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Introducing a new geocacher who started on Valentine's Day!


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Many of you who donated to Caesars' memorial fund and left a valid email address will have already heard this news - Caesars' successor has arrived!

 

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On Valentine's Day, I started training with a new male Golden Retriever from Dogs for the Disabled called Udo, he was exactly 20 months old that day too! We successfully completed residential training by the Friday morning, and have now returned home together, with domiciliary training continuing for a few weeks to come.

 

Udo has an appealing character, is confident and almost glides alongside my wheelchair already! He's a lovely dog, and I hope shortly we shall go on to qualify as a registered assistance dog partnership.

 

I'm sure you'll all appreciate the fact that after he'd been in my possession just a few short hours, after class had finished for the first day, we found our first geocache together!! Just 210' from our bedroom in the Dogs for the Disabled compound! Many thanks to The Allottment Gardner for setting that cache so conveniently! :D

 

Dog owners, we completed the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme bronze award 72 hours after being partnered together!

 

It's been a long wait for a successor to Caesar, but Dogs for the Disabled were really keen it had to be the right dog (the first two with my name on proved unsuitable for me in the final stages of training and were placed with others) - and Udo has had some extra advanced training to ensure he's capable and happy with the job, and has the skills to enable him to succeed! He's already been on a couple fo flights with his instructor and apparently coped very well, and has his passport too.

 

Since we've been home we've been working hard at giving him new experiences, and last weekend he attended his first geoevent!

 

Life suddenly has colour again! :)

 

Thank you to everyone who has supported me through the difficult times.

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Welcome to the fold Udo! I hope he'll be able to help you and support you just as well as Caesar did. He certainly looks the part in that photo. May it be a long and successful partnership. And once more, your caching team name is fully valid; I know you've already been out caching together :)

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That's great news and congratulations on qualifying, I'm sure you'll both grab loads of caches together. Is he going to get a tracking number, and can I meet him tonight at the Hampshire monthly?

 

Ha! As you may have realised, we weren't at the Hampshire monthly, as we were at Crufts! He's a professional, and like his predecessor, won't be having a tracking number, to meet him will be the joy in itself :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

In all likelihood, he will attend a couple of Megas this year, so there will be plenty of opportunities to meet him.

 

Udo was the most newly qualified assistance dog at Crufts, and took it all in his stride, I'd quite forgotten though, that you get next to no sleep on a dogs first night in a hotel! Every little noise he was checking the door etc. He even won the little challenge event set up by Dr Roger Mugford for assistance dogs - empty a Nina Ottosson toy in the quickest time! Udo managed it in a flash and Coco, Kaz's dog came second!

 

Thanks everyone for your kind words, even though he is now qualified, we'll still be training for different situations for months to come. He's mastered waiting patiently while I sign a geocache log, but is still working on a few other things :laughing:

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I'm so pleased to hear you have a new geo dog. We have always had dogs and can't imagine life without one so when your hound has a professional role to play, it must have been unbearable. We look forward to hearing about more of your adventures and what becomes of the roposal for the Geolympix

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