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Geocaching With Dogs
What is geocaching?
Geocaching is a real world treasure hunt. Caches of all sizes are hidden all around us. Simply navigate to the location, some caches have hints to help you find them. Sign the logbook and replace the cache as found so the fun can be continued.
The easiest way to find caches where you are, is to download the app, get your shoes on, clip the lead onto your dog and get out the door. Just don’t forget your pen!
Geodog – A dog that joins you on geocaching adventures
Geocaching aims to take people to places they wouldn’t normally visit, places of interest and teach you about the area around you. Each cache description often gives you information and history on the area you are visiting.
Geocaches (caches) can be any shape or size, often a plastic sandwich container, but could be a microtube hidden in a stick, an ammo can, a 3d printed pine cone or a whole garage! Some of the larger caches often contain swaps, like keyrings or little toys, if you take a swap, you should replace with another swap of the same or greater value. We always carry a few little swaps just in case or to top up depleted caches. All caches will contain a ‘logbook’ normally a piece of paper or notebook for you to sign and date.
Finding our first ammo can cache! Why geocaching with your dog?
Geocaching is everywhere! No matter where you are in the country, be it city or countryside, there will be cache near you. I know when we first started we found out we walked past loads on our normal dog walking routes!
Instead of always walking the same routes all the time, we started to find new paths to explore which led to a new geocache to find. New routes means new sniffs and a more interesting walk for you and your dog. New routes around the local area soon leads to different hikes to explore areas further afield.
Combining a fun hobby with walking your dog helps to enhance the bond with your dog. It gets you out the door and active which is better for you and your dog. An active healthy dog is a happy dog!
Geocaching gives us an extra dimension to our holidays, days out and hikes. Now when we book holidays we look to see where the interesting geocaches are as so much information is often given in the geocache description of your location, so you start to learn more about the area and its history. We have found some amazing places which we wouldn’t have found in a travel brochure, if it wasn’t for geocaching we would have never visited some beautiful places!
Dogs are also great at keeping an eye out for muggles! Neville, Luna and Lilly often get excited when they can sense someone nearby. Muggles are non-geocaching folk. Unfortunately some muggles will damage or steal caches, ruining the fun for other people, so you have to be aware when other people are around that you don’t draw attention to yourself or the cache. This is all part of the excitement!
Have you looked behind this? How to get started?
All you need is:
- your smartphone
- a pen
- a sense of adventure!
The easiest way is to join is to download the app on your phone and register your account. You can have a free account so you can see all the caches available in your area to basic account holders. If you really enjoy the thrill of finding caches you can sign up for a premium account which will unlock even more caches!
Once you have the app loaded on your phone, the geocaching map will show the caches in your area. I suggest starting with some of caches closest to home. Select the cache and here you can navigate to cache, read the cache description and get a hint if you need it. The cache page will also give an indication of the size of the cache you are looking for.
Each cache has a difficultly and terrain rating out of 5, the lower the rating the easier the cache should be to find. A low terrain rating means the cache location should be easier to access, whereas a 5 terrain rating means specialist equipment is required to access the cache such as boat, ladder or climbing equipment. Yes, we have climbed trees with ropes to find some geocaches!
Geocaching on the River Fowey, Cornwall You will notice some different symbol for different cache types. Traditional caches are hidden at the listed coordinates, these are the most common. Multi caches can have a few stages to get you to the final location, these can be virtual stages where you use information in your surrounds to get to the next stage or physical stages where a container contains information to help you onto the next stage. These can be really interesting and you can learn a lot about your location. Mystery or puzzle caches aren’t hidden at the listed coordinates and involve solving a puzzle of some kind to find the actual coordinates. Earthcaches involves answering questions about your surrounding area and virtual caches can involve gathering information or pictures of your location. Each cache page will explain what information is required to log some of these caches.
I suggest looking for a low difficultly and low terrain traditional and multi geocaches to start with until you get a sense of how caches can be hidden. Geocaches will never be buried in the ground but can be very cleverly hidden.
Once you have found the cache, sign the logbook and see who and when it was last found. The logbook can also give you a sense of how long the cache has been hidden there in plain sight for! Sometimes tweezers can help get the tiny logs out from micro caches. Hide the cache again and don’t forget to log your find on the app or website after.
There is so much more to geocaching which I can’t fit in this post but gives another dimension to geocaching such as trackable items and events.
We found the geocache! Don’t forget to take some water and treats for your geodog. Have you ever found a geocache? Will you give geocaching a go? Let us know in the comments!
Beth, Neville, Luna & Lilly x
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[VIDEO] Pure Agility Show Vlog | GOING GRADE 3
Come and join me, Luna the English Springer Spaniel and Lilly the Sprointer puppy at Pure agility show for the weekend! After competing in the Reach for The Stars Jumping qualifier, we are in the finals! Watch us competing, can we get to grade 3 this weekend?! We only need one more win (clear in jumping or agility) to progress into grade 3.
