Tomorrow the DwD team, but not with Jem this time, are off on a completely different adventure. Instead of taking the slow lanes of motorways in pursuit of hidden walkies and lovely pubs we’re off to the Arctic Circle to try our luck at trying to control a team of huskies.
The DwD name does sometimes get taken for something to do with driving dogs and mushing, rather than chauffeuring our pampered pooches to lovely new places for great dog walkies. So maybe it wasn’t just chance that we took up the challenge to do something dog-related to support the excellent St Mungo’s charity.
St Mungo’s is a small and very focused group that works with homeless people AND their dogs. They are unique in that they never separate people from their dogs. As well as providing temporary shelter all year round, St Mungo’s focuses on re-skilling and training people and supporting them back into homes of their own. An important part of this is respecting the emotional bond between dog and people, and St Mungo’s sort out vet care to make sure that the dogs get their regular jabs and worming treatments.
Many of the homeless people helped by St Mungo’s are ex-servicemen and women, often suffering from the effects of active duty. Others have suddenly lost their jobs, and then their families and homes, when stress and depression lead to complete desperation.
You can read more about the work of St Mungo’s on their website: http://www.mungos.org/
To complete the challenge we’ll be sledding over 300km in temperatures forecast to be around -30 during the day, and a lot colder at night. We’ll have a sled and 5 dogs each and will be getting up to feed them at 5.30am - they need to have plenty of time to digest before setting off. After that we should be sledding around 55km each day before feeding the dogs again and checking their paws before settling them down for the night. The dogs sleep outside, curled up in the snow. We’ll be in a tent for one night, so I hope the dogs don’t snore!
The trip will definitely be an adventure of a lifetime, although the purpose is to raise funds for the work of St Mungo’s. We’ve saved up to pay for the trip ourselves, and so ALL the money we raise goes straight to St Mungo’s.
We’d really appreciate your support for the challenge. If each DwD visitor contributed just the cost of their dog’s evening meal it would make a tremendous difference to St Mungo’s.
To make a donation, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/Driving-with-Dogs
