Sponsor Dobby and transform a deaf person's life

Close up head shot of Dobby, a brown and white cocker spaniel puppy

Sponsor this cute Cockapoo from just £8 a month and you’ll receive a fantastic welcome pack, regular updates throughout his training journey, and exclusive Pupdates in our Puppy Pen blog. You will also be helping people to live well with hearing loss.

Sponsor Dobby from £8 a month

Close up of cockapoo puppy Dobby resting over a woman's shoulder

Puppy Dobby runs toward the camera across a grassy lawn.

Cockapoo pup Dobby sitting on grass wearing a too large hearing dogs vest,

Dobby walking toward the camera across a living room floor. toys in the background

Cockapoo Dobby walking towards camera, tail up and wagging. Cuddly toys are seen in the background.

Close up of brown and white cockapoo pup Dobby, blurred greenery in the background

Close up of floppy eared pup Dobby looking down to the side

Sponsor Dobby: Delightful Dobby has some hilarious habits

It’s Dobby! And he’s as loyal and lovable as everyone’s favourite house elf. With his curly coat, freckly face and fabulous ears, this gorgeous rusty-red boy is confident and curious, seeking out new experiences and learning quickly. His volunteer, Julie, says he settled in straight away: “He didn’t show any signs of nervousness. His playful personality shone through from the start.”

One of Dobby’s favourite games is finding treats hidden in upside-down yoghurt pots. Another is collecting socks – just like his namesake – and taking them to his bed. If socks are in short supply, he’ll cuddle up with his favourite Peppa Pig plushie, snoring and snuffling in his sleep.

Dobby loves nothing better than energetic play. But he can do calm and gentle too: he meets new dogs politely and is always kind and courteous with his cat friends.

Loyal, kind, confident and keen. Dobby definitely has the potential to be a great hearing dog. Could you help Dobby take his next steps to becoming a life-changing partner for a deaf person? You can help him keep living life to the full, having great fun while he learns and grows.

Whom will Dobby befriend next? Which new environments will he discover? And how many more socks will he collect? Sponsor Dobby today to find out!

A man wearing a shorts and blue tshirt is sitting on porch steps with a white cockapoo dog — Peter and his hearing dog Arya

How your puppy sponsorship will help

You'll help a puppy become a life-changing hearing dog. They'll stop a deaf person feeling isolated and alone, and alert them to sounds they can't hear including the doorbell and the fire alarm.

Start your Puppy Sponsorship

Very small fluffy white Spaniel puppy with light brown ears holding a soft toy duck in her mouth in a room with a dog bed and some other toys in the background

Sponsor for £8 a month

£8 a month could pay for lots of yummy treats and exciting toys to reward your clever puppy during their training.

Young black Labrador looking to the left with a small hurdle and some cones in front of her and a person to the left, only their legs are visible.

Sponsor for £10 a month

£10 a month could pay for fun puppy classes that help your pup on their journey to become a hearing dog.

Woman in Hearing Dogs burgundy jacket in bed in room with a dog on the bed in front of her laying down but looking alertly at the women

Sponsor for £12 a month

£12 a month could teach your puppy how to alert a deaf person to life-saving sounds, such as the smoke alarm.

Dobby’s doing brilliantly

Dobby’s confident, outgoing personality makes him responsive and quick to learn. He’s mastered ‘sit’, ‘lie down’ and ‘stand’ already. “His recall is excellent, and he’s working beautifully on ‘watch me’ while he’s walking on his lead,” reports Julie. Next, he’ll work on his ‘waits’ and gradually build his repertoire of new people, places, sights and sounds. We can’t wait to watch him progress – can you?

Sponsor Dobby from £8 a month

1. How do I sponsor a puppy?

2. What do sponsors receive? How do they follow puppy’s progress?

All sponsors receive a fantastic welcome pack, which includes a certificate, car sticker and postcards of their puppy. You'll also receive a cuddly puppy toy, magnet and pen.

From then on, we send regular updates on how your puppy is doing, either printed or, if requested, by email. We publish training updates roughly every five to six months, depending on how quickly the puppy goes through training. On average, across the 18-24 months of a puppy’s training, this means four updates.

The updates show, through beautiful photos, how your puppy is getting on, with comments from the people involved with his or her training. The full set of updates goes right the way through training and then introduces you to the deaf person your puppy is helping on a daily basis (if they have given us permission to do so).

In between full updates, we also publish ‘Pupdates’ (see what we did there?) in the online Puppy Pen every two months, showing what a fun life your puppy is having as he or she learns about the world. When we do this, we also email our sponsors to tell them there’s a new Pupdate.

So, you'll see the progress you have made possible. You can also celebrate the outcome, when your puppy is partnered with a deaf person and helps them to live well with hearing loss.

3. Can I sponsor as a gift?

Yes! Sponsorship makes a great gift for both children and adults.

To do this, go to the sponsor page and choose ‘it’s a gift’ under ‘Who is this sponsorship for?’. You can also choose whether to have the welcome pack sent to you, or directly to the gift receiver.

It generally takes around 10 working days for welcome packs to be despatched. If you don’t manage to order in time but you want to be sure you have something on that special day, you can download our print-at-home certificate in one of two ways:

If you sponsored online, you will be emailed a link to download your sponsorship certificate as soon as your sponsorship is set up. If your email doesn’t arrive, then please check your junk/spam folder.

If you have sponsored via a manual form, then please phone us on 01844 340734 or email us at [email protected] and we will email a certificate through.

4. What happens when my puppy graduates?

When the puppy’s training journey ends and he or she is matched with a deaf person, we transfer the sponsorship automatically to a new puppy if you paid by Direct Debit or a monthly PayPal donation. You can of course choose not to follow your new puppy and cancel your regular donation if you wish by contacting us. If you paid as a one-off, we ask if you’d like to sponsor another puppy.

We do this with a letter or email at the same time as your final update, in which you get to see the result of your support. We also show you lovely photos of the new puppy. It’s a very exciting time, as one journey ends and another begins!

5. Why do you have minimum amounts?

As a well-run charity we try to be as efficient and effective as possible in everything we do. However, there are certain limits below which we would simply lose money on each sponsorship. The amounts we ask for mean that, after costs are considered, sufficient money goes towards helping a sponsor puppy through its training and helping a deaf person live well with hearing loss.