🐾 When Fidelity Becomes a Journey: Pretty’s Near-Death Experience and the Soul of a Dog

At the Canine Communication Research (CCR) center, we’re used to decoding the unexpected—but nothing quite prepared us for the spiritual odyssey Pretty, our faithful Springer Spaniel, recently undertook.

It began not with a bang, but with a journey.

🛣️ The Long Road South… Too Long

Like every summer, we packed up the car, left behind the digital aquariums of Rebecq, and headed for our sanctuary in La Favouille, deep in the Gulf of St-Tropez. But this time, something shifted. What should have been a 14-hour trip became a grueling 17-hour stretch, during which Pretty, aged nearly 10, bore the brunt of our oversight.

We didn’t notice her signs at first. Her panting. Her silent suffering. Her refusal to drink for too long. It was only when her throat gave in, and her body began to show stress in terrifying ways, that the alarm bells rang.

We stopped. We soothed. We hydrated. We prayed.

And yet, it lingered.

🏥 An Emergency for the One Who Always Waited

Our first days in paradise were anything but. Pretty’s condition deteriorated. Her breathing labored, her movement stiff, her spirit… dulled. It was as though she had followed us—blindly, faithfully—into the realm of illness we knew too well. Cancer had struck both her owners this past year, and now, as if guided by some unseen karmic thread, Pretty too stood on a precipice.

We rushed her to the vet.

Diagnosis: back pain, dehydration, stress. Treatment: painkillers, rest, observation.

But what the vet couldn’t see, what science doesn’t measure, was what happened in her eyes—those eyes that seemed to say, “You walked through fire, and I came with you.”

🕊️ An Assumption Weekend of Revelations

And so it happened… on Assumption weekend, a time of spiritual reckoning, renewal, and awakening. While Europe moved and gathered, we stayed still. And as the world turned, we began to understand:

Pretty hadn’t just followed us physically. She had mirrored our trials. Our near-death experiences—cancer, surgery, pain—had echoed into her body. A karmic ripple. A canine sacrifice.

This was no accident. This was synchronicity.

🏨 A Dog Hotel, a Big Dodo, and a Message from the Heart

We made a decision: no more long hauls without rest. The next time, we booked a stopover in a modest dog motel. Pretty was skeptical at first—but when we told her this was a dog vacation, a big dodo, a rest just for her—her posture changed. She examined her room. She sniffed the garden. She seemed… honored.

And when we resumed the journey the next morning, she didn’t just ride. She rejoiced.

Later that evening, curled up in her favorite kitchen spot, she looked up at us. Not as a dog who suffered, but as a friend who had been understood. The message in her gaze was clear:

“I’ve been seen. I’ve been heard. And oh my, isn’t life beautiful again?”

🧠 CCR Reflections: When Buttons Are Not Enough

Pretty is used to expressing herself through buttons—words like “I love you,” “Bobo,” “Bibiche”, and yes, “On va à la cuisine?” But during this episode, she had no button board on holiday.

And yet she spoke louder than ever before.

She told us with her eyes, her posture, her will to keep going despite pain—that love knows no species, and fidelity can run deeper than understanding. She told us that care must evolve as needs change, especially with aging companions. And she taught us something profoundly human: noticing the unspoken is a form of sacred listening.

🌌 A Karmic Lesson in Real Time

So what was this whole ordeal really about?

It was a mirror. Pretty’s suffering reflected our tendency to run faster than our awareness. Her body absorbed what we refused to slow down for. But now, we’ve seen. We’ve acted. And we've built a new rule:

🧭 Mindfulness before movement. Love before logistics. Rest before regret.

❤️‍🩹 The Soul of a Dog

Pretty is more than a dog. She’s a soul companion. A little healer. A furry philosopher who, through quiet presence, whispered: “Slow down, humans. I love you too much to let you rush toward the edge without me.”

We didn’t lose Pretty that Assumption weekend. But we came close enough to realize something we’ll never forget.

And next time, we’ll bring her buttons on vacation.

📝 Written with gratitude, humility, and awe by François Wayenberg, CCR Founder

📷 Featuring Pretty, spiritual trailblazer, Springer Spaniel, and guardian of love.