.