Wed. 10/23 - Tue. 10/29/13 (1 week)
Goulding's Campground, Monument Valley, UT
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RV LIFE:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nothing much going on. We've seen what there is to see here, so now we just "chill" and relax (chillax), enjoy the beautiful park and serenity.
Scott & I do a lot of reading. Scott more than I do. He will spend hours and hours reading. I do 30 minutes here and there unless it's a really good book. Then I'll also read for a couple of hours at a time.
Here in Navajo Nation, there is an author they honor because he represented the area pretty accurately in his books. He writes fiction but based on some real history and real local characters, one of which is police officer, Jim Chee. I met Jim's wife today while looking over some jewelry for purchase. She showed me photos of her husband, then and now. He is now retired. Scott got chills when he realized he was talking to someone who the books are based on. Oh, the author? Tony Hillerman. I'll be reading his first book and see if I enjoy them now that I've been to the area.
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SIGHTS:
A tidbit I found out after my previous post...
**Update: I wrote the Thelma & Louise comment BEFORE I found out that Goosenecks State Park IS where they filmed the cliff scene! How cool!!!!! Yep, I mentioned Devin re-enacting the scene. I visited the museum at the Goulding's Lodge where there was a room about all the movies filmed here. Thelma & Louise was a surprise.
We took a short hike onto the rocks right next to the campground. Rez dog led the way for us. My ankle has been giving me trouble again. I'll be going to a doctor soon to check it out. Up the rocks, down the rocks we all go. I am very slow because of my ankle. Rez dog led us to Goulding's Arch.
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| Photo taken from the net. We didn't bring our camera. |
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| View from our campsite at sunset. The sinking sun puts a glow on the monuments. |
PETS:
Reservation Dog Saga continues...
Our Rez dog has spent 5 days and nights with us. Much, much progress has been made. I've been posting on Facebook for immediate satisfaction when there isn't enough to blog about.
It's about time to decide on a name. We originally thought of Dineh spoken like Renee, which really is not the correct Navajo pronunciation. But the name just didn't flow anyway for us. So then we came up with three choices...
Dina, our version of Dineh, but pronounced like Tina.
GiGi, for Golden Girl.
Genni for Generic Dog.
When I wasn't thinking, I just called her Dina, so that flows.
Now for her actual progress. I'm still sleeping in the living room on the easy chair. I still get a better night's sleep than Scott. He doesn't sleep very well, which is normal for him. One night Dina slept in my lap. Other nights, she switches from a dog bed to Scott's or really Devin's easy chair. Thankfully, uneventful nights.
Dina is in no rush to go out in the morning. My usual time I get up is anywhere from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Since sleeping on the easy chair I have been sleeping until 9 a.m. and one morning it was almost TEN A.M. before I woke up.
Morning routine is I take all three dogs out on a leash. Dina has gotten used to the leash, although still doesn't like it. She accepts the leash, but while she's on it, she stays very close to me and sometimes tries to walk in between my legs. We usually go down the little canyon and let her loose to do her business. We are keeping a collar on her all the time now. She will not do her business while on the leash. Something she'll HAVE to do once we leave here.
After our walk, I feed them all breakfast. Lyla and Devin first, and then Dina. She is pretty good about waiting and if she tries to go to our other dogs' dishes, we just give her an "eh, eh" and she leaves it be. She eats well and still no signs of food aggression.
We've given her a dewormer, since we know she has tapeworms and flatworms. We've also put on Advantage flea treatment, just in case.
Devin has not been eating much. We think he is trying to figure out the pecking order. None of our dogs are alpha and Devin has been spending most of his time in the bedroom where Dina is not allowed...yet.
We put Dina in the truck yesterday, with our own two dogs. All good. We turned on the engine. All good. We decide to take a short drive. I'm waiting to have a panicked crazy dog bouncing everywhere. Nope, Dina is very, very sweet. She just quivered and kept in physical contact with me while looking out the front window. Eventually, she turned around and looked out the side window which seems to be not as stressful. Overall, she did very good. Another hurdle completed.
Today, I gave her a bath in our little RV shower. Quite a tight squeeze, but the deed has been done. Again, I wondered how she would react. I keep waiting for her to have enough and growl or bite. But no, not Darling Dina. She just again quivered, jumped on the built in shower seat and put her front legs on my shoulders. Well, that works. After the shower, I rubbed her all over with a big soft towel. I think all dogs love that part. Her butt wiggled and her tail wagged while I rubbed her all over. Check bath off the list.
