True story:
I was walking my dog, and we'd got down to the local country park. It wasn't a very warm day, but it was ok, I was warm enough so obviously the dog, Harry, must be! But there's a nice little shop there than does all sorts of dog treats, baskets, leads, toys, all that sort of stuff. We stopped in to have a bit of a look, before continuing on our way.
Ready to go, I said "come on then," to Harry and pulled the lead. He sat down. I pulled again, he stood up and acted like he couldn't put any weight on one of his back legs. I bent down to have a look, and there was nothing obvious. I could touch his legs, squeeze them, whatever, but as soon as I asked him to walk, he couldn't put that leg on the floor. Whatever I did, he couldn't walk. So I picked him up, put him inside my coat and started the walk home.
After the first kilometre, my back was sore, this dog was weighing a ton. I stopped for a sit on a bench, put him on the ground and the same thing happened - he couldn't walk, he was shivering and no way was he going to get home without being carried. So I picked him up again, put him in my coat (the only way I had any support other than from my arms which by now were in agony).
I finally got through the second kilometre, staggered through the front door, and put Harry down. He promptly ran to the sofa, jumped up without any sign of lameness, and snuggled into the blanket.
That's when I knew that dogs do, actually, sometimes need a coat.
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