Old Dogs Can't Jump

On my first venture outside the House into surrounding Ireland,  I brought two of the labs with me on a run.  We followed a seaside path, through a field near a crumbling chapel and a graveyard full of Celtic crosses:

Soon the trail plummeted onto an enclosed rocky beach.  The dogs rooted around and went swimming.  As we tried to leave, we found that the trail we had descended was steep rock up to my shoulders--easy enough to go down and easy for me to climb up, but the doggies... The puppy got a running start and scrambled up, but the old mama dog couldn't do it.  She gave a distressed little "don't leave me here."  The puppy came back down to show her how to do it; I tried in vain to lift her.  We searched for an alternative way out: the cove was surrounded by waist high brambles and jagged rocks jutting into the bay.  I eventually found an accessible way onto the rocks via the water; I apologized to all of the barnacles and microscopic beings I was probably killing, and the dogs followed me out.  Good thing I didn't have to go back on my second day and tell her I'd gotten her old dog stranded!