Best Caching Doggies?

August 25, 2005

I currently have three dogs that I love lots and lots, but there's one problem: they're sorry cachers!

My two little dogs (Casey Jones & Stella Blue) just can't hack the excitement. They're 10 years old and their little legs can't keep up.

My other monster (Maximus) is a fun-loving, spazmaster Weimeraner. Just walking him takes your undivided attention!

http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/2f178116-...aec1dc3125c.jpg

I'm wondering what breed of dog makes a good caching partner?

August 25, 2005

We are going to find out next weekend if Corgis are good caching dogs. They are good herders. Maybe they will herd all the caches in a corner for us!

August 25, 2005

GHH,

We sometimes take our cockers out. One is too hyper but the other is great! She is a natural mudder, Yamadog!

Now, about Soccer Troll...

August 25, 2005

Well I'm the best caching doggy of course . I find all the caches before Ibycus does, I just don't often tell him where they are (although once or twice I have).

August 25, 2005

I know everyone will say their dog is the best breed! I have a German Shepherd who almost always is with me on cache finds. She is 11 years old so she is much more mellow now, but she is still young and active enough to enjoy the hikes. She loves going for rides and walks. She's not good for hunts that involve going through a lot of brush or ones that the require searching under a bridge or steps. Other than that, she loves it!

August 25, 2005

i agree, everyone can make a good case for their own dog. that's natural, we all love our furkids. my dog is my constant companion and best friend, the only one in my house who likes hiking for ANY reason, caching or otherwise. he's a golden retriever, but i think any hunting breed is a natural for caching, as they've been bred for generations to ramble in woods, fields, water, and muck. (actually, with him, the crappier and swampier the better!) he also has what i like to call, "mother nature's backtracking ability." sometimes i just turn off the gps, give him the command "truck," and follow him back to the parking spot, allowing me to enjoy the scenery rather than the gps screen.

hunting dogs, and goldens in particular, also have that laid back, "okay mom, i'll go wherever you go and have fun doing it," personality. that's a big plus on long days, with lots of tough bushwhacking and long drives. i just make sure to watch him carefully in the heat, and he does stay home on the really hot and humid days, unless i know it's an area with lots of water for splashing in and cooling off. i always sign my logs...

-denali and nugget (woof!)

Edited August 25, 2005 by denali7

August 25, 2005

Nugget is a beautiful dog!

1.7k · August 25, 2005

Here are some old dog threads.

Looking for a Geodog

August 25, 2005

thank you. i think so too, but i'm not exactly impartial when it comes to him!! :huh:

p.s. can you tell i'm enjoying my new high-speed internet connection? i can do pictures now like everyone else does!

Edited August 25, 2005 by denali7

August 25, 2005

We made our Weimeraner a travel bug, so we can log his caching miles.

August 25, 2005

that's a neat idea!

August 25, 2005

Another golden retriever fan here!

Scooter starts jumping up and down, woofing, and drooling on my shoulder when she hears the GPSr autorouter beeping as we arrive at a cache location -- I think she loves geocaching even more than I do!

August 25, 2005

yup--she's got that "golden smile" and ready to go! :huh:

August 25, 2005

Instead of doing the tempting thing and naming a specific breed (golden retrievers), I'll be generic and talk about dogs in general (golden retrievers). Your choice of a caching dog (golden retrievers) depends on the type of caching you do. For those hikes that involve more than a park-n-grab, a mid-sized reasonably athletic breed (golden retrievers) is desirable.

You want a breed with good stamina (golden retrievers) and reasonable energy (golden retrievers), but also one that's calm enough to listen to you (golden retrievers), and has a pleasant personality (golden retrievers) when you're not on the trail. It's also desirable to have a dog that's tolerant of water (golden retrievers), poor trail conditions (golden retrievers), and bad weather (golden retrievers).

In any event, your dog (golden retrievers) should be a good leash walker at the very least, and if you plan to walk off-leash, he or she must be trained (golden retrievers) to very reliably honor voice commands. Your dog should also be friendly with strangers (golden retrievers) and children (golden retrievers), though it doesn't hurt to have one big enough to be a little intimidating if that's what's called for (golden retrievers).

