Help with our rescue dogs and home while exploring Melderslo, Netherlands

Details

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  Description

  Our home is about dogs! We (Olaf and Hanneke) have 3 rescue dogs that came with behavior problems and their wellbeing is our priority. I (Hanneke) am at home to take care of them. Because it will normally be you and me working together during the day I do prefer a female workawayer. When Olaf is home during holidays or weekends we are happy to accept male workawayers who can help out with the 'farmlike chores'. Olaf and I are both involved in voluntary work for dogrescues and often we have fosterdogs staying with us and sometimes holidayguests. Each dog is different: from easy going to very weary of strangers. Whoever comes to stay with us needs to be respectful of the dogs and take them into consideration at all times.
  We have like a minifarm but dogs instead of cattle. We grow our own vegetables, herbs and fruits as much as possible. The land was a blanc canvas when we bought the place 5 years ago and we are still in the process of making it as sustainable as possible. In addition we experience periodes of extreme drought and ongoing rain and that is forcing us to look into watermangement options.
  The house is very dated and still needs renovating, one room at a time.
  We live in a quiet area with lots of space around us.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Pets

  

  Farming

  

  Charity work

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Cooking & food

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Plant care

  

  Gardening

  

  Animals

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature

  

  Mountain

  

  Hiking
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  During your time of you can use one of our bikes to explore the area. We live in an agricultural area that is known for its blueberries, asparagus, mushrooms and roses. The local museum shows the past ways of life and there is often livemusic or workshops to participate in. There are lots of walks through lovely villages, by the river or through forests. The european wolf has been spotted passing through.
  During the summertime there are all sort of events, music, food or plantrelated.
  The nearest main cities are Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Venlo. The trainstation at Horst-Sevenum is a 20minutes cycle away and from there you can reach Amsterdam in about 2 hours. If you come by car germany is only 10minutes away and Belgium about one hour.
  
  You will have the oppertunity to learn a lot on dogbehavior as the dogs are all so different. And if you are a beginner in growing your own vegetables I am sure there is plenty to learn here as well.

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  Help

  *current tasks to do:
  -reparing dogbeds and sofa
  -sowing, planting, weeding the vegetable garden
  -making curtains
  -stripping one of the guestrooms
  -trimming hedges
  
  If you are a doglover you can help me walking the dogs, exploring new walking areas to find out if they are suitable for rescue dogs, grooming and socializing. Some help cleaning is appreciated.
  If you do like dogs but your skills are gardening or renovating, there is always plenty to do. There is more to do then we can manage the two of us, so extra hands to help are very welcom. We are slowly turning our plot of land into an edible and birdfriendly garden. It will be good to exchange ideas of what works and taking steps to make it a reality. Harvesting will be mainly in august and september and I am still learning in how to process the harvest. If you bring your local knowledge on foodprocessing we can share ideas on that.
  Our house still needs renovating/modernising. We would love help updating the rooms. From stripping them down to decorating.
  There can also be 'farmlike' chores to do like cutting and splitting wood for the woodburner of mowing the field by tractor.
  All chores are season and weather dependant.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Intermediate
  German: Beginner
  French: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  At the moment we have the mainhouse available for non-smoking guests (one at a time), but it needs to be modernized. Prepare yourself to a 60-70year style dutch livingarea and bathroom: lots of brown and green and no luxury. You will have your own facilities and your own entrance.
  You can chill in the garden and weather/wind permitting enjoy a campfire. Normally during the summermonths we set up a swimming pool but that will also depend on the weather.
  We will provide 3 meals a day, fruits and vegetables from our own garden when available. Although we are animallovers we do eat meat but we are happy to adjust the meals if needed. Help on how to prepare healthy vegetarian dishes is appreciated.

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  What else ...

  You can jump in to help out any time of the day. If you are a morning person you can start from about 8, but when you like to get up later, you can start helping out as late as 14.00h.
  We need things to be quiet for the dogs and ourselves from 20.00h.
  As some of the dogs can have agression issues its important that you will follow my instructions when you move around the dogs. As a behavior therapist for dogs I will make sure you are safe and we will take a lot of time introducing you to the dogs.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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