Bad Influences

We got about a hundred doggie bags from a local pet shop, and the plan was to leave a few in caches we hit, and some in caches we still intend to hide. Too many places are littlered with doggie mines and it ruins it for everyone when you can even take a safe step and the area closes to dogs because of it. And heaven knows we've gotten a short distance from the car when we reaslize we'd used the bags up and the extras are in the trunk. The film canister is a good idea, the bags aren't tangled in the other stuff and so get fewer holes poked in them, and holes in poop bags are no fun. It's nice to make them available, I like the idea as long as people actually use them. I say go for it.

Shadow hasn't been out with us much due to his surgery and age, but he doesn't care about caches, he wants to find the girl dog who left that pretty scent before us. The wolfdogs seem semi interested, but not enough to tell us where the cache is. Tok found a few, he stuck his nose in a hole and figured it wasn't for him, and walked away. He never thought to say "hey guys, this one's for you." Tok has been to every cache with us, and the most interesting thing he can find to do while we're sitting around logging our find is to pee on a tree, or two, or ten. Tikanni thinks everything is for her, including the log books, pens, Tok's tail, our trekking poles, and my feet. But as far as a big metal box or plastic container, she doesn't seem to care much. She's only been on 3 caches with us thus far, so she may catch on more. It's tough to get them to sniff and find since they can't ever be off-leash. I'm thinking something more eager to work with you and much younger to start, like a golden puppy, lab, or shephard, even a well-train border collie may work out very well as pro-cachers if you cache with them as often as you can.

I'm sort of a group cacher, although I tend to always end up with just Dean (my teammate) I try to get others going. I started caching to cure bordom, and because I loved being outside and it gave me another good reason to go. It gives me and the dogs excercise. I am into the numbers. I work 2 full-time jobs and I'm partially disabled, so it really limits the time I can devote to caches, but I do what I can when I can. I've done some tough caches. Sometimes a good climb just takes me longer. Not because I'm female, but because of a lower spine and right hip injury. I still get the job done.

At least you have the smug part right... Surgeon General's Warning: Bad Influences may have a dramatic effect on your attitude.

maybe it's because I don't spend much time on the boards here, but I haven't a clue what this is about. I'm sure everyone will now check my profile to prove I don't know anything because I'm a newbie. Only two months in and 30 found. I know I never presumed to know it all. I learn something new about it all the time. It would be nice for some of the veterans to share their wisdom. But hey, everyone starts somewhere, no one was born a geocacher, we're all new as some point. Surgeon General's Warning: Bad Influences may have a dramatic effect on your attitude.

Our team includes one 9 year old black lab (shadow), and one 8 year old wolf/husky mix (tok, pronounced toke). There's a pic on our profile. Shadow and Tok both stay on leashes all the time outside. Being the type he is, I'd never consider leaving Tok off a leash, he has so much energy he'd run in circles for hours before he slowed enough to catch him. Most areas where caches are located, for the safety and comfort of everyone, dogs should be on leashes. We also carry tons of baggies along to clean up after our dogs, as I'm sure most cachers do. But pro-dog or not, people should consider doggie cachers when placing a new cache. If its a no dog area, post it somehow. There should be icons that we can use easily to label new caches with that information. With caching being as broad and vast, not to mention constaintly evolving, a sport as it is, all types of cachers should be considered, cyclers handicapped pets etc. Surgeon General's Warning: Bad Influences may have a dramatic effect on your attitude.

While I've seen many cachers act alone or in small groups, many others cache as teams and include pets as teammates. Our team includes two dogs. They love being outside with us, and leaving them home when they know where we're going sparks hours of crying and howling. They hate being left behind, and we hate leaving them. But even worse, in the heat we've seen recently, its frustrating to go out caching and suddenly find that the cache is located in a "no pets" area. That kind of suprise usually results in wasted trips. We can't very well leave the boys locked in a hot van, and we can't take them out or we'll risk being fined. We can't always find this information easily without actually going to the cache site, or reading it on the cache page. I have seen icons that some put on cache pages to tell cachers of poison ivy alerts, restroom availability, and whether or not pets are allowed. But few use them. Even more frustrating, those who don't use the icons often don't bother to post it anywhere on the cache page. In one day we had to abandon 3 caches a small local parks because we found out after we arrived that dogs were not allowed. Please consider those who take along their 4-legged kids. Ok, I'm done venting. Happy Caching everyone! -Jen Surgeon General's Warning: Bad Influences may have a dramatic effect on your attitude.