You also need to consider your climate. If you like to hike in Maine in the winter, a dog that's tolerant of cold weather (golden retrievers) is a must. On the other hand, if you enjoy summers in Arizona, your choices might be different (NOT golden retrievers!).

As you can see, there are any number of breeds (golden retrievers) that would be an excellent choice (golden retrievers), and I'd never dream of suggesting any one breed in particular (labrador retrievers are outstanding too).

:huh: -Bob

Edited August 25, 2005 by GoldenDaze

August 25, 2005

:huh: you DEFINITELY sound like a typical golden owner. we're all a little skewed, aren't we? just glad you were able to keep it on topic and not make it a commercial for any particular breed (insert subliminal suggestion: goldens rule!)

eta: another beautiful golden picture. i know THAT'S a happy snowdog!!

Edited August 25, 2005 by denali7

August 25, 2005

Goldens may rule but Corgis ROCK!!!!! :huh:

August 25, 2005

boy, you guys don't like goldens, do you? Can't tell. :huh: All the pups are beautiful!

Here's my girl. See, even German Shepherd can wear doggie backpacks too!

PS: Our logs are signed Hide & Seekers with Zoe-dog!

August 25, 2005

Oh yeah, I'm skewed all right. The thing about Goldens is that they sneak in and change your life, force you to get out hiking every weekend, insist that you enjoy the day and do something fun. Soon you find yourself with more than one of them, then suddenly Mr. Liberal Suburban Boy is explaining to his wife why the Golden needs her daddy to have a shotgun, and you find yourself sitting on the edge of a swamp in December freezing your butt off, thinking "that's odd, I never had any desire to do stuff like this before I had her..."

But I must confess, I have a 10-month-old black Lab that my family is raising to be a seeing eye dog. This is my first non-Golden in 20 years of dog ownership, and I swear, she's just about enough to make me go to the "dark side".

On a serious note, Goldens and Labs, as great as they are, are active intelligent dogs that require extensive exercise, training, mental stimulation, and attention. You are making a serious long-term commitment in time and money by bringing one into your household. I've been involved in Golden Retriever Rescue for 5 years; this group rescues about 250 dogs a year, 28 of which I've fostered myself, two of which I've adopted. Please make any decision to add any dog to your life with the utmost care and consideration.

-Bob

August 25, 2005

Here's another of Zoe-dog. This was on a hot day after an uphill hike.

August 25, 2005

I would have to vote for Siberian Huskies, I have two of them and one is my regular caching partner. Niki loves to be in the woods on an adventure. She is an all season caching partner, of course, she loves the snow. Here's a picture:

August 25, 2005

Our Golden Retriever Rusty certainly had all those qualities, but he also had the talent of finding every briar in the woods and bringing them back in his tail. That did not make me excited to take him in the woods with me. :huh: It ususally took a couple hours to get the burrs out after a fairly short walk. Other than that though, he was the perfect outdoor companion.

joe

August 25, 2005

another good thing about Pembroke corgis, no tails to get briars in!

August 25, 2005

Good point on the burrs. I hadn't thought about that.

I'm leaning towards German Shepherd and Lab. My first dog was a German Shepherd and she was by far the smartest dog I've ever seen.

Labs just seem to be all-terrain type dogs, with the bonus of short hair. I know how much foliage I have hanging off of me after caching- don't want to have to de-burr my dog all night!

August 25, 2005

Rescue organizations are cool. I've never been involved in any myself, but I "rescued" Zoe from a local junkyard after they decided she wasn't suited as a guard dog. At least they cared enough to run an ad and interview prospective "parents." When I met her, Zoe laid down on my feet as if to say "She's the one." That was nearly 10 years ago.

Owning dogs is definitely a long-term committment. My husband lost his dog in 2003 after almost 12 years. I had a Doberman growing up. She was part of my life literally from the day she was born (we had her mother) to the day she died, just over 14 years.

Goldens are beautiful and intelligent, but I think my husband wants to downsize!

August 25, 2005

Golden Retrievers of course.

Poster comes in really handy when I need a pull going uphill!

But he isn't interested in caches at all.

