Ok so maybe I was a bit biased in the past, calling my puppies “Angels on Earth” and all. Yes, on our first visit to Dry Creek Park, Martin rolled himself in fresh cow dung. The week after, Remy committed the same damn offense. Lil’ rascals.

This time around, John and I had made preparations for the morning hike: we packed fruit, drinks, nuts, paper towels, etc. But we weren’t prepared to have multiple run-ins with about 50-heads of cattle on the trail. It seemed that no matter which path we chose, we always encountered the beasts. And that wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Martin kept provoking them with his incessant barking. And of course the night before, someone on Yelp had warned of charging cows at the park, so I was a bit on edge. On top of that, John and I totally overestimated our fitness, because we got pretty tired early on in the game. We stopped for a picnic, which seemed to help, and then we decided to try the Pioneer’s trail. Unfortunately, with the cows standing in the path, we had to keep rerouting off the path… In the end, the path just disappeared. I know, doesn’t make sense but I’m telling you for both of us, we didn’t know where the path went. And by then we had already entered the danger zone of hunger and dehydration and general annoyance. Yes, it was time to go home. We headed back and that was when Remy decided to freshen up in cow poop. I enjoyed that immensely. Stupid dog.

Needless to say, we won’t be heading back to Dry Creek Park for a while. Like my parents, maybe I have a preference for artificial parks, like ones with paved sidewalks and water fountains. I’m just no longer the tough cookie of my younger years.

Btw, Remy broke her tooth yesterday. John bought them rawhides, and Remy managed to break her premolar to the point that the pulp is exposed. She seems fine, but I read up on the exposed tooth online– it’s very prone to infection so now I’ll have to schedule an appointment on Monday. The pups have been so low maintenance until now… I hope this isn’t the start of the downward aging process for them. Remy’s 9 already. Boo hoo. Marty’s 6.