+The Blorenges Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 When you're tired of hunting micros in ivy-covered trees, or you've hiked to the top of a peak only to find that the ammo can has been muggled you might want to play a variation on the geocaching game Canine Caching - fun for all! You will need 1 dog, robust type, with strong roaming tendencies and good natural camouflage 1 cache container, complete with highly desirable trinkets and a FTFF (First to Find Fido) prize A group of slightly jaded geocaching friends who are willing to beta test this new game and Several hundred spare pounds to buy the GPS Dog Tracking Collar, not forgetting the accessories, naturally. Method: Attach cache box to dog. German shepherds, Old English sheepdogs, Rottweilers etc can manage a small ammo can securely straped to their back but if you're using a toy Yorkshire terrier then please be considerate - I suggest nothing larger than a pre-form. All assemble at some suitable hostelry at a pre-arranged time. Go inside, spend a couple of hours discussing the finer points of geocaching but (and this is the important bit) leave your roaming Fido sitting outside on the doorstep. After the two hours have elapsed, you may leave the building: If you've set the cache up correctly, it should now be several miles away... Voila! You have a moving cache! Start the search! I think this whole idea has potential. OK... maybe not quite as good as HamsterCaching, but I think the idea is worth pursuing. I look forward to hearing reports "from the field". Are you up for this? Is your dog up for this? Further ideas for development are welcome. MrsB Quote Link to comment
+harrogate hunters Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 At £249.99 and £9.99 a month its barking !!! I will have one straight away ! As always there is a drawback.... it does not seem to come with Memory Map ! How can my dog find a suitable path to the top of the mountain Quote Link to comment
Neath Worthies Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Joking aside, this sort of thing could be the basis for a novel extension of the game and a new type of cache. You'd have to publish the number of the tracking unit rather than the coordinates but after that you'd be using your GPS to find a physical object (which is the stated basis of Geocaching). I'd certainly be happy to give it a try. I wonder if Geocaching.com could be persuaded to allow it or, if not, one of the other listing sites. Quote Link to comment
+Handsyhands Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Sounds great! ... and for the 5/5 caches you could include some long haul searches, I was watching a wildlife program last night where there were Whales fitted with GPS units, you wouldn't have to worry about the expense of purchasing a tracker as they come pre-fitted. Timing it so you're in the right spot when they come up to breathe would be the difficult part. Quote Link to comment
+MartyBartfast Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 I wonder if Geocaching.com could be persuaded to allow it or, if not, one of the other listing sites. They don't allow moving caches any more. Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 They don't allow moving caches any more. I agree that this is a major paw... sorry, flaw in my concept. I was rather hoping that the fertile minds on this forum could think up a way around this glitch. Bribe the appropriate reviewer with those Milk bones/Bonios that we've heard about occasionally? Maybe the idea will work better as an interesting diversion to be played at Event caches? You know how there are always a few geodogs lolling around the picnic tables, or tied up by tents munching on the occasional donated hotdog? (They know who they are ) These canines need to become more active participants at such events. Heck! - Many of them already have their own accounts but may not have set any caches as yet... I think some* may have been shirking their responsibilities. MrsB *Not all. I know of one canus familiaris cacherus who set a number of caches around his home location. Give that dog a bone! Quote Link to comment
+SidAndBob Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Only this week a friend was telling me how one of his caches had gone missing. It turned out that a farmer's dog had retrieved the cache and taken it back to the farmhouse where the farmer created an account and logged the find. After this unusual introduction to caching he went on to attend the cache owners event the next week and is now apparently hooked. *Not all. I know of one canus familiaris cacherus who set a number of caches around his home location. Give that dog a bone! I assume you are referring to Merlin? Some humans could learn a lot from his great caches too. Sid and Bob have also set a cache. Quote Link to comment
+Bill D (wwh) Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 I wonder if Geocaching.com could be persuaded to allow it or, if not, one of the other listing sites. They don't allow moving caches any more. I don't think this rule stands up to scrutiny. Does not the Earth revolve on its own axis? Does it not revolve around the Sun? Does not the Sun make its own slow sure way through our galaxy? All caches are moving caches. If this rule is to be upheld fairly then all caches must be archived immediately. Quote Link to comment
+chizu Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 They don't allow moving caches any more. Easy - put the coords of the real (physical non-movable) cache in one of those little barrels for dog collars! Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 They don't allow moving caches any more. Easy - put the coords of the real (physical non-movable) cache in one of those little barrels for dog collars! That's a good bit of lateral thinking there, Chizu... so Fido would be a bit like a moving puzzle to be solved first?... the puzzle being "Where's that <insert suitably adjective to be used> dog gone now?" but the actual cache itself would be fixed, stationary. Yep, that works for me. This concept will run and run... MrsB Quote Link to comment
+FuzzyBears Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 You would have to add a new descriptor Difficulty /Terrain / Friendliness.. So a greyhound that likes hills and is not friendly would be a 5/5/5 FBs Quote Link to comment
+HouseOfDragons Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Is it possible to use a small child rather than a dog? Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Is it possible to use a small child rather than a dog? Have you got a small child with "with strong roaming tendencies and good natural camouflage"? MrsB Quote Link to comment
+HouseOfDragons Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Is it possible to use a small child rather than a dog? Have you got a small child with "with strong roaming tendencies and good natural camouflage"? MrsB Oh yes. As well as a couple I'd like to encourage to roam far far away on occasions... Quote Link to comment
+Munkeh Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Is it possible to use a small child rather than a dog? Have you got a small child with "with strong roaming tendencies and good natural camouflage"? MrsB Oh yes. As well as a couple I'd like to encourage to roam far far away on occasions... how about a small blorenge? Quote Link to comment
+third-degree-witch Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 What about a live Haddock ? Quote Link to comment
+Primitive Person Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I wonder if Geocaching.com could be persuaded to allow it or, if not, one of the other listing sites. They don't allow moving caches any more. I don't think this rule stands up to scrutiny. Does not the Earth revolve on its own axis? Does it not revolve around the Sun? Does not the Sun make its own slow sure way through our galaxy? All caches are moving caches. If this rule is to be upheld fairly then all caches must be archived immediately. Either that, or anchored above the surface of the earth in a geostationary orbit. Or something. Lee Quote Link to comment
+Guanajuato Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Would special equipment be required? I'd suggest a shotgun to prevent the mutt running off or mauling the unfortunate cacher(s)*. Or maybe a nice slab of beef. *If anyone thinks I am REALLY suggesting the shooting of dogs, maybe you shouldn't be reading such an obviously tongue-in-cheek thread! Quote Link to comment
+Handsyhands Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 (edited) Spray em matt black and let em run free in a forest .... at night! better still, spray them matt black and let them loose on dartmoor at night ........ when there's a full moon! Ok, I'm starting to get a little bit fixated with spray paint aren't I. Edited April 27, 2009 by Handsyhands Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 It doesn't have to be so expensive, and you can do it without a dog. here's how. One person (call him or her the "fox") sets off from the pub with a supply of sawdust. Every so often, the fox drops a small handfull by the track. Every time the fox changes direction, the trail has to be sawdust-marked. The others (call them the hounds) set off a couple of hours later, and follow the sawdust trail, trying to catch up with the fox. As a variaton on this, the hounds can be mounted on horses. Or bicycles. Quote Link to comment
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