cover
Outdoor, midday in a sunlit backyard lawn, poopy the puppy stands center, tail mid-wag, mouth open in a playful yip. He points his nose, back, and belly to illustrate rostral, dorsal, and ventral directions.
Poopy yipped, "Caudal: near my tail. Rostral: near my nose and mouth. Cranial: near my skull. Dorsal: my back. Ventral: my underside!" He wagged proudly.
In the backyard under bright afternoon light, poopy the puppy balances on hind legs with one front paw extended outward and the other drawn close, demonstrating abduction and adduction. A nearby stick rests on the grass beside him.
Poopy stretched and said, "Extension: my joint angle increases. Flexion: my joint angle decreases." He hopped, "Abduction: a leg moves away. Adduction: it moves toward my body!" He danced.
At twilight in the backyard, poopy the puppy sits on grass flipping one front paw upward in supination while the other faces downward in pronation. His hind paw hovers ready to tap beneath a soft purple sky.
Poopy flipped his paws. "Supination: my paw palm faces up. Pronation: my paw palm faces down." He tapped his hind paw, "Plantar means the back side of my foot!" He giggled.
Morning light filters across the backyard as poopy the puppy lowers his nose to sniff a short wooden stick lying on the grass, tail wagging. His body stretches long to show distal paw tips and proximal shoulders clearly.
Poopy sniffed a stick. "Distal means away from my body; proximal means near my center." He wagged, "I learned big words!" Then he zoomed home, cuddled, and dreamed of tomorrow’s gentle adventures.