Every morning I tiptoe down the stairs to surprise Coco, our little brown guard dog. And every morning she’s waiting for me with a wagging tail and a tilted head. She shows off her perfect yoga form and assumes the downward dog position. She does a full body stretch and yawns herself awake. She is perfectly present in her old dog body. For her, every day is today, her favorite day. I scratch her neck and tickle her ears to produce her thankful tail motions. When I take out the trash in the morning near the park, she’s sniffing the dog day newspaper written by the other four legged friends: some strays; some pets. She adds to the news with some comments of her own. These canine journalists are very unconventionally professional. When she’s found a safe corner on a patch of grass, she squats and releases something a little more solid. I have to censor this part of her news article and, as her editor, I deftly remove it with a little bag. Larger dogs need more editing, so I’m thankful for Coco’s diminutive size - although her heart seems infinitely bigger than mine.
