I have been a member of Best Friends for a while now.
http://www.bestfriends.org/ A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to go spend a week in Utah and volunteer with them.
http://www.bestfriends.org/atthesanctuary/ I researched it and decided I wanted to stay in a cottage on the grounds, so I had to make reservations a year ahead of time. I knew I did not want to be there when there is snow and ice on the ground because I don't have much experience in driving in that, and so made my reservations for this last May.
http://www.bestfriends.org/atthesanctuary/angelcanyon/visitorfaq.cfm I let the volunteer coordinator know when I would be there and what areas I was interested in.
I flew into Las Vegas on a Friday morning. Best Friends is a 4 hour drive. I rented a car, then made the drive. It is a gorgeous drive, and most of the roads are small. Kenab Utah has an elevation of 5,000 feet so you are winding your way up with some impressive drop off next to the road. People who have made the trip recommend not doing the drive at night. I reached the sanctuary at about 2:30 and checked in. I had a general orientation and review of my schedule, and a group tour of the sanctuary, which is huge. They have 5 square miles of working area and something like 30,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary. You have to have a car when there, it is too far to walk to all the areas of the sanctuary. After the tour I moved into my cottage, and drove into town to pick up some grocery staples.
Here is information on the cottages:
The Cottages are located on the Sanctuary grounds near the Welcome Center. Deer, squirrels, horses and goats are your neighbors. The atmosphere is quiet, peaceful and relaxing. The cottages overlook the horse pastures.
Cottage amenities include:
• One bedroom, with two double beds and sleeper sofa
• ¾ bath (shower, no tub)
• Kitchenette
• Small sitting room
• Electric heat and air conditioning
• Satellite television
• Telephone
• Wireless internet access
We provide: linens, towels, glasses, dishes, utensils, pots, pans, a small refrigerator, microwave, hot plate, toaster oven, coffee maker, electric hot water kettle, coffee and tea. To accommodate all our guests, the Cottages are non-smoking inside; there are ashtrays and chairs on the balcony.
Friday I was at Dog Town at 8, I think. The first day is a 30 minute group orientation, then 30 minutes socializing with puppies, then you are assigned a section. I was inthe older section, which had a mix of red collar dogs along with the greens and purple. Red collars were for employees only, purple adults only, and green anyone can work with. There was one other volunteer in my area and 2 employees. We spent the morning walking the dogs in the 2 octagons we were assigned to. You walk them first thing because later it is too hot. There are certain dogs who can be walked together, you don't mix it up. After everyone is walked we helped prepare their first meal, each dog has a recipe card that you follow. Feeding is quite structured also, some dogs in the same run have to be separated to eat, some don't. After they finished eating the bowls were picked up and washed, then we had 1.5 hour for lunch. That gives people time to go into town if they want, but the sanctuary has a dining hall with a fresh made vegetarian lunch for $5. It has a beautiful view over Angel Canyon, and I always ate lunch there. After lunch back to the dog area and the afternoon was spent cleaning the runs and buildings. It was HOT. By the end of the day I was drenched in sweat. I went back to cabin, showered and crashed. It took me a couple of days to not be exhausted from the altitude.
Sunday I did the same thing, minus the orientation and puppy socializing
