Rosi Cornwell
So Hollie and I knew that we NEEDED to do a work away in Costa Rica because of how expensive it is. We had originally planned another eco farm work away, where we would be camping. However they didn’t provide food and the supermarket was a 40 minute walk away. If you hadn’t noticed by now (where have ya been) Hollie and I are very passionate about food, so we wanted to try and find a work away that also provided food (to keep costs down).
I had a quick look on Workaway and one of the first adverts that popped up was “Help in our foster home full of rescued dogs and cats”. I immediately told Hollie and sent Ashleigh (the founder/owner/animal lover) a message to sell ourselves and say that this was our dream volunteering opportunity. We had a video call where she showed us around her home, and I arranged to start the day after I flew into Costa Rica from Guatemala.
After a flight, one night sleep in a hostel, I found myself on a bus heading to Atenas to begin the next adventure. I pulled up in the taxi outside the house and was greeted by the lovely Meg who was also from the UK. She was volunteering with her boyfriend Junior, there was also another couple from Germany and a long standing volunteer from France, Clara. They were all so so welcoming, and as we sat down to eat lunch (good timing on my behalf) I felt so at home and full of joy as I sat round the table with these lovely people.
Ashleigh joined us and told us some wild stories about how she got some of the dogs… which included stealing some of them from owners who were not acting with the dogs best intentions. Ashleigh joked that we work from 5am to 12am and I soon realised that this was not necessarily all a joke! After lunch I met the upstairs dogs, trying to remember all their names, and make sense of the rotations.
The rotations:
The upstairs dogs:
- Bobby, Lika, Bhouts, Bagel, Jessie, Gorda, Harriet, Bernie, Lou, Ariel, Whiskey, Spotty & Clara.
And within this big group of dogs, Jessie and Gorda do not get along with Clara – so we need to ensure that they don’t meet. We also need to ensure that we only have 6 dogs out at a time, so that it is easier to break up a fight if one were to break out. The house is big so the dogs can be separated with a group in the lounge (which is huge) and the front garden.
The downstairs dogs:
- Scruffy, Moto, Jet, Puss, Max, Mingo, Aries, Canela, Daisy, Abbie, Mumita, Juno, Veta, Honey & Lady
These dogs are mostly all Ashleigh’s dogs, and they get rotated between the garden and the house.
I constantly repeated all their names so as I didn’t forget them, and most importantly the groups of who can mix and who can’t!
On my first full day I woke up at 5.30am and worked downstairs with Ashleigh. She showed me how to mop the floor (using a broom with a cloth over the bristles) and she showed me how to wring out the cloth. At this moment I realised how specific and particular she was about things, but as my time went on and I taught new volunteers how things work, I realise the importance of sharing efficient ways to do things (but I haven’t shown anyone how to wring a cloth… yet).
With a lot of dogs comes a lot of dog food. I listened as Ashleigh told me about the ingredients for the breakfast, a saucepan of rice that was cooked at 5am, a container of ice and water, 10 scoops of dog biscuits, 2 scoops of liver juice, and then intently listened as all the dogs were listed with each of their specific bowl and quantity of food.
19 year old me would be thinking in my head “OH MY GOD THIS IS SO COMPLICATED I WILL NEVER GET THIS”, but rational 29 year old me was thinking “okay this is a lot of information to process, but like most new tasks, it will take time and practice and then will all become clear”. I actually enjoyed using my brain, taking on new information. Which isn’t always the case for me when I need to learn something new.
By 8.30am the dogs had all eaten their breakfast and it was time for us to eat ours at about 9.30am.
