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Dogs of geocaching


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Having just read the blog post by this name linked from this week's newsletter, there's something the dog-loving author perhaps should have mentioned. Before taking your dog caching, please check the cache attributes! Eighteen of my hides have the "no dogs" attribute, not because I don't like dogs but because those caches are in places where dogs are prohibited. These are typically in national parks or local reserves where just the presence of dogs can have an adverse effect on the native wildlife.

 

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Remembered that a couple years ago, our largest landowner had a restriction on dog training before hunting periods.

Apparently, dogs would scare game, and hunters entering the woods on opening days wouldn't see anything.    Made sense.

Haven't checked lately if that's still so, or what their view is on non-hunting use of their properties with a dog. 

I don't have one now, but it's worth folks looking into it.    :)

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3 hours ago, lee737 said:

Funny, how just about everytime we walk in a national park, we see people merrily walking their dogs....

Likewise for some local council parks and cycleways here. Where I live is a popular waterfront walking area and local laws require all dogs to be under owner control, which here, means on a leash. Many owners assume it does not apply to their dog. In spring, these friendly little animals that wouldn't hurt a fly (according to their owners) go after and kill wildlife, usually ducklings

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9 minutes ago, Touchstone said:

Link for reference:

 

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pets/index.htm

 

Most of the larger National Parks I've been to don't allow pets in the backcountry however.

 

It's a bit different in this part of the world...

 

Quote

Dog walking in parks

Dogs and other domestic pets are not permitted in NSW national parks. Our national parks are refuges for native Australian animals, and the sight, sound and smell of dogs and other domestic pets are a threat to them. If you're keen for your pets to join in the fun, there are some regional parks that welcome dogs.

 

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Similar to barefootjeff, we have an abundance of dog parks, as well as regional parks friendly to dogs.

One site, bringfido,  shows parks allowing dogs by state, with some allowing them off-leash as well.

There's some good info in the hiking & backpacking forums hiking with a dog.     :)

 

Just for the heck of it looked, and bringfido also does some countries. 

Many aren't off-leash areas., but learned something new.  :)

 

Edited by cerberus1
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8 hours ago, colleda said:

Likewise for some local council parks and cycleways here. Where I live is a popular waterfront walking area and local laws require all dogs to be under owner control, which here, means on a leash. Many owners assume it does not apply to their dog. In spring, these friendly little animals that wouldn't hurt a fly (according to their owners) go after and kill wildlife, usually ducklings

 

Where I live, dog owners go to great lengths to ensure that dogs become disallowed in parks. Every few feet along any trail, there are “doggy-doo bags” full of “doo", the bags tossed just off trail. The “on leash only” dogs are off-leash and running free, supposedly being “trained” by owners who can't train a dog. I hear a guy “whistling” for his dog, shouting, clapping, trying to get the dog's attention, and I brace for a huge dog to be all over me in moments. Most of those dogs aren't even Geocaching.

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7 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 Every few feet along any trail, there are “doggy-doo bags” full of “doo", the bags tossed just off trail.

 

A CO could have a 50cal with hunting gear in it and I won't head to dog parks for that reason. 

Nice yours toss 'em off-trail, we see them hanging by tree branches all along the way.  

Plastic bags glistening by the moonlight is a sight to behold...

Maybe it's so the little-people in park maintenance can pick up their dogs "stuff" easier...

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3 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

Where I live, dog owners go to great lengths to ensure that dogs become disallowed in parks. Every few feet along any trail, there are “doggy-doo bags” full of “doo", the bags tossed just off trail. 

Wow, I have never seen that. But I do see waste all along trails that DO have doggy doo bags available. Mostly on the "running" part of a trail. Irks me so much.  We pick up our dog waste 100% of the time, and always have bags with us. 

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Went for a geocaching hike in a NJ county park.  About three miles.  3T.  Eight caches.  "All dogs must be on leash."  Dog came running down the trail.  Leapt up and hit me in the chest.  "Sorry.  We never see anyone hiking back here."  Scared the heck out of me!  I'm a senior dolphin and have some health issues.  Please keep your dog on a leash!

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Just putting it out there... Not all dog owners are irresponsible. ?‍♀️ I have heaps of green dots still on my map purely because it's a spot that dogs can't visit. Occasionally I will leave doggo at home and visit non dog friendly caches. I keep her on a lead in the on leash areas and pick up her doggy Doo-Doo. And in off leash areas when I see someone else approaching I call her back and make her sit at my feet until they have walked past. Unfortunately a minority (or majority ?) of irresponsible owners ruin it for the rest of us. 

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1 hour ago, Harry Dolphin said:

Went for a geocaching hike in a NJ county park.  About three miles.  3T.  Eight caches.  "All dogs must be on leash."  Dog came running down the trail.  Leapt up and hit me in the chest.  "Sorry.  We never see anyone hiking back here."  Scared the heck out of me!  I'm a senior dolphin and have some health issues.  Please keep your dog on a leash!

-Yeah, I was out on a hiking trail doing some geocaches when a dog ran up to me - didn't jump on me and I didn't try to pet it.  When the owner showed up he said, "I'm glad he didn't bite you." !!! Why would you NOT have a dog that bites on a leash?

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5 minutes ago, koalabinski said:

Just putting it out there... Not all dog owners are irresponsible. ?‍♀️ I have heaps of green dots still on my map purely because it's a spot that dogs can't visit. Occasionally I will leave doggo at home and visit non dog friendly caches. I keep her on a lead in the on leash areas and pick up her doggy Doo-Doo. And in off leash areas when I see someone else approaching I call her back and make her sit at my feet until they have walked past. Unfortunately a minority (or majority ?) of irresponsible owners ruin it for the rest of us. 

Of course! 

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There are no separate rules for geocachers. When I'm out caching, I try to behave like a normal person and take my dog where I normally would. Same goes for obeying traffic laws and parking regulations. It's not CO's responsibility to see that cachers follow the rules.

Where I live, we can pretty much take the dog to all public places and this has been the law for some time. Not all are still not aware of this, so as a dog owner I have to use my own judgement. So far I have done only 18 caches with "do dogs" attribute, but I'm pretty sure I have never taken my dog where it is not allowed to. If the cache is at public beach etc., I skip it.

In any case, the "No dogs" attribute is somewhat ambiguous. Sometimes it means "no dogs allowed" and sometimes "not recommended for dogs" (i.e. glass or poison).

I don't think I have met "no dogs just because" type of cases. Occasionally, there may be fragile caches that the dog might break, and you just need to be alert for these ones. They can be usually guessed by the amount of favorite points.

 

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16 hours ago, papu66 said:

In any case, the "No dogs" attribute is somewhat ambiguous. Sometimes it means "no dogs allowed" and sometimes "not recommended for dogs" (i.e. glass or poison).

Really? I can't imagine a cache owner using it for anything other than "no dogs allowed".

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19 hours ago, papu66 said:

In any case, the "No dogs" attribute is somewhat ambiguous. Sometimes it means "no dogs allowed" and sometimes "not recommended for dogs" (i.e. glass or poison).

I don't think I have met "no dogs just because" type of cases. Occasionally, there may be fragile caches that the dog might break, and you just need to be alert for these ones. They can be usually guessed by the amount of favorite points.

 

Regardless of the reason, if the CO has made the effort to add the "no dogs" attribute (land owner rules, poison or fragile cache), it's probably not a good idea to take your dog along. I'm curious on the last point, though, because I don't recall ever awarding an FP to a cache with a container fragile enough for a dog to break. Maybe they've all been broken by cachers' dogs before I got to them.

Edited by barefootjeff
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26 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Regardless of the reason, if the CO has made the effort to add the "no dogs" attribute (land owner rules, poison or fragile cache), it's probably not a good idea to take your dog along. I'm curious on the last one, though, because I don't recall ever awarding an FP to a cache with a container fragile enough for a dog to break. Maybe they've all been broken by cachers' dogs before I got to them.

 

Of course, if there's no-dogs sign/rule CO should report it (just one mouse click no big effort), but a dog owner will notice it anyway. 

Just couple days ago I was going to a cache with "dogs" attribute, but it meant going through a public beach, so I passed this cache.

 

 

As for fragile caches, I'm thinking mostly fake twigs and conifers. Dogs like to chew those. 