Hope you enjoy joining us on this competition weekend!
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[VIDEO] Progressing The Agility Start Line Wait | Foundation Agility Puppy Training
Want to get started in agility with your new puppy or dog? Follow along with our new series and join us on our journey of starting agility with our new Sprointer puppy, Lilly, as we build on the foundation skills of agility.
In the previous video in this series we were teaching the wait command. There are a few options when progressing the wait for the agility start line, I have chosen to teach ‘middle’ to set Lilly up at the start line. We show how we build this with the wait command to progress into the agility start line wait and how we proof this, ready for competition. Let me know in the comments how you proof your start line waits!
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[VIDEO] Oswestry Agility Show Vlog
Join us on a hot weekend away competing in agility with Luna the English Springer Spaniel at Oswestry Agility Show. This is our first time at this show and what a great show it is!
Luna is currently competing in grade 2.
We share the highs and lows of competing in this video – find out how we did!
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How To Start Canicross With Your Dog
September marks the start of the canicross season, now temperatures are starting to cool, there is no better time to start your canicross journey.
Canicross is a great sport for strengthening the bond with your dog and keeping you both active. Running the tails with my best friend is amazing for my mental wellbeing too, helping me to relax, clear and refresh my mind.
Kit
You don’t need a huge amount of kit to start canicrossing. Some you may already have if you already run.
- Canicross waist harness for you
- Canicross dog harness
- Bungee line to connect you to your dog
- Comfortable running shoes with good grip
- Moisture wicking clothing
There are lots of different styles and brands out there, it can be a bit of a minefield. Wearing the right kit can really make a run feel much more comfortable for you and your dog. What is comfortable for others may not be right for you, so I would recommend contacting your local canicross group, DogFit also have certified trainers all over the UK which can help you. They often have a kit bag which you will be able borrow kit from and try out different styles. Some harnesses fit different dog breeds better than others.
DogFit is a great resource for harnesses and they have an online form for them to help advise on the best kit for you. This is great if you can’t find a local canicross group.
When I first started running with Luna, I used her PerfectFit harness as it had a Y front so it didn’t restrict her leg movement or breathing. As we started to progress I then decided to buy the non-stop freemotion harness as it suited her well.
To start with, comfortable running trainers with good grip is all you need. However, as you start to increase your distance you may find it best to have a gait analysis done to ensure you are wearing the correct shoes for how to run as this will minimise the risk of injury to you. You can get your gait analysed at any good running shop. Different shoes will have different type of lugs on the sole, depending on the types of trails you run along will depend on how deep they need to be.
Dog
Any breed and size of dog can do canicross, as long as they are healthy! Dogs should be fully grown before participating in canicross, this will depend on their breed, around 12 months old for smaller breeds and around 18 months old for larger breeds. This ensures their bones and joints are fully formed so to minimise any damage while they are growing.
Before starting any canine sport, you should consult Veterinary Surgeon as to whether your dog is fit and healthy enough for canicross, this should include a full physical health exam.
Canicross is great for reactive dogs too. It can be difficult to ensure reactive dogs get their full amount of required exercise, especially if they can’t be let off lead. In canicross they are securely attached on a bungee and so can be exercised well without risk to other dogs and humans, giving you peace of mind to go out and enjoy running the trails with your dog.
With Luna, walking normally on lead she can bark at other dogs (especially if they are off lead) and is very nervous when other dogs approach her. However, when we are canicrossing she can run directly next to a dog she has never met before with no problems! Canicross gives her a focus and a job to do, so all worries about other dogs melts away when running.
Trails
Get your kit on, get out the door and start running! But where? Canicross is run along the trails, dogs shouldn’t be run for long periods on hard surfaces such as tarmac.
One of the best ways to get started is to join your local canicross group. They will organise group runs which will help you to explore and find new trails in your local area. Running in a group will help your dog to learn to pull out in front rather than keeping stopping for sniff if you have a nose strong dog!
It doesn’t matter if you are not a runner, canicross clubs often host beginner groups so you can build your distance up with other like minded people. It’s important you build up slowly to reduce the risk of injury to both you and your dog. Following a couch to 5k program is a great place to start. DogFit have online courses if you can’t find anything local.
Even if you are a keen runner, your dog may not be used to the type of running you will be doing together, your dog needs to get used to pulling out front. In this case I would still start with a couch to 5k program to build your dog up gradually.
You can always sign up to a race to keep you motivated, accountable and give you a goal to focus on. If you are struggling to find in person races, virtual races are a great place to start and often help raise money for charities.
Are you thinking of putting your trainers on and exercising with your dog? Or if you canicross already, what is your top tip for people thinking of starting? Let us know in the comments below!
Beth, Neville & Luna x
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