“He got to the point where in the middle of July he would stand by the door and shiver.”
That’s funny! Dog’s aren’t stupid. A dog of ours hurt its leg once and would limp around. My wife of course would coddle it, extra treats, etc.
After a few weeks it was better and run around just fine. Unless my wife was around and it would start limping again!
Another time the wife and kids came home and the dog was barking at some power and light workers. The guy said they had been working for over an hour and the dog was just as friendly as could be. As soon as the car appeared the dog started barking at the workers. I guess the dog was leaning on his shovel until the supervisor showed up.
Years ago, my sister had a dog named Buttons. She had been hit by a car, which resulted in the breaking of both of her back legs. After good care, she regained full functioning of her legs, but, if she wanted attention, she would drag those back legs.