By morning, Sam no longer tried to explain it away. This wasn’t stress or a rough transition into a new home. Dogs adjusted every day without collapsing. The signs were too consistent, too physical, too severe to be dismissed as nerves or shock.
Whatever was happening had started long before the auction. It wasn’t an accident or a single bad moment. It felt systematic, deliberate, something introduced over time and reinforced until the dog’s body could no longer compensate. Sam recognized the shape of it instantly.