Moving from PA to Phoenix -- Need desert living tips/advice for our snow-loving doodle!

[Bonne Bouche]

My husband and I (and Bonne Bouche) were born and raised in Pennsylvania. Right now, we are renting a beautiful cottage-like home on 6 acres of wooded property. While I never loved the winters here, my husband and beloved Bonne Bouche ADORE the cold and snowy winters. However, I have finally obtained the job I've been preparing for my entire career, and we will be relocating to Phoenix, Arizona this summer. Of the thousands of things I could/should be worried about, the only ones that are really making me nervous are ones that center around BB. So while I've been on a DK hiatus, I really need tips and advice (and moral support) about moving to the desert with my doodle. 

First, like so many people moving to the southwest, I'm terribly afraid of BB being bitten by a rattlesnake. I have already worked with my vet who will be vaccinating BB at our annual appointment next week for rattlesnake (anti?)venom. We also will be doing a rattlesnake aversion class (referrals welcome!). BB is such a curious and playful dog, I do worry he'll try to "play" with a rattlesnake... We are very outdoorsy people, so we'll be doing lots of hikes, and with these two precautions, I feel mostly at ease with this. Scorpions on the other hand... I worry about BB getting stung. Also, I am terribly frightened about the Lepto breakout and Valley Fever, which are not presently issues where we are now. Though, in reality, we pull ticks off BB nearly daily and he has had Lymes (without issue), so I wonder if this is just me being worried about the unfamiliar. What realistic precautions do we need to take (bringing our own water, wiping paws after going out, etc)?

Second, most of the yards in the houses we're looking at have gravel instead of grass. Can you still play fetch/frisbee with a gravel yard? Does it bother their paws? Does it get too hot? If we get a place with a pool, can we convert it to a salt-water pool so he can swim in it (he LOOOOVES swimming!)? 

The AZ doodles page isn't the most active group here, but I'm going to join it and follow along in the next few months. Please friend or PM me if your a local DKer in the NW Phoneix area! 

In short, I welcome any tips for desert living with a doodle. Thanks in advance!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1D6gXfswOMyjoNkpUo1CL4-gKGiZfqWDYpw

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

Carla - I don't have any advice, but have loved reading the responses that you've gotten because we will be moving to Las Vegas, NV this summer, so I've been wondering the same things. Our daughter and son-in-law live there - love it - and have convinced us to give it up and move there closer to them.  We are looking forward to it - but am concerned about the how my doodles are going to handle the heat. I anticipate that they will be spending the majority of their time in the house most of the time. We will have a great doggie park only about 2 blocks from our house, so plan to take them there either early mornings or early evening. Good luck on your new job and your move.

[Bonne Bouche]

So glad someone else can benefit! Thank you and good luck to you, too!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

I was born in Tucson and was a desert girl until we moved to California when I was 9. One thing I can add to your list of worries - which I know is NOT what you wanted from your post - is the wonderful goathead, a hard, sharp sticker that wouldn't be pleasant embedded in a dog's paw. I don't know how to embed a photo on my iPad, but I've attached a pic of the nasty little thing! (As a matter of full disclosure, at the tender age of six, I fell off my bike into a patch of these and had them stuck all over my body so I may have a warped perspective regarding their level of danger.)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No, lots of people feel the same way about these awful weeds as you do. There are whole websites dedicated to telling people how to get rid of them, which seems to be next to impossible to do. Blow torches are mentioned, lol. 

http://www.goatheads.com/home/gh1/page_41

I'd never heard of them, and after reading about them, I'm glad they don;t live here.

Rattlesnakes, foxtails and now goatheads...you Westerners must be awfully tough, lol! 

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

We had to be tough - coming west in our covered wagons was no walk in the park!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Bwahaha!!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Oh, I remember those. Awful!!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

UGH!  We traveled to AZ to visit my niece and encountered these at the rest areas.  We finally figured out what the plant looked like so we could avoid.  We also encountered some kind of stickers that took forever to get out of their coats - no matter what kind of coat. They were spirals.

[Bonne Bouche]

OMG they look awful! While on vacation in northcarolina we ran into a patch of Sandspur whic h

[Bonne Bouche]

hmm, what happened to the text in my reply? 

Anyway, I was just saying how they look similar to the sandspur. We ran into that part way along a hike in NC. We had to carry BB out because they were everywhere, and the only good part of that hike was that i got one of my favorite photos of my boys.

Thank you for giving me the heads up on this. I'd rather know than not know! Going to research this more to figure out what they look like and what seasons they're around in.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Carla, there's some good info in this link: 

http://www.goatheads.com/home/gh1/page_41

[Bonne Bouche]

Thanks!!!!!!