dogs – Page 11

Dan Q found GC14QCA TJB Speed Cache

This checkin to GC14QCA TJB Speed Cache reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Found with the geopup on a morning walk through the woods. Always appreciate a good-sized container. Took travel bug. TFTC.

Dan Q found GC4PYPF Chester Services TB Hotel

This checkin to GC4PYPF Chester Services TB Hotel reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

QEF for the geopup and I while stopping for a toilet break on the way home from a holiday in Wales. SL, TNLN, TFTC, and Happy Halloween!

Dan Q found GCA002Z Busted out!

This checkin to GCA002Z Busted out! reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Could have been expected to get the FTF for this one, given that it’s (a) literally 20 seconds walk from my front door and (b) the CO had indicated that one would be hidden around here, but unfortunately I contracted covid last weekend and any walk longer tab my garden was quickly leaving me exhausted. This evening I felt a little better and so the geohound and I (pictured) braved a couple of minutes in the rain to come and sign the logbook.

Note to future cachers planning to park and grab: the “layby” indicated is a working bus stop, albeit with an infrequent (every 2 hours, weekday daytimes) schedule, so remember to be a polite cacher and try not to park in it at times that it’ll be needed by the minibus!

I might need to find a new home for my replacement to GC90RH3, whose bridge hiding place is only 100m or so (less than the requisite 0.1 miles!) from this new cache! Ah well, that’ll teach me to be a slow CO!

TFTC, and for getting me out of the house for a walk for the first time since I got sick almost a week ago.

Dan Q couldn’t find GC33BCA WWW#7 – www.letterboxing.org

This checkin to GC33BCA WWW#7 – www.letterboxing.org reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Based on the description and the hint this one should have been easy. Perhaps a longer search might have been fruitful but the geopup was anxious to keep moving.

Dan Q found GC33BBW WWW#6 – www.geochecker.com

This checkin to GC33BBW WWW#6 – www.geochecker.com reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

After I found the right hiding place, this one was pretty easy, though I was initially hesitant to put my hand into it after I mistook the cache’s unusual container for (a very large version of) something else that could be laid in a place like this. TFTC.

Dan Q found GC33BAJ WWW#4 – earthcache.org

This checkin to GC33BAJ WWW#4 – earthcache.org reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Geopup and I found quite easily while out on a walk. The excitable doggo isn’t so keen on stopping and searching for caches when there are so many new and exciting smells just over her visual horizon, so today’s expedition might only give me a couple of minutes to hunt for each: we’ll have to see if that’s enough to log any further finds this morning.

Dan Q found GC8VQ92 Freeland to Hanborough 5

This checkin to GC8VQ92 Freeland to Hanborough 5 reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

The geopup and I took a slightly inelegant route down to the valley bottom after she insisted we try a steep route atop a carpet of dry, dusty leaves. Made it down intact, though, and found this cache in the very second hiding place we tried. TFTC!

Dan Q couldn’t find GC8V4T3 Freeland to Hanborough 2

This checkin to GC8V4T3 Freeland to Hanborough 2 reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

A pair of walkers who’d stopped at the GZ for a snack made searching difficult, plus the geodog isn’t very good at stealth, so we had to give up on our search for this one. Maybe on the way back. (Although as I write this I see they’re coming the same direction as us; might need stealth again yet!)

Dan Q found GC8V4RN Freeland to Hanborough 1

This checkin to GC8V4RN Freeland to Hanborough 1 reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

QEF for the geohound and I while out for a walk. Not convinced we’ll do the entire trail in a single run (the pooch only has little legs!) but we’ll see how we get on. SL. TFTC.

Dog; Person [Video]

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Dog; Person

This post is also available as a video. If you'd prefer to watch/listen to me talk about this topic, give it a look.

This blog post is also available as a video. Would you prefer to watch/listen to me tell you about not being a “dog person”, but still loving one dog in particular?

