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Caching Cannines


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I really enjoy going for walks with my dog and looking for caches at the same time. Having a dog with you is a great disguise when you are hunting for a cache - no-one looks on you suspiciously if you're poking around in bushes because they assume you're looking for your dog's toy or whatever. Likewise, you can pick up a small dog and cover up the cache on your lap when muggles come along! In addition, you feel safer in remote or dark places with a cannine companion.

 

However, my mad Lakeland Terror, whilst a good companion, is also a complete pain when it comes to opening up the box. If it has anything remotely like a soft toy in it, she goes mad trying to claim it as hers. If I take too long signing the log etc, she starts barking hysterically and gives away my location! Also, if I have to enter a field with cows/heifers/bullocks in it, she acts like a magnet and they all come running over to see what she is!

 

And as for taking her in a rowing boat to try and find St Herbert's island cache, that was a disaster! She barked and yapped and tried to get into the lake all the time, and bit my hands as I tried to stop her. At one point she leapt in and I was afraid she would get pulled under by the current or something. You'd have probably heard my curses from the lakeshore!

 

So, what about your caching mutt? Boon or bane? :unsure:

 

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She's so cute though, eh?

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We wouldn't be without Chester when we go caching, in fact on the very rare occasions that he does not come it just does not seem right.

Chester has now got so used to his Geocaching walks that as soon as we start to get ready he knows, and gets over excited, probably the biggest downside to taking him as he gets in the way whilst sorting out all the McDee toys!

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Mostly its great having Booboo with us. He loves the walk and whilst looking in the undergrowth I can pretend I've lost his ball.

The only drawback is the times when he has to be on his lead (sheep fields mainly) and he's straining to get at them and I'm trying to hang on to him, GPS, map and walking pole together.

 

I wonder what he thinks though when we arrive at a trig point and He gets hauled up on top to have his picture taken. Thinks "oh no not again!!!"

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edited for mispelling typo error

Edited by The Flying Boots
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There are occasions I wouldn't have found a cache without Beth, having a focus whilst waiting for muggles to move on. Recently though she's been a bit hesitant when I've een getting ready. Is it the hot weather or is she reaching the teenage years?

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Our Westie just loves it, a walk in a different place with different smells, just brilliant to him. Does not always come back as white as he went out of course, but that's the fun of it. He's not a swimmer either, just a paddler whle he tries to drink the pond, stream or lake dry. :D:D

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I like the company as no one else will go caching with me on a regular basis :D

 

I dislike taking him to caches which need to be approached over dog-unfriendly stiles.

 

I particularly dislike taking him into fields occupied by animals larger than he or I, that have an active dislike of dogs.

 

On balance, I'd rather cache with him than without :D

 

Him is the dog, not my son :D

 

civilised

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Not being a dog owner, I used to feel very conspicuous whilst out caching... and occasionally a little vulnerable as a single young female.

 

I now take a friend's dog out with me, Duke. He's a golden Retriever and is good as gold... (pardon the pun)

 

He loves lakes and rivers (but my car doesn't afterwards) and he loves woods where he can pick up a stick or two.

 

Sometimes I cache without him on my own.... and although I don't have to worry about getting him over stiles etc, I do feel that little but extra vulnerable...

 

So thanks to Dukey dog... and to the male cachers I drag out caching with me on a regular basis... (you know who you are) - you all play a part in keeping this Little Miss Geocacher safe!

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Not only is Yoda D geoHound great company while out caching taking him for long walks is a great way to calm him down - his particular favourite is King John's All Washed Up on the southern shores of the wash as it involves a round trip of nearly 11 miles of yomping off lead.

 

His other great use is when visiting landowners who are invariably dog lovers and as a Bedlington Terrier he is particularly good at putting on the last puppy in the pet shop look that melts hearts. One of his favourite days was when he had tea in the morning with a member of the British Aristocracy and then spent the afternoon in the company of a NT Land Manager & a NNR Warden with their dogs as company.

 

Oh and he has regular email exchanges with carystdog mostly exchanging notes on the strange behaviour of their humans and on the most dog friendly new GeoCaches.

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Having a cannine caching companion seems to be mostly a positive experience for people!

 

Yeah, on the whole I would rather have Sandy with me than not, except for city centre caches where her excited barking would definitely attract attention and give the game away.

 

I wish I could train Sandy to sniff out Tupperware - would have been very useful on quite a few occasions, notably "Allo, Allo, Allo" which took me four attempts to find! (Hidden in heather on top of a moor covered in heather!) If there was a meaty treat in the box, she would have it in no time...but so would every other carnivore within a mile!

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I would love to take our dog out caching with us, but the poor old girl simply isnt up to it these days. Her name is Pip, she is a lovely border collie, and she is just about to turn 15. She is getting very arthritic, despite various medications, and is really starting to slow down. All she wants, or needs, these days is a very short walk, where she can sniff to her hearts content and do her stuff. Bless her.

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I wanted to get a dog BECAUSE of geocaching - seemed such a waste to go out for all those walks and not have a dog to enjoy them too!

 

We got our Westie almost a year ago - she belonged to a colleague of mine who passed away and we offered to give her a new home.

 

I love taking her out caching, though it does take ages to get there - all that sniffing at interesting smells and places to investigate! She's really good company for me though when wee man doesn't want to come out, or when he's at school and I'm not working.

 

Only downsides are if we are hanging around searching in one area for more than 5 minutes, or taking ages over signing the log etc. - she will start to whine then because she's not getting to move around and explore. Also because she's little, she won't go through high, thick vegetation so that has been a problem especially at this time of year - I have to carry her through normally, but there was one we did last week where the terrain was so dodgy underneath all the high vegetation that I couldn't carry her and balance myself, so I left her at the bottom and she started to let out the most awful yelps and howls - like she was in pain - it was heartbreaking. I knew she was alright - just whining for me but the noise didn't half carry and I was sure someone was going to arrive and see what the racket was all about!

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I think my user name says it all :lol:

 

Like some of the others on this thread, I have only one problem while caching with my two Border Collies.

If I take too long over finding the container or signing the log, then they get bored and disappear!

 

Mind you, it's no trouble to find them. I just look for the nearest field which has sheep or cattle in it. :P Working dogs just can't stop working :laughing:

 

I currently have 14 active caches out in the wild, all with dog or Border Collie related names.

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