Squirrels, gophers, deer, kitty cats and so on are his main trip. :huh:

August 25, 2005

Kudos to you, h&s, Zoe is a cutie. Medic, your huskie is adorable, but I suspect that "all season" depends a lot on how far south you live. I know that when it gets up in the 80s, there better be water around or Halley stays home. In the 90s, which describes much of our summer here in northern VA, we don't even bother.

-Bob

August 25, 2005

I have 2 black labs...i did have 1 but we got a new one Tuesday. jade(the original geopuppy)loves to go caching with me...she doesn't like to swim much but we took our new pup, Mel, to the lake yesterday and we couldn't hardly get her outta the water!

August 25, 2005

ahhhhh, the new puppy smell, mmmmmmm...

:huh:

August 25, 2005

I have 2 black labs...i did have 1 but we got a new one Tuesday. jade(the original geopuppy)loves to go caching with me...she doesn't like to swim much but we took our new pup, Mel, to the lake yesterday and we couldn't hardly get her outta the water!

Pics! Pics! We need to see them! :huh: Especially the puppy.

My husand's late dog Gretchen was a shepherd/Lab mix (he called her a Polish Shepherd). My biggest problem with her was she took forever to dry when she got wet. .. and she loved the water. Do you have that problem?

It's probably a good thing that the late Gretchen-dog never got into cache hunting. "over here, mom. . . . no, over here. . .no wait, let's go here. . .and here. .. and ohhhhh! over here!" To her, it would have been all about the hunt and who cares? about the find.

1k · August 25, 2005

Anyone looking for a geodog anywhere near DFW Texas should check out Operation Kindness, a non-kill pet adoption agency. They are clean and healthy and very well-run.

Oh! And there is a cache on site!

Check it out!

: )

August 25, 2005

Anyone looking for a geodog anywhere near DFW Texas should check out Operation Kindness, a non-kill pet adoption agency. They are clean and healthy and very well-run.

Oh! And there is a cache on site!

Check it out!

: )

THERE'S A CORGI ON THE FRONT PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1.8k · August 25, 2005

My vote goes to Flat-Coated Retrievers. I own two of them right now. Close cousins of the goldens and labs and newfies.

Here's my Tigger, ready for winter caching.

August 25, 2005

* fur that doesn't collect alot of stuff

* agile and active enough to go over and through and on and on (or small enough to carry if they get tired or tangled)

* obedient enough (all depends on what you expect and how much time you want to dedicate to the task of training some breeds are easier than others but all are trainable)

HoundGrrls

August 25, 2005

I had a Husky sheperd mix unfortunately she passed away in June 2004, she was 15, and even though she was up there in age, she enjoyed a nice walk in the woods.

After she died i had gotten an Alaskan Malamute named Timber. We had to put Timber down at 9 mos due to unforseen circumstances, but she was an excellent dog on the trail, at 5 mos old she displayed excellent navigation skills. If we bushwhacked off a trail into the woods, the dog not only was able to get back to the trail, but she would go back to the EXACT spot on the trail that we originally left. SHe was also very conscious of the group, she always kept all hikers in sight, and would wait for hikers that were behind her that she could no longer see. I didn't train her to do any of this, she just did it on her own. She was very protective as well, she would alert me of another person way before i could even see or notice them. She would do that by randomly just sitting down on the trail and 'surveying the scene'. Everytime she did that a person would eventually appear.

The bad thing about Mals is if you have kids, a Mal will try to dominate your kids, and that can be dangerous, especially if your children are small as a malamute will try to lay on them so they can't get up. Mals also know that they don't need you to survive, so if you hike off leash, there is a big chance your Mal won't come back.

Mals are also very strong, and sturdy and are known for their strength, they can handle any terrain. Bad side to that....they'll pull you right down on your face while chasing a squirrel.

1.1k · August 25, 2005

My Welsh Springer Spaniel, "Quoddy" has been caching with me since day one. He has on occasions immediately found the cache, but I think that's mainly due to his ability to follow a recent scent. There have been several occasions, though, when he's found the cache in adverse conditions when no one has been there in weeks.