I am not a “dog person”. I’m probably more of a “cat person”.

The Diamond Dogs, from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic season 1, episode 19. A cartoon image shows three humanoid doglike creatures with gem-encrusted collars and gemstones in their pockets. They're facing off-screen, to the right. — To clarify: when I say “dog person”, I don’t mean “anthropomorphic dog”, like those characters from that weird episode of FiM I talked about back in 2018.

My mum has made pets of one or both of dogs or cats for most of her life. She puts the difference between the two in a way that really resonates for me. To paraphrase her:

When you’re feeling down and you’ve had a shitty day and you just need to wallow in your despair for a little bit… a pet dog will try to cheer you up. It’ll jump up at you, bring you toys, suggest that you go for a walk, try to pull your focus away from your misery and bring a smile to your face. A cat, though, will just come and sit and be melancholy with you. Its demeanour just wordlessly says: “You’re feeling crap? Me too: I only slept 16 hours today. Let’s feel crap together.”

A calico cat on a red ledge against the white outside wall of a building, shadowed by leaves, stares into the camera with a grumpy half-closed-eyes look. — “I hate Mondays. Also any other day of the week with a ‘Y’ in it.”

So it surprised many when, earlier this year, our family was expanded with the addition of a puppy called Demmy. I guess we collectively figured that now we’d solved all the hard problems and the complexities of our work, volunteering, parenting, relationships, money etc. and our lives were completely simple, plain sailing, and stress-free, all of the time… that we now had the capacity to handle adding another tiny creature into our midst. Do you see the mistake in that logic? Maybe we should have, too.

Ruth, in the background, watches on as a French Bulldog puppy jumps up at her two children, a girl and a boy, in a wood-floored hallway. — The kids were, and continue to be, absolutely delighted, especially our eldest who’s been mad about dogs now for well over half her life.

It turns out that getting a puppy is a lot like having a toddler all over again. Your life adjusts around when they need to sleep, eat, and poop. You need to put time, effort, and thought into how to make and keep your house safe both for and from them. And, of course, they bring with them a black hole that eats disposable income.

A French Bulldog puppy sound asleep on a doormat. — Sure they’re cute when they’re asleep, but the rest of the time they’re probably destroying things, pooping, or both. *#PuppyOrToddler?*

They need to be supervised and entertained and educated (the latter of which may require some education yourself). They need to be socialised so they can interact nicely with others, learn the boundaries of their little world, and behave appropriately (even when they’re not on camera).

A crowd of humans and their dogs watches as Dan uses his finger to lead Demmy the dog through an agility course. She's mid-way through leaping over a yellow pole suspended between two mini traffic cones. — At the end of elementary “puppy school”, we tried some agility course obstacles. Jumps were a success, even for Demmy’s little legs, but she’d far rather hang out inside a tunnel than run through one.

Even as they grow, their impact is significant. You need to think more-deeply about how, when and where you travel, work out who’s responsible for ensuring they’re walked (or carried!) and fed (not eaten!) and watched. You’ve got to keep them safe and healthy and stimulated. Thankfully they’re not as tiring to play with as children, but as with kids, the level of effort required is hard to anticipate until you have one.

An 8-year-old girl in a flowery pink dress lies on her back in a meadow of long dry grass, laughing with her eyes closed. On her belly, Demmy lies, looking up towards the camera with her tongue hanging out. — Whether you’re a human pup or a canine pup, there’s fun to be had in leaping out of long grass to pounce one another.

But do you know what else they have in common with kids? You can’t help learning to love them.

It doesn’t matter what stupid thing they’re illicitly putting in their mouth, how many times you have to clean up after them, how frustrating it is that they can’t understand what you need from them in order to help them, or how much they whine about something that really isn’t that big a deal (again: #PuppyOrToddler?). It doesn’t even matter how much you’re “not a dog person”, whatever that means. They become part of your family, and you fall in love with them.