Your Dogs' Names: How Important?

[Vette]

I know how you feel. Kirby was already named too an for starters i thought the name was rather stupid an i thought about changing it several times over but didnt know what to change it to so the name stuck,, but after a while the name grew on me.

i also always avoid naming any dogs people names. i cant imagine being a young child an hearing a stranger yell or scream my name as im minding my own business playing in the park or whatever. especially if they sound angry or desperate.

i did name all my other pets though. basted mostly on their coloring.

[Varga]

I've never had an animal which was already named, so I don't know if I would change the name or not, even if I didn't like it. I find that names tend to grow on you, so most likely I'd learn to love any name with time.
My friend's Rottweiler came with the name Sascha and neither of us particularly liked it and my friend did try to change it... but without much success. Sascha was and always will be a Sascha.

Taggart's name wasn't planned at all. For a couple of days I had tried calling him Kazuya (because I thought that was an awesome name at the time) but saying it out loud, it sounded too much like Sascha, so it was too impractical. Not to mention he just plain and simply isn't a Kazuya... that's a way too exotic name for a dork like him, lol.
I also called him Billy for a while. And Sofus. But then the TV series Taggart was on TV and I randomly decided to name him that and for some reason that was just spot on

[Freedom]

I do give serious thought to names for my pets, always have. But . . . I have to meet the pet, see it's personality, and then somehow the name pops into my mind. Some go nameless for 3 or 4 days as I try out one then another.

Of the dogs I have now, Lacey is the only one I named. Many people think it comes from the bichon coat, which is fluffy and can appear 'lacy.' Nope. I knew a Border Collie named Lacey, that dog had the sweetest personality and was so gentle. This girl, when I met her at the shelter, when I brought her home, she was so gentle, so delicate. I've since learned, attending classes with her, trainers call her 'soft,' she is very sensitive emotionally. Light and gentle, like lace.

Sugar's name suits her to a "T" he hee.
And Marlin, while I wouldn't have even thought of it, hard to think of him any other way.

Tasha was named by the rescue, part of the "New Year's Nine" rescued from a puppy mill on Jan 8, 2009. All 9 of those dogs got names beginning with "N" from any one of the Star Trek series. She is Natasha Yar, from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dogs don't hear soft syllables so it was easy to drop the initial "na -"

I prefer to follow the guidelines for herding dogs: 2 syllable name, ending in an "ee" sound.

[IRescue452]

Naeli came with her name but I changed it to Naylee because I hate the pronunciation of the former name (pronounced like a whiney "Nelly"). Now I just call her Nay or sometimes Shelly because that was her name for at least 6 years of her life from her owner before the most previous. I hate all of the names mentioned in this paragraph.

I would keep a name an animal came with if it was ok with me, but I can't stand childish names based on adjectives like Smokey or Blackie or Spot.

I like names I know I shouldn't use; like Cecelia. Anything with an S sound is not good for a dog who is expected to know the difference between "sit" "stay" "stand" "shake" "squeaky" "sheep" and all sorts of S commands and words.

[Suki Wingy]

I work at a dog grooming salon and I see a LOT of names. Honestly there are several names that I just hate because of how incredibly generic and common they are, and if I got a dog with one of them I would change it pretty much right away. I won't list them because I don't want to offend anyone. I also hate names that just describe how the dog looks, like Blackie or Freckles or Snowball.

I used to have an actual written out list of names and show names that I wanted to use, now it's just more of a mental thing. I like naming animals after characters in books and movies. My fish is named Trapper after the M*A*S*H character and my other fish was named Cameron after the character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I don't get too many of my own pets to name, but every once and a while I name horses at the barn. In the end it's up to the owner but I like to give suggestions. I named Pippin after the hobbit from Lord of the Rings and I named Secret because she was literally a secret from someone for the first few weeks she lived here. My boss named the new pony Rumor because she liked the name Secret so much and wanted to have something similar.

One of my favourite dogs who comes in is named Brenda, and I just love it! She's a sweet old lab but I just think it's so cute and funny that she's named Brenda. My first reaction was, "Brenda? That sounds like someone's ex-wife!"

[Taz_Zoee]

Taggart's name wasn't planned at all. For a couple of days I had tried calling him Kazuya (because I thought that was an awesome name at the time) but saying it out loud, it sounded too much like Sascha, so it was too impractical. Not to mention he just plain and simply isn't a Kazuya... that's a way too exotic name for a dork like him, lol.
I also called him Billy for a while. And Sofus. But then the TV series Taggart was on TV and I randomly decided to name him that and for some reason that was just spot on

This TV show is how they named Taggart at the shelter too. Although it is not an American show, obviously whoever named him is not originally from the US.

