Utah!

 This past week we took a trip up to Utah to get out of the oppressive Vegas heat.  We stayed in a dog friendly cabin at a place called Duck Creek and visited Cedar Breaks National Monument, Brian Head, Dixie National forest and briefly Zion National Park.  I love national forests for a few reasons.  Firstly they tend to be less busy and just as beautiful as the parks.  Typically there are less amenities and they are quite the distance from civilization, but that has its perks too.  The other great thing about national forests is that dogs are allowed all over most of them- unlike national parks where they are confined to campgrounds, picnic areas and the occasional dog friendly "trail."

This trip was soooo nice.  Mostly because I don't have a puppy anymore.  As you can see in the picture above I have a well behaved adult dog with a 20+ foot sit-stay in high distraction environments.  I didn't have to work about Kerrigan peeing in the cabin, or doing any thing totally nuts.  Having a puppy was rewarding and fun, and under certain circumstances I would do it again, but I am oh so glad it is over. 

In other news- southern Utah has LAVA FLOWS!!  According to the one piece of information I found on these lava flows they are only between 1,000 and 5,000 years old.  Crazy right?  I am on a mission to learn more about these lava flows- cause they were so cool.  These lava flows also somehow created something called a "lava tube" and the parks service was kind enough to make it totally safe and accessible for you average non-spelunking tourist!

 Here is the entrance to "Mamoth Cave"- which actually is a lava tube.  Ben and Kerri were the first to brave the cave.

 Me and Copley waited at the opening while they checked it out.

 Kerri was scared shitless of the cave- so they left quickly and we traded dogs.

 Copley was willing to go in the cave but only would step in places where Ben shined the light.  I think it was a good experience overall but looking at these pictures he does seem a little worried.

Above is the "exit hole" to the cave.  It looks really hardcore- but a family of 15 with a baby did the cave before us- it really is not as crazy as it looks.

The picture above is on the one dog friendly "trail" at Cedar Breaks National Monument.  It was along a ridge and the views were great.  I also had a rare good experience with people commenting on the dogs.  A family with two small children came walking up from the camp site and asked to pet the dogs.  Copley and Kerri both sat politely while the kids pet them and I chatted with the parents who were AMAZED our dogs were not barking and totally flipping out at the idea of being outside in the widerness.  They even asked "why are your dogs not barking at everything?"  I told them it was simple- I trained them not to!  I really don't see why our dogs are so amazing- they really aren't.  All I have done to make my dogs well behaved in public is socialize them and take the time (very little time overall) to train them how to behave appropriately.  Mostly I am just proud of my dogs for being such good examples while they are out in public.

This post got a little long- I will have to give Zion it's own update- so be on the look out for that soon.