My Mom and I are going to leave for Phoenix, AZ on Monday. We are going to drive out to visit with my nephew for a few days. We will stay in Las Cruces, NM and then drive on to Phoenix. I have never been to New Mexico or Arizona. I am looking forward to the trip.

Just to review, my nephew moved out there from Texas last August. He was homesick and lonely. He had always wanted a dog but never had the opportunity. He wound up adopting Bella from a shelter. She was a 3 year old lab mix, spayed, and housebroke. He and his roommate love her. She has 2 issues. 1) she cannot have toys because she chews them into tiny pieces within minutes , and 2)when walking she is dog aggressive. I will evaluate when we get out there and hopefully be able to direct him to some good information to correct the dog aggression.

Any recommendations for stops along the way would be appreciated. We will be driving Hwy 10 all the way. We should be in Las Cruces midafternoon Monday. We are still not sure which way we will go back home. Suggestions appreciated.

1) the dog doesn't " have " toys . . . the owner has the toys that they play with together , when , where and how the owner decides .

the dog should be provided with appropriate chew items .

I have stayed in Las Cruces a couple times, always at a campground with our trailer. It's a very nice town with a pretty view of the mountains. Going west from Las Cruces on US-10 is a very long, lonely stretch of road. I would get gas in Deming and Lordsburg whether you need it or not. Towns will be a little more common once you get past about Willcox, Arizona.

We once got caught in a traffic jam on that road near Benson, AZ. Long story, but we were parked on the freeway for about four hours, in August. We got our lawn chairs out and sat in the shade of our large trailer, where we were joined by many other stranded travelers.

Sorry for digressing. Good luck. I hope you can help your nephew with his dog.

Ian, thanks for that "aha". You are so right. I will check this out when I get there. She is loose in the house when he is at work and does not get into or tear up anything.

Cheri, I heard about the long roads. We will definitely stay topped off and I will have a cooler of drinks/snacks in the car. I am a little concerned about the dust storms. Never been through one, could get interesting.

I survived vacation! Whew, up to 117 in Phoenix! Bella is a doll. Left in the house during the day and she will not touch the trash or tear anything up. Friendly but not rude. She loves to have you throw the tennis ball for her but it is really too hot to play outside right now. She is not crazy about he pool but really needs the exercise (pudgy)! She is shedding like mad. I bought for her and used the Furminator type shedder on her. She loved it.

My nephew has been working an erratic schedule waiting tables but will begin a new job in 2 weeks with a set schedule. That should help with the exercise. I suggested fish oil for the shedding/dandruff. Once he amps up the exercise they will begin working on dog aggression. I did not see the aggresion as it was too hot for a walk. I have encourged him to look in to training her for pet therapy. She has a wonderful, sweet personality and lives to please. He was excited when I made the suggestion and I hope it will motivate him to continue her training.

Cheri - Las Cruces was awesome, we filled up in Lordsburg, and we were very, very careful on those mountain roads. You should have warned me about the windgusts up on those winding roads. Just a little scary. LOL We also went to Sedona which was beautiful. We stayed in Ruidoso, NM on the way home. People were complaining about the heat. It was 80, we were rolling on the floor.

Glad to be home and can't wait to play with the pups tomorrow.

Christi, glad to hear you made it there and back safely and had a good time. It sounds like your nephew has a nice dog who will benefit from some additional training, and that soon he will be in a position to spend some more time with her.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I do remember some wind, but it must not have been too bad for us. We were towing a 35-foot trailer, so it would have been memorable!

I thought about mentioning Ruidoso, but I wasn't sure you would be going that route. That's another place we have stayed and absolutely loved.

Sedona.....ah, Sedona. Simply put, I would live there if there was any way I could. I hope you got a chance to do some hiking. The amazing thing is you can be out on a trail five minutes from town and feel like you are totally out in the wilderness.