The all time best one was when I posted a DNF when I didn't understand what he was doing over 8 feet off the ground on a large, slanted, fallen tree tapping his paw. I got a clue from the owner, went back, and you guessed it...he went back up the inclined tree and once again tapped the film canister in a knot hole with his paw.

* * * * * * * * *Quoddy * * * * * * * * *

August 25, 2005

Our schnoodle is small but sturdy for caching. He generally agreeable, and stands out well with his off-white fur. He likes sniffing around and meeting other dogs on the trails. He's pretty smart too.

August 25, 2005

Great Danes are superb cache dogs. Labs aren't bad either.

August 26, 2005

I currently have three dogs that I love lots and lots, but there's one problem: they're sorry cachers!

My two little dogs (Casey Jones & Stella Blue) just can't hack the excitement. They're 10 years old and their little legs can't keep up.

My other monster (Maximus) is a fun-loving, spazmaster Weimeraner. Just walking him takes your undivided attention!

http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/2f178116-...aec1dc3125c.jpg

I'm wondering what breed of dog makes a good caching partner?

Funny, our weim seems to be like that too :anitongue:

but we still manage to find a cache or two in between giving him our constant attention.

Edited August 26, 2005 by gwalt3

August 26, 2005

He may be small, but I've never found a place he can't or won't hike.

August 26, 2005

Of course I have to say Mastiff's are the best caching dogs. Theres nothing like transporting a wet and muddy 190 pound dog in the back of your vehicle. :anitongue:

8.4k · August 26, 2005

I got you all beat:

:anitongue: :unsure: :lol:

August 26, 2005

Look Hannibal a chew toy! :anitongue: Just kidding very cute! :unsure:

August 26, 2005

Interesting topic! I have a geoshedder myself...I mean German Shepherd! He is the best! Endless energy, carries his own pack, great nose, good protection, knows good strangers from bad, obedience trained, goes through anything, even briars, loves snow, doesn't eat too much, finds invisible trails and deer trails, and rabbit trails, and mouse trails, and geocachers trails. I love him! I just haven't quite been able to teach him to find the actual cache yet! Ah well...wouldn't trade him for the world!

5.3k · August 26, 2005

Mixed breeds are clearly the best. They are happy, healthy, and generally glad to have a home. CoffeeDog knows the word "Geocaching" and starts jumping up and down whenever she hears it.

Here she is protecting us from cows on a recent caching expedition. One of the cattle was a bull, actually!

August 26, 2005

You guys are killing me.... my hubby and I have always wanted a Boston, and our neice is breeding hers... and said if the litter is large enough we have dibs (after the stud fee). We have little kids (ages 14,8,6,4, and 3) and now that the babies aren't coming any more we NEED a dog. Says me. Active breed, yet small, companions... my oldest is interested in training and they are bright. And hey, if a chi can cache, why can't a boston? :unsure: Our kids are little, and we are recovering couch potatoes, so we don't do anything over a terrain 2.5 anyhow. Sigh. Just dreaming...... I was raised with the most loyal, wonderful, choc lab/mutt on earth, and haven't had a dog since I had to take her to the last vet appt when I was 18. Can you tell I'm a frustrated dog person?

OK, I feel better now. :anitongue:

August 26, 2005

Mixed breeds are clearly the best.

Ya Got that right!! I have a mixed breed, and I wouldnt trade her for the world. Were not quite sure what she is - shepard/husky/who knows?? But shes obediant, protective and fun! This is Sheena.

August 26, 2005

We go caching with our two Border Collies, Koati and Casey, whenever possible. They are both retired Search and Rescue dogs so they are very good at finding caches by way of the human scent left on the containers. When they are with us, we get close to the area and then send them in. They love it and it gets them out.

Edited August 27, 2005 by Team SAR-Dogs

August 26, 2005

thanks to all for sharing the great pictures of your buddies, they're ALL beautiful. i've also had two shepherd/husky mixes at various times, and i know how beautiful they are. mine were just gorgeous, and very devoted to me. they both had an extra-fun spark of wildness i absolutely LOVED! lately i've been so smitten with nugget, my first golden, i've forgotten how beautiful misha and brandy were. thanks for the trip down memory lane!! :laughing:

Best Caching Doggies?

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