Joe Sterne's Blog

If you have/had a pet, there was probably a specific instance when you knew your pet was getting old. For Jules and I, this point was last weekend.

We had decided to go on a hike on Saturday. We ended up choosing St. Joseph Hill (part of the local Openspace) mainly because it was dog friendly and offered nice views. The mileage would be low and the elevation shouldn’t be anything we couldn’t deal with, even with the heat.

I was incorrect on that thought. Even though I was smart enough to bring water (basically a gallon), all 4 of us managed to go through it in a couple of hours. To add insult to injury, the entire trail was basically a fire road that offered little shade. The temps ended up climbing into the low 90s so we basically ran from shady spot to shady spot to try to keep the doggies cool.

They held up well (and thankfully we had enough water to keep them cool) but by the end of the hike they were both limping pretty severely. It took Marcy and Chopper both a few days to fully recover from the hike. It’s sad as Marcy used to not have a problem with hiking (granted the heat would have walloped her the same)

The views from St. Joseph’s hill were quite nice- it overlooks Silicon Valley. We all had a blast but Jules and I learned a valuable lesson that day. Our dogs aren’t as young as they used to be…