I need words to describe the way an injured dog would walk, searches, etc

[alpacinou]

I'm trying to describe a situation when a dog which has been injured walks through mud. It is suffering from malnutrition so its ribs are visible. It searches for food among a pile of trash.

1. What verb can I use for the way an injured dog walks with three legs? A stray dog was...[verb] one of its legs hanging in the air?

2. How can I express the idea that the dog's ribs were visible because of hunger?

3. How can I express that it was looking for food among trash? It...a pile of garbage with desperate eyes, a cloud of flies swirling around it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm trying to describe a situation in which a dog that has been injured walks through mud. It is suffering from malnutrition, so its ribs are visible. It searches for food among a pile of trash.

1. What verb can I use for the way an injured dog walks with three legs? A stray dog was...[verb] one of its legs hanging in the air?

- limping
- staggering
- wobbling

2. How can I express the idea that the dog's ribs were visible because of hunger?

Just say its ribs showed. The reader will know it's from hunger.

3. How can I express that it was looking for food among trash? It...a pile of garbage with desperate eyes, a cloud of flies swirling around it.

- sniffed
- scanned
- routed around
- searched
- ransacked

Poor dog!

 

[alpacinou]

Is this okay?

In the village, I saw a an dog limping though the sticky mud with an injured legs curling up in the air. Its ribs showing, it stopped after seeing a pile of garbage, sniffing to find anything edible with desperate eyes. A cloud of flies swirled around it, annoying it. I knew I had to take it back home with me.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Is this okay?

In the village, I saw a [STRIKE]an[/STRIKE] dog limping though the sticky mud with an injured le[STRIKE]gs[/STRIKE] curling up in the air. Its ribs showing, it stopped after seeing a pile of garbage, sniffing to find anything edible[STRIKE],[/STRIKE] with desperate eyes. A cloud of flies swirled around it, annoying it. I knew I had to take it back home with me.

Vivid.

Work on those commas, though. Maybe review the rules. Without a comma, it means the dog wants to eat something that has desperate eyes.

 

[tedmc]

2. severely malnourished

3. scavenging for food.

 

[Tdol]

You could also say that the dog was hobbling.