Sponsor Zandy and transform a deaf person's life

A light coloured, curly miniature poodle pup, sitting down on a gravel path

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

Sponsor Zandy from £8 a month

Curly furred Zandy running full pelt towards camera, both front paws raised, ears flapping.

Zandy in her doggy bed, her attention focuses on the toy between her front paws

Close up of poodle Zandy's face as she rests over someone's shoulder. She has curly fur and a cute little black nose

Cute curly Zandy standing up in her bed, looking at something out of view

Curly poodle Zandy, sitting up in her bed. A plush doughnut toy can be seen beside her.

Curly poodle Zandy is standing, head lowered to the ground, studying something in front of her. Plant leaves are in the background.

Curly, light coloured puppy laying in a dog bed, a doughnut plush toy in front of them.

Sponsor Zandy: A fun-loving and joyful friend

Zandy wants to be your friend! Sporting a curly-wurly coat and button nose, little Zandy is spreading laughter wherever she goes. And at a pace set by her ever-wagging tail, she’s out to bring joy to everyone she meets. Although she may be a Miniature Poodle, this pretty pup has got a mighty plan to transform a deaf person’s life.

Zandy has been settling into life with her Volunteer Dog Trainer, Sarah, and her family. And when she’s not playing with her favourite toys (her ‘Stitch’ and her ‘Golden Snitch’) she’s been ‘finding her feet’ as a new trainee puppy…

“When Zandy first arrived, she kept making us laugh by tripping over her own paws when she was running or trying to get on the sofa and slipping off backwards!” explained Sarah. “She makes us smile all the time.” Don’t worry Zandy, we’re sure you’ll grow into your puppy paws in no time!

With a knack for sniffing out the fun in life, Zandy is approaching her training with an excitement to learn. In the future, we’re sure she’ll bring so much laughter and confidence into her deaf partner’s world.

Will Zandy set the record for the most tail-wags? How many awws will she inspire? And which deaf person will she grow up to support? Sponsor Zandy 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.

Zandy builds the dog-trainer bond

For our hearing dog puppies, learning to transform a deaf person’s life starts as soon as they enter the world, and developing a strong bond with their trainers is key to success. To support this, little Zandy has been learning to play nicely with her toys and be brushed by her Volunteer Dog Trainer, Sarah. These may seem like small feats, but building a strong and trusting relationship with her trainers will be the foundation for the advanced parts of Zandy’s training.

Sponsor Zandy 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.