New · CCR’s first article is published in Frontiers in Animal Science
THE SENTIENT COMPANION · CCR / HAVERIM
What if they
have more
to tell us?
Exploring canine communication, cognition and our shared lives — through Pretty’s journey and the work of Canine Communication Research.
Canine Communication Research,
formerly known as Pretty’s World
PRETTY · AT HOME IN HAVERIM
CCR ARCHIVE
OBSERVE WITH CARE
INTERPRET WITH HUMILITY
PUT WELFARE FIRST
MEET PRETTY
One dog.
Many questions.
Pretty is a ten-year-old English Springer Spaniel — a little rounder these days, and doing great. Her everyday life at Haverim, the CCR home laboratory in Belgium, has inspired a continuing record of communication, learning and companionship.
Buttons are part of that story. So are gaze, movement, timing and context — and the things we may misunderstand.
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION
A button press is
only the beginning.
What happened just before? Where was Pretty looking? What did the human do next? In CCR’s approach, context belongs in the record — not only the word that sounded.
PRETTY’S BUTTON BOARD AT HAVERIM
01
Observe
Record behaviour, surroundings and human responses before assigning meaning.
02
Question
Keep the proposed interpretation beside plausible alternatives, including learned associations and cueing.
03
Revisit
Retain ambiguity, non-use and observations that challenge the first account.
RESEARCH & EVIDENCE
Careful claims.
Open questions.
CCR’s research presentation keeps three things apart: what was observed, how it was interpreted, and what the evidence can support.
What the article contributes
A way to document and assess canine soundboard events in context — a theoretical and methodological contribution.
What it does not claim
It does not demonstrate that Pretty — or dogs generally — understand human language.
PUBLISHED · HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY
From button presses to situated communicative events
A methodological framework for canine augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) research under interpretive uncertainty.
François G. Wayenberg
Frontiers in Animal Science · 26 August 2026
DOI 10.3389/fanim.2026.1907975
PRETTY’S JOURNEY
From shared moments
to better questions.
A documentary trail, dated from the original journal entries. Stories and research stay side by side — and stay distinct.
AUGUST 2023
The first buttons
The journal records Pretty’s first word list and her first lessons with communication buttons.
NOVEMBER 2023
A voluntary press
After two and a half months, the journal notes Pretty’s first voluntary button press.
AUGUST 2026
A methodological milestone
CCR’s Hypothesis and Theory article is published in Frontiers in Animal Science.
OCTOBER 2026
Learning together
Pet University extends the inquiry towards welfare-centred interspecies education.
FROM OBSERVATION TO EDUCATION
A home laboratory.
A wider horizon.
Pet University explores learning about animals, with animals, and for animals. CCR is one of its initiating projects, bringing its history, field observations and methodological questions.
STORIES, BOOK & ARCHIVE