I’ll just summarise the rest of the day in bullet points now to spare you the long read:
- Walked Mingo outside (he stays on a long lead as he is an escape artist)
- Rotated the downstairs dogs
- Picked up dog poo
- Played with dogs outside once it was cooler
- Walked Mingo
- Stop dogs from barking at the gate
- Cooked rice at 4pm for dogs dinner
- Fed dogs their dinner
- Cleaned bowls
- Put dogs to bed about 8pm
As the dogs went to bed so late this meant that we couldn’t go to bed until they were in their places of sleep
- Bobby and Lika in the kitchen
- Bhout and Bagel in their crates outside
- Bernie and Lou in the lounge
- Whiskey, Spotty, Harriet, Gorda and Jessie in the bedroom with the German couple
- Downstairs dogs are dealt with by Ashleigh
Although I’d had a super long day, and worked practically a 14 hour shift with only a small break when Ashleigh had a nap and to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner I simply could not sleep for all the new information I had taken in, and thinking about how I could help get some of the dogs can cats adopted!
The next day I awoke at 5am to walk Clara and Bernie (I asked about walking the other dogs but apparently it’s too dangerous in the street as Ashleigh was attacked by 3 Great Danes before when out walking). It appeared that every other dog in the neighbourhood was also awake at 5am and they barked chaotically at us as we ran past to try and keep the street as quiet as possible.
At 5.30am we arrived back and the day looked something like this:
- Cleaned the cattery
- Helped prepare the dogs breakfast
- Cleaned dogs bowls
- Swept the floors – my 3 years at Hadlow come out to shine when ever sweeping is involved.
- Change water bowls
- Mopped the floors
- Rotated the dogs
- Stopped dogs barking at the gate
- Encouraged Canela to come into the shade in the garden
- Played with the dogs
- Cuddled the cats
I told Ashleigh that I had enlisted the help of my dad to create some posters on “adopting an older dog” and some adoptions posters for the dogs. I also emailed the Global Vegan Magazine who said they would love to publish an article encouraging adopting older dogs, and fostering animals in shelters.
The German couple were leaving today to go to a house that Ashleigh rents to keep 2 dogs in, as this was cheaper than doggie day care! This meant I was asked to sleep in the room with Whiskey, Spotty Harriet, Jessie and Gorda. Despite sharing a bed with 3 dogs, I actually had a really good sleep (I think this was also down to not having a coffee).
I had been instructed to await for Clara and Bernie to return from their walk before letting the motley crew outside … but as my alarm went off at 5.20am I forgot this important detail, and let them out, where they proceeded to all start howling at the gate!!! Ashleigh came up and told me to get the dogs inside, and my eyes leaked momentarily because it all seemed like a lot to happen this early in the morning.
Okay so 29 year old me still cries when things go wrong, but I am also able to remember that it is important to make mistakes to learn from them, and prevent them happening in the future.
I was impressed with myself for remembering all the dogs names by day 2, remembering the dog food ingredients, and getting to grips with the rotations. I also fell in love with 2 dogs in particular and seriously want to take them home with me. They both get along with cats too, so I’m sure Alfie (my cat) and us can all live happily every after.
The rest of the week was similar with tasks, a new volunteer Sammi from New Zealand arrived. She had just been in Hawaii and asked “what do you do to keep entertained during the day” … what don’t we do I thought! Sammi had a baptism of fire when she tried to get a plastic wrapper out of Lou’s mouth and got biten (not badly)… then all the dogs started barking and Ashleigh ran up the stairs and threw a whole water bowl over the dogs, causing a tsunami. Sammi’s handbag got soaked and so did my laptop case which was on the table… which was a very quick lesson about not leaving anything valuable out!
I was lucky that Ashleigh was flexible with me working 5 days, and then going away for 1 week to meet a friend, then return and do 2 weeks for a full 3 weeks volunteering. Where I would also be reunited with Hollie!
Overall this Workaway isn’t for people who don’t have a love and passion for animals. They sleep in the rooms with you, and despite it being advertised as 5 hours a day, you are still required to be on the ball from the moment the dogs wake up, to when they go to bed. It is possible to liaise with other volunteers about having time away during the quieter periods of the day (10-3pm), and when the dogs are chilled there is time to sit and relax (until the dogs start barking and you have to get them to stop – this is important to keep the neighbours happy).
So yeah, it was an intensive first week, but I enjoyed using my brain, meeting the beautiful cats and dogs, meeting Ashleigh, her son and the other lovely volunteers and I’m excited to try and help get some of them adopted…. and fantasise about adopting Bhouts and Jessie…
