Geocaching with a dog

Geocaching is worldwide the biggest game focused on treasure hunt that combines hiking with the adventure  of searching hidden cases – caches. It is based on the use of GPS, when according to coordinates, you are looking for a hidden “cache”. The treasure is usually hidden in a container of various sizes, from micro ones that are barely few centimetres large, up to the size of, for instance, lunch boxes. The same way, the ingenuity of the hidings differs. You will discover some immediately and spend searching another ones even for several hours, or you won’t find them at all. In some, you know the precise coordinates immediately, in others, you have to solve a number of puzzles on the way. The case contains also a notebook to enter visits – a logbook and objects designed to be exchanged between the participants.

Many caches are hidden in nature, so in the connection with the search, you can plan a great trip with your dog. There are caches directly for dog owners. Those are hidden in places that have such road leading up to them where a dog can have a good free run, or in places directly related to dogs, such as an agility playground. With each cache, you will find information, whether it is suitable to set off to it with a dog, so that you don’t have to be afraid that you would get into a terrain that your buddy wouldn’t manage.

To us, “dog-caching” proved well. I enjoy that I am not just walking about, that I have some kind of a goal in front of me. Besides, I don’t have to always ponder over new destinations. There’s really a lot of caches, so wherever you are, you will find enough of them in your surroundings, so that you could always visit a new place, which your dog will surely welcome as well.

You can even buy  a geo-collar or geotag for your dog from Log my Dog. You register the dog, that is, the tag, on the website, similarly like any other trackable object. So you can log it in at every found cache and this way track the journey of your dog after caches. The tag has its specific code and if you meet another geocacher with a dog on your walk or chase after a cache, it can log the dog in as found, similarly as in classical caches.

In the geocaching community, you can also find buddies with dogs and take trips after caches together. This way, you will organise joint walking, during which the dogs will enjoy themselves even more than when you’re looking for a cache by yourself. I and my pack have found many new friends this way, both the two-legged and four-legged ones. We organise joint events and trips, so there’s always fun and pleasant company at hand. And what about you, have you got any experience with “dog-caching”? Has your dog, for instance, managed to find a cache or to dig it out?

If this game has caught your attention, you will learn more on its official website www.geocaching.com. And perhaps we will meet on at a cache or on a joint trip :).