The Power of Partnership: Where it begins.
It takes around two years to create a life-changing partnership.
Two-years of carefully breeding and raising happy, healthy, and well socialised puppies. Two-years of positive, reward-based training. Two-years of carefully matching disabled people with a dog that suits their needs, personality, and lifestyle.
Towards the end of this incredible journey, we hold a Partnership Course. This is where partnerships like Rob and Eddy’s are born. Partners and their future life-changers spend two-weeks together. Two-weeks dedicated to training and learning, and building a bond that is truly life-changing.
The course takes place in the accommodation area of our National Training Centre, which is fully accessible and contains everything partners need, from wheelchair ramps to adapted bathrooms, height adjustable fixtures to wider doorways. This removes any challenges they may face while staying away from home.
To allow partners to focus on bonding, we create a home-from-home for them. We take care of meals, laundry, gas and electricity, and provide carers for those who don’t have friends or family to accompany them. Support is on-hand 24/7.
Help us raise £55,000 for our 2026 Partnership Courses
This year, we will run 11 Partnership Courses at our National Training Centre. Each course costs £5,000, and we need to raise £55,000 this spring to make them happen.
By donating today, you could help make a Partnership Course possible, giving someone the chance to meet the dog who could transform their life.
You’ll be helping provide the safe space, expert support and specialist training that allows a life-changing bond to begin. In doing so, you’ll help create partnerships that bring confidence and independence, love and companionship, reduce reliance on carers, and give people the freedom to live life their own way.
Help us raise £55,000 for our 2026 Partnership Courses
Rob's story
My name is Rob and, thanks to supporters like you, Canine Partners has given me my life back – and the chance to be the father I’ve always wanted to be.
25 years ago, I was a Royal Marine. I was fit, active, and full of adventure. I represented the Marines in athletics, skiing, boxing, and rugby, and loved skydiving and scuba diving.
But in 2008, everything changed. I was hit by a car, suffered a traumatic brain injury, multiple leg injuries, and was in a coma for nine months. The doctors didn’t expect me to survive.
When I finally woke, they warned I might never speak or walk again. I threw myself into rehabilitation. It took a year just to say my first word, and even longer to walk again.
I was still unsteady on my feet, so even leaving the house was a struggle. My disabilities were invisible, so people often did not see the support I needed. My world had grown smaller.
For years, I couldn’t be the hands-on dad I desperately wanted to be. Thanks to Canine Partners I can finally be the father my son deserves.
The Partnership Course: where everything changed
Canine Partners invited me to a two-week Partnership Course to bond with my assistance dog and learn how to work together.
Being away from home felt daunting. I worried about leaving my family and whether I could manage on my own. But I had nothing to worry about.
Canine Partners took care of everything. I didn’t have to think about practical things like washing or cleaning, and Kathy’s food was incredible! I was almost sad to leave.
My two life-changing dogs
My first canine partner, Merredge, was with me for nine years. When he retired, I was partnered with my current dog, Eddy.
Merredge and Eddy gave me a confidence I can’t put into words. With them by my side, my anxiety about leaving the house disappeared. I started volunteering and trained as a Counsellor. I got my life back.
They also helped me be present as a dad. My son was born around the time of my accident, so I never had the chance to be hands-on. I worried about taking him out alone, but now I’m the father I always wanted to be.
Love,
Rob & Eddy x
