Pet Dog as the Buddha

I was reading in Elizabeth Drescher's Choosing our Religion about the "spiritual" connection between people and pets. One Linda Olson considers her dog Sheamus her most important spiritual sensei. She calls him "Mr. Present Moment" aned "Mr. Loving Kindness." These are the values the dog teaches her everyday. The dog teaches her "to pay attention to the present moment, to really be in it, and to approach everyone as though they're going to be awesome, wonderful friends. I don't think the Buddha could do much better than that." (p. 140)