He tried to rise.
His front legs pushed against the earth.
His shoulders lifted.
His rear half did not move.
The effort lasted only two seconds before his chest dropped back down.
“Don’t.”
I moved the bowl closer.
“You don’t have to come to me.”
He stretched his neck and drank while lying flat.
His tongue moved slowly.
I let him take several small drinks before pulling the bowl away.
A severely dehydrated dog could make himself sick by drinking too fast, and Sombra, though he did not have that name yet, looked as if almost everything his body normally used to survive had already been spent.Shop Dog Food
Up close, he was worse than the photograph.
His hip bones rose beneath his coat like handles.
The hollow behind his ribs seemed impossibly deep.
His rear legs were thinner than his front legs, the muscles wasted badly enough to make me wonder how long he had been unable to use them normally.
