Good Dog! FAQs

Good Dog! is a 12-month subscription of expert dog training and welfare advice from Guide Dogs, suitable for dogs of all ages. Including behavioural training, enrichment tips, plus fun ideas and treats for dog and owner along the way, all designed to support the relationship between happy, well-behaved dogs and the owners who love them.

You will receive:

• Monthly emails with videos, tips and activities to enjoy with your dog across 12 months.
• A welcome pack through the post, introducing you to the methods our guide dog trainers use, as well as your very own Guide Dogs clicker and some tasty rewards so you can get started straight away.
• Four seasonal packs through your letterbox full of tips and special gifts to help you make the most of each season.
• A graduation pack to celebrate reaching 12 months.
• The content is month specific and all subscribers will get the same communication as each other each month. It is not a cumulative training course. 

Most of the packs will fit, however, on occasions it may be a tight squeeze and it will need to be delivered in person.

After you’ve completed your 12 months of Good Dog! and received your final thank you pack, we hope you’ll continue to support our mission to create a world where people with sight loss can live the life they choose by continuing your monthly payment which we will receive as a donation.

Currently £10 is the fixed amount subscribers pay each month for Good Dog!, at this time you can not pay any more or any less. 

Good Dog! is currently only available via Direct Debit and we’re unable to accept one-off payments.

Good Dog is for every dog owner - whether you are looking to make improvements to your dog’s behaviour, learn new things or even just gain some tips on strengthening your bond with your faithful friend – Good Dog! can help.

Good Dog! is designed to introduce a selection of guide dogs training behaviours to pet dog owners and therefore cannot be used to train a guide dog.  

Unfortunately, the content available as part of the Good Dog! subscription is the only training or welfare advice we currently have available to the public. If you require additional support, please consult other resources. 

We use reward-based training methods (or positive reinforcement training – PRT) to teach our dogs. We praise and reward when they get it right and help them to make the right decisions. Our training methods involve the use of a clicker or marker word which is used to communicate to the dog the exact moment when the behaviour is carried out. By doing this, the training is fun, and they learn quickly to repeat the behaviour which results in praise or treats.

At Guide Dogs, we want a society in which people who are blind and partially sighted enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else. There are around 5,000 guide dog partnerships in the UK and this is only possible because of the generous support from people like you. We couldn’t do it without you! Your Good Dog! subscription will help raise vital funds to help Guide Dogs to support people living with visual impairment. For example £10 could:

• Support a guide dog partnership for a day.
• Pay for a child living with visual impairment to visit a sensory play centre.
• Buy a grooming kit to help keep a guide dog feeling and looking great.

Once you have signed up to Good Dog! by Direct Debit, your ongoing subscription will continue every month until you contact us or your bank and ask for it to be stopped. After 12 months, as you won’t be receiving anything further from Good Dog!, your payment will become a donation, but this requires no action from you unless you wish to change the amount or stop your donation.

If you have cancelled your Direct Debit payment for Good Dog! you cannot reinstate it at the point you stopped making payments. You will have to start the full 12-month subscription again. 

Your welcome pack should arrive within 10 working days after ordering but can take up to 28 working days. If you still have not received it after this time, please contact our friendly Supporter Care team on 0800 953 0113 and they will be happy to help or email us at gooddog@guidedogs.org.uk.

If you stop receiving your Good Dog! emails within 12 months of signing up please get in touch with us on 0800 953 0113 or at gooddog@guidedogs.org.uk and we will look into it for you. 

Good Dog! is only available for UK residents.

Unfortunately, Good Dog! Is not yet available to buy as a gift for someone else. 

At Guide Dogs we really care about reducing our environmental impact and are pleased to say that over 70% of the Good Dog! pack content is recyclable and/or made from responsible sources, including the box, tissue paper, the booklet and cards. We hope you will get as much use out of the gift as you can and although the EDUC is currently not recyclable it carries the Green Dot symbol.

After your first 12 payments, your monthly gift becomes a donation and as such potentially becomes eligible for Gift Aid. You can make your gifts go further, at no cost to you, through the Gift Aid scheme. As long as you are a UK taxpayer, Guide Dogs can reclaim 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate.

For us to reclaim the tax, you must be a UK taxpayer and have paid enough income or capital gains tax in the financial year to cover the amount we’ll reclaim. If you’re retired or don’t work, you are likely to pay some form of tax on your savings or pension, so you may still be eligible. A declaration can cover the last four years’ donations and any future donations, until further notice.
To download a copy of our Gift Aid declaration form please follow this link. Further information about Gift Aid can be found by visiting our Gift Aid Frequently Asked Questions.

If you would like to update your address or contact preferences please contact our Supporter Care team at guidedogs@guidedogs.org.uk or call us on freephone 0800 953 0113. The team are available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and are always happy to help with any queries!

Please be aware that once we have amended your record it can take up to six weeks for mail and 30 days for phone and email changes to take full effect.

We understand that circumstances can change and that you may not be able to or wish to continue with your Good Dog! subscription. So, you can of course cancel your Direct Debit at any time by notifying your bank and emailing us at guidedogs@guidedogs.org.uk or by calling Supporter care on 0800 953 0113 to let us know. 

If you are still in the first 12 months of your subscription you will no longer receive the packs and email updates after cancellation.

Once you have signed up to Good Dog! you will receive two emails. The first one confirms your Direct Debit details and the second contains an introduction to your subscription plus links to your first two exclusive training videos. If you don’t receive these within 24hrs of signing up please firstly check your junk or spam folders and then email us at gooddog@guidedogs.org.uk. 

The subscription contains a range of training behaviours, tips and advice which is suited to all ages of dogs, including a range of advice from our puppy raising programme PREP (Puppy Raising for Excellent Partnerships) which prepares puppies for their adult training and future roles as life-changers.

Our monthly communications are sent on the last Monday of each month so when you will get your first one will depend on when you sign up to Good Dog! If you join the subscription in the second half of the month there is a chance you will start your monthly communications at the end of the following month – but don’t worry! You will receive your Welcome Pack in the meantime which should keep you and your dog busy! If you want to find out more details just email us at gooddog@guidedogs.org.uk.