 

Edited by papu66
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6 hours ago, papu66 said:
6 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Regardless of the reason, if the CO has made the effort to add the "no dogs" attribute (land owner rules, poison or fragile cache), it's probably not a good idea to take your dog along. I'm curious on the last one, though, because I don't recall ever awarding an FP to a cache with a container fragile enough for a dog to break. Maybe they've all been broken by cachers' dogs before I got to them.

 

Of course, if there's no-dogs sign/rule CO should report it (just one mouse click no big effort), but a dog owner will notice it anyway. 

Just couple days ago I was going to a cache with "dogs" attribute, but it meant going through a public beach, so I passed this cache.

 

The public beach in Carmel, California (who had a rather famous mayor) allows dogs to be off leash as long as their under verbal control.  Carmel claims to be the #1 dog friendly city in America.

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I cache with my doggo often. In fact, caching helps me to get out and about exercising myself and the dog. He does stay on a lead (either a short lead, or  a 10m horse lunge line that can be tied off to different lengths) as he has a tendency to try and play with livestock. Even though dogs are allowed in the national parks and on public bridleways/footpaths here, farmers are well within their right to shoot a dog that is causing distress to their livestock, especially in lambing/calving season. It actually happens more often than people think. My doggo (a rescue dog) also has issues with dominance when meeting another dog which stems from a nasty incident when he was a pup, so he stays on a lead for that reason too.

 

He will often get impatient at a cache GZ and will start whimpering if I take too long searching or doing admin. Not always discreet when waiting for others to pass by. For that reason, plus others, I do also cache without him so going for a cache with a no dogs attribute wouldn't be a problem for me.

 

On 7/31/2019 at 4:22 PM, cerberus1 said:

Nice yours toss 'em off-trail, we see them hanging by tree branches all along the way.  

 

This is often done so the owner can leave it and then pick it up on the way back. Hanging on branches makes it easier spot again. Unfortunately, the type of people who thinks this is a good idea are often the type of people who "forget" they have left a bag full of animal waste on the trail. When I see someone doing this I almost always express my opinion to them. If I can manage to carry my dogs feces, a 95 lb bulldog cross that excretes piles the size  of small mountains, then they can also carry Fido's  dog eggs to the nearest bin too. It's all part of being a dog owner.

 

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On 7/31/2019 at 8:07 AM, kunarion said:

Every few feet along any trail, there are “doggy-doo bags” full of “doo", the bags tossed just off trail.

I really don't get that. When I was walking our dog around the neighborhood, I would find bags of dog waste tossed in the bushes near the sidewalk. They were always the kind of bag specifically designed for dog waste, often with cute paw prints or logos on them. Who goes to the trouble of buying bags specifically to clean up after their dog, then bags the dog waste, and then, when 90% of the job is done, just leaves the bag of dog waste on the ground?

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2 hours ago, niraD said:

I really don't get that. When I was walking our dog around the neighborhood, I would find bags of dog waste tossed in the bushes near the sidewalk. They were always the kind of bag specifically designed for dog waste, often with cute paw prints or logos on them. Who goes to the trouble of buying bags specifically to clean up after their dog, then bags the dog waste, and then, when 90% of the job is done, just leaves the bag of dog waste on the ground?

 

Because "they are going to retrieve on the return trip but forgot it."  The body of dog owners must include some of the most forgetful people. LOL

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2 hours ago, GeoTrekker26 said:

Because "they are going to retrieve on the return trip but forgot it."  The body of dog owners must include some of the most forgetful people. LOL

If that were an out-and-back hiking trail, then it might be somewhat plausible. But this is walking around the block(s) in a suburban neighborhood.

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The Brits love their dogs but not so much properly disposing of their doos. This one cache I came across during my last canal tour.

 

GC473FM

 

Very odd that the mentioning of the doos only started with the DNFs. Were those that found it happy enough to get their smiley regardless?

Edited by colleda
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8 minutes ago, colleda said:

The Brits love their dogs but not so much properly disposing of their doos. This one cache I came across during my last canal tour.

 

GC473FM

 

Very odd that the mentioning of the doos only started with the DNFs. Were those that found it happy enough to get their smiley regardless?

Gee whiz! That sounds like a lot of dog doo bags!

 

Tonight I received a message and photo from a friend, out taking waymark photos for WPA projects. Right smack on top of the WPA sign was a pile of dog poop. I assume it was a loose dog who did the deed, because if a dog owner didn't take care of it, that's a shame.

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