Geocaching

One of my favorite hobbies is a game/sport called geocaching. It involves one person hiding an item, listing the long/lat coordinates on a website (geocaching.com) and then another person using a handheld GPS unit going out and finding it. Once the cache is located, the finder signs a log inside and replaces it so that the next geocacher can have the same fun. The item can be as small as a thumbnail or as large as a paint bucket. The cache can be hidden in a shopping center parking lot or on top of Mount Whitney (yes, there really is one there!).

One of the best things about geocaching is that it takes you to trails you don't necessarily know about, to see things you may not have seen and gives you a reason to get up and outside in the fresh air and put some miles on your boots. I first learned about geocaching by reading about it in the dog magazine "The Bark" as a fun activity to do with a dog. And that it is!

Sergi is old enough now and has had enough shots to start going out into the world. On New Year's Day, I took him out for his first geocaching hike along the improved trails around Discovery Lake. We went with Patty Irby, a CCI trainer, and her two pet dogs, Molly and Matthau. We hiked about three miles and found four caches. Sergi was a terrific trail dog! He trotted alongside the big dogs, matching them stride for stride. I was worried that he would get tired and I would have to carry him, but he kept up easily everywhere we went. Of course, whenever we stopped to find a cache and sign the log, Sergi lay down and rested for a few minutes. But he eagerly got up each time he was asked to go again.

We saw lots of people and other dogs walking around the trails. A few mountain bikes whizzed by, joggers passed us, we saw lots of birds, ducks and coots, and all the time Sergi was excellent about walking on a loose leash, not pulling and not reacting fearfully to anything that came his way.

Encouraged by that success, I took him out again today in the hills above the Batiquitos Lagoon. We walked on posted but rocky trails and did a few steep hill climbs. Again, Sergi was magnificent in his ability to walk next to me without lunging or dragging and was willing to go anywhere I asked him to go. He drank easily from the flexible water dish I brought with us and even helped me find one of the caches I was looking for.


It's a nice omen to have a pup that is not reluctant to go new places and is not afraid of new surroundings. I was very proud of the boy out there and look forward to some great times together, hiking and walking together as a team.

A good friend of mine, who is also a puppy raiser for CCI, has a blog all about geocaching with her puppy. You can check it out at http://pk-a-boo.blogspot.com/