Hi! My name is Sandy and I'm the first volunteer to write on this blog.
You are here to find out about volunteering in Lapland. More explicit volunteering at White Horizon.
Well let me tell you I have many stories for you. Right now I am a volunteer at White Horizon and have been for almost 2 weeks now. It's summer time now so our "work day" is around 6 hours.
Most of the day we work with the sled dogs. They live outside in kennels. Per kennel two dogs. So our day starts at around 8. All of us volunteers eat breakfast together and get ready for the day. Usually at 9 we are outside starting to let out the sled dogs. We then let each kennel out for about 30 Minutes. Most of the dogs are very cuddly. So, we get to cuddle a lot with them.
At around 12 we take our lunch break and make ourselves lunch. That differs every day depending on what is in the kitchen. Afterwards we clean our dishes and go back outside.
Personally my favourite dogs are Krut and Dis. Both of them are extremely cuddly. That means when we get to let them out into the big grass area I am very excited. Krut loves to get scratched on the stomach and always jumps up and down when you let him out.
On the other hand Dis loves jumping up on you and being hugged. Therefor every dog has their own personality and what they like and dislike.
You get to learn all the 35 dogs individually, 4 of them was born only some days ago. Their names are difficult in the beginning but you get the hang of it. After we finished letting all the sled dogs out we let the house dogs play. The house dogs have their own big kennel next to the main house and some come inside over the night.
After all the dogs have been able to play we feed them. You have to mix a big sausage of meat and water. In the summer each dog gets food once a day. Not all dogs eat the same amount. So, you have to remember how much each dog gets. We also don't always feed them around the same time each day. Therefore they aren't on a schedule and start barking at some point. After we are done with letting out the dogs we have chores. They differ each day. For example, last week we baked a cake, cleaned the house or went swimming in the lake. Everything is very spontaneous. Which I love.
You never know how the day is going to end. In the evening we all have a big family dinner together. Always someone else is cooking. Us volunteers also cook. We have made waffles, tacos and rice with veggies. In the evening we play games. The most popular one is Yatzi (It's like kniffle). Not only do we get to work with dogs all day but we also have free days on where you can hike, go canoeing, swimming or go on an overnight-hike to a cabin. The hike to the cabin was my personal favourite. It's very exhausting but so worth it. So that is just a glimpse in to what happens here every day.
Cheers, Sandy
Well let me tell you I have many stories for you. Right now I am a volunteer at White Horizon and have been for almost 2 weeks now. It's summer time now so our "work day" is around 6 hours.
Most of the day we work with the sled dogs. They live outside in kennels. Per kennel two dogs. So our day starts at around 8. All of us volunteers eat breakfast together and get ready for the day. Usually at 9 we are outside starting to let out the sled dogs. We then let each kennel out for about 30 Minutes. Most of the dogs are very cuddly. So, we get to cuddle a lot with them.
At around 12 we take our lunch break and make ourselves lunch. That differs every day depending on what is in the kitchen. Afterwards we clean our dishes and go back outside.
Personally my favourite dogs are Krut and Dis. Both of them are extremely cuddly. That means when we get to let them out into the big grass area I am very excited. Krut loves to get scratched on the stomach and always jumps up and down when you let him out.
On the other hand Dis loves jumping up on you and being hugged. Therefor every dog has their own personality and what they like and dislike.
You get to learn all the 35 dogs individually, 4 of them was born only some days ago. Their names are difficult in the beginning but you get the hang of it. After we finished letting all the sled dogs out we let the house dogs play. The house dogs have their own big kennel next to the main house and some come inside over the night.
After all the dogs have been able to play we feed them. You have to mix a big sausage of meat and water. In the summer each dog gets food once a day. Not all dogs eat the same amount. So, you have to remember how much each dog gets. We also don't always feed them around the same time each day. Therefore they aren't on a schedule and start barking at some point. After we are done with letting out the dogs we have chores. They differ each day. For example, last week we baked a cake, cleaned the house or went swimming in the lake. Everything is very spontaneous. Which I love.
You never know how the day is going to end. In the evening we all have a big family dinner together. Always someone else is cooking. Us volunteers also cook. We have made waffles, tacos and rice with veggies. In the evening we play games. The most popular one is Yatzi (It's like kniffle). Not only do we get to work with dogs all day but we also have free days on where you can hike, go canoeing, swimming or go on an overnight-hike to a cabin. The hike to the cabin was my personal favourite. It's very exhausting but so worth it. So that is just a glimpse in to what happens here every day.
Cheers, Sandy