And today, we had a socialization breakthrough. Devin and Dina started playing today. The RV was rocking and shaking with the dogs wrestling, playing tug of war and bouncing off the walls. They also bounced against the table our Parrot, Swayze is on. Swayze would yell, "Devin", just like I do. Our dogs don't pay attention, but Dina stopped and looked at our Parrot, then started playing again. I watched them carefully for any signs other than playing. Not a one. Like I keep saying, Darling Dina is a sweet, sweet dog.
That is another thing Dina has easily adjusted to. She pays no heed to our Parrot, Swayze.
We are still training her to wait at the door, which has been the most difficult task so far. But, even with this, she is making progress. When the door opens, she doesn't immediately run to the door to dash out anymore. But when she does get to the door, she has to learn to wait. Patience, repetition, and consistency. We let our dogs out first and make her wait, wait, wait, wait, until she relaxes. As soon as she stops trying to get out, we say "ok" and let her out.
So, a lot of progress. Enough that we can feel comfortable traveling with her. What is she going to think when we're at a new location and we open the RV in the morning and it's not her only area she's ever known?!
We've already got a vet appointment set up for her when we get near Albuquerque next week.
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CRAFTS:
I haven't been doing much crafting. I really don't know where the time goes, but crafting just hasn't been part of my day.
I am working on a hat and scarf set to use up some wool/acrylic yarn I was given. I really like the cable type ribbing on the bottom.
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LIFE HACK:
Dina is in no rush to go out in the morning. My usual time I get up is anywhere from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Since sleeping on the easy chair I have been sleeping until 9 a.m. and one morning it was almost TEN A.M. before I woke up.
Morning routine is I take all three dogs out on a leash. Dina has gotten used to the leash, although still doesn't like it. She accepts the leash, but while she's on it, she stays very close to me and sometimes tries to walk in between my legs. We usually go down the little canyon and let her loose to do her business. We are keeping a collar on her all the time now. She will not do her business while on the leash. Something she'll HAVE to do once we leave here.
After our walk, I feed them all breakfast. Lyla and Devin first, and then Dina. She is pretty good about waiting and if she tries to go to our other dogs' dishes, we just give her an "eh, eh" and she leaves it be. She eats well and still no signs of food aggression.
We've given her a dewormer, since we know she has tapeworms and flatworms. We've also put on Advantage flea treatment, just in case.
Devin has not been eating much. We think he is trying to figure out the pecking order. None of our dogs are alpha and Devin has been spending most of his time in the bedroom where Dina is not allowed...yet.
We put Dina in the truck yesterday, with our own two dogs. All good. We turned on the engine. All good. We decide to take a short drive. I'm waiting to have a panicked crazy dog bouncing everywhere. Nope, Dina is very, very sweet. She just quivered and kept in physical contact with me while looking out the front window. Eventually, she turned around and looked out the side window which seems to be not as stressful. Overall, she did very good. Another hurdle completed.
Today, I gave her a bath in our little RV shower. Quite a tight squeeze, but the deed has been done. Again, I wondered how she would react. I keep waiting for her to have enough and growl or bite. But no, not Darling Dina. She just again quivered, jumped on the built in shower seat and put her front legs on my shoulders. Well, that works. After the shower, I rubbed her all over with a big soft towel. I think all dogs love that part. Her butt wiggled and her tail wagged while I rubbed her all over. Check bath off the list.
And today, we had a socialization breakthrough. Devin and Dina started playing today. The RV was rocking and shaking with the dogs wrestling, playing tug of war and bouncing off the walls. They also bounced against the table our Parrot, Swayze is on. Swayze would yell, "Devin", just like I do. Our dogs don't pay attention, but Dina stopped and looked at our Parrot, then started playing again. I watched them carefully for any signs other than playing. Not a one. Like I keep saying, Darling Dina is a sweet, sweet dog.
That is another thing Dina has easily adjusted to. She pays no heed to our Parrot, Swayze.
We are still training her to wait at the door, which has been the most difficult task so far. But, even with this, she is making progress. When the door opens, she doesn't immediately run to the door to dash out anymore. But when she does get to the door, she has to learn to wait. Patience, repetition, and consistency. We let our dogs out first and make her wait, wait, wait, wait, until she relaxes. As soon as she stops trying to get out, we say "ok" and let her out.
So, a lot of progress. Enough that we can feel comfortable traveling with her. What is she going to think when we're at a new location and we open the RV in the morning and it's not her only area she's ever known?!
We've already got a vet appointment set up for her when we get near Albuquerque next week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRAFTS:
I haven't been doing much crafting. I really don't know where the time goes, but crafting just hasn't been part of my day.
I am working on a hat and scarf set to use up some wool/acrylic yarn I was given. I really like the cable type ribbing on the bottom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LIFE HACK:
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