[Twisterdog]

Of the few dogs I HAVE got to name in my life, here's how they got their names:

My first dog as an adult, a cocker spaniel, I named Lacie after Lacey J. Dalton, a country/folk singer who had a song out at the time called "Black Coffee". I loved that song, and it came on the radio when I was bringing the puppy home.

Queenie, my ACD, was easy to name. I thought, "Hmmm, what would an old sheepherder name his old sheepdog? Shep for a boy, and Queenie for a girl." So, Queenie it was. Plus, I like the tie-in to Queensland heeler, their former name.

Keito was named after taquitos from Jack in the Box restaurant. Really. My sister and I were eating there trying to think of a name for him. He was REALLY hard to find a name for that fit. She said, sarcastically, holding up the taquito she was eating, "Oh, just name him him taquito." We looked at each other for a few seconds and both said, "Hey!"

Except for the occasional rescue dog I slap some name on, that's all I've ever got to name.

I know exactly what you mean, Suki Wingy. I swear, about 75% of dogs I groom or board have the same ten names. No offense intended to anyone who named their dog this, please, but I bet we groom 200 Gizmos.

[wolf_Q]

Since I got all of my dogs as puppies I got to name them. I spent a long time thinking of names, I've had a list of dog names written down. After Nebo (who is named after a mountain in Utah - pronounced "Neebo") I liked the short 4 letter names...so I tried to find one I liked that was short like that too for Keva. I made up Keva and Skya's names, I guess Keva is a real name that is the feminine version of Kevin...though I pronounce it "keeva" so it doesn't sound like Kevin. I didn't know that when I named her that, I just liked it. I thought Keva looked better with Nebo then Kiva with them both having an e. Yes I'm weird and think of those things.

I had a really hard time deciding on a name for Skya, she was nameless for a couple of weeks I think. I almost named her Yuki (means snow) but then I came up with Skya and I thought it fit. I know huskies get named Sky/Skye/Skylar quite a bit because of their "sky blue eyes" but I hadn't seen anyone use Skya before. I'm biased, but I really like all their names and they are pretty unique I think. Killer came with the name, Corby got him when he was 2 years old. I think its a funny name, you get a lot of looks from people ha ha. But it fits him in the fact that he is the exact opposite of a "killer" he is a total lover dog. If I adopted a dog and I really didn't like the name I'd probably change it, but try to make it something that sounded similar to the old name (unless the dog was a puppy then I don't think it really matters).

[chocolatepuppy]

When I got RB Lacey, I had always loved that name but didn't think it fit her. I was surprised when her daddy liked the name too and so Lacey it was!

When I got RB Mandy, I wanted to name her Layla, but it didn't seem to fit her at all. Her daddy and I were kicking around some names, mentioned Candy(his sister used to have a dog named Candy)and Mandy popped up! So Mandy it was!

Layla, this was my chance to sneek in that name Layla. It's from the Eric Clapton song.

Jake, well, I always liked that song from the Pirates of the Mississippi, Feed Jake. So Jake is was!

Jakes name at the shelter was Reider, not a keeper. I never knew what Lacey and Mandys names were at the shelter or if they even had one as I didn't go on Petfinder back then. Layla was not from a shelter.

[bckrazy]

Honestly, names are SO hard for me! I changed Gonzo's name a few times right after getting him. My gut instinct was to name him Gonzo, but other people didn't like it. He was Hank before I adopted him. Then Gonzo. Then Archie/Rocco. Eventually I went back to Gonzo of course. Every other Gonzo that I've met has a similar personality... very quirky, active, very aloof until you earn their trust, then they are devoutly loving and loyal.

Fozzie was "Willie Blue Eye" in rescue! I wanted a Fozzie for Gonzo, and I found Fozz, and the name already suited him so perfectly. I know one other Fozzie, my vet's afgan/aussie mix who ALSO has the same odd eyes as Fozzie, and they have identical personalities. Super laid back, cuddly, food obsessed, love to make people laugh and get attention from anyone, very street smart, and trustworthy in any situation.

After working in a pet hotel, I feel that names are deeper than just something to call your dog. I work with 1000s of dogs and notice distