The first still try to preserve the remnants of dignity: they walk slowly beside their owners, breathing heavily, pretending the walk is entirely their own decision. The second ones have long since figured it out. They step into the first puddle, ditch, or fountain they find and stand there with the expression of complete acceptance of life.
In general, heat very quickly strips living beings of more complex forms of behavior. Humans start darting from one patch of shade to another, cats disappear somewhere into the bushes, and dogs choose a puddle and turn it into a personal resort.
And the longer you watch such a dog, the stronger the feeling that it is the one behaving most sensibly of all in this situation.
«I will stay in this puddle until the world cools down» — it seems to say with its entire presence.
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