🐾 Pretty’s Power Move: “C’est fini maintenant!” 🐾

Gavriel Wayenberg
Aug 30
3 min read

Or, how a Springer's button board became her personal journal — and no one touches a girl's journal without consequences.

There are days at the Canine Communication Research (CCR) headquarters when Pretty, our noble and fiercely intelligent English Springer Spaniel, shows a level of emotional depth and linguistic precision that humbles us all.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Still riding the emotional high of the “Vilaine Mouche” Victory — a legendary moment where Pretty and Dad vanquished a stingy, ninja-level fly in a blur of confusion, bravery, and button-induced celebration — our button board had… well… shifted. Quite literally.

You see, Coco, in her usual helpful way, had put the buttons back “in place”… except not exactly in their original configuration. And for Pretty, who knows her layout better than any human mapmaker, this change was a disruption of sacred geography.

But Pretty is patient — and she was about to make a point.

💇‍♀️ The Knot of Truth

We were having our usual grooming session — me, delicately combing Pretty’s undercoat with my hands (because actual combs are still socially unacceptable in Pretty’s book). I hit a knot. A protest brewed.

Pretty shifted slightly, grimaced in silence, and then gave me the look — that oh-so-familiar “why do you hurt me in places you say you love me” glare. Then, right on cue:

➡️ “Ça fait bobo, Papa.”Delivered with just enough pathos to win a lawsuit.

We both chuckled. I calmed her with kisses and told her,

"You could just use 'C’est fini maintenant' if or when you want me to stop."

She blinked.Data received. Memory engraved.

But the scene wasn’t over.

😤 The Button Breach: Enter Célestin

Earlier that week, Coco’s nephew, Célestin, had made a shocking faux pas.

He touched Pretty’s button board. Not just that — he triggered buttons like “Je t’aime Papa” and “Ça fait bobo Papa”... as if he were casually flipping through someone’s diary. Pretty watched in frozen horror.

To her, this board isn’t a toy.It’s sacred. It’s intimate. It’s the archive of her life.

His face, mildly skeptical with each press, didn't help. And while Coco tried to defuse the situation, Pretty turned to me as if to say:

“Dad, why is our entire life being leaked to the public?!”

I reassured her: “Humans are too distracted to really understand what just happened.”Still, she looked wounded. Privacy matters, after all.

🎯 The Power Press

Back to the grooming scene.I wrapped up the story and once again apologized for the Célestin incident, and the slightly messed-up button layout post-Fly Celebration Football.

Then, in a perfect and chillingly on-point moment…

➡️ Pretty walked with confidence to the button.

➡️ Located the one that had recently been relocated.

➡️ Pushed it. With purpose. Loud and clear.

“C’est fini maintenant.”

Game. Set. Match. Pretty the dog was speaking volumes.

🍗 Reward and Redemption

Off to the kitchen we went — two souls, one button victory, a few knots lighter, and hearts full of mutual understanding. Pretty strutted. She was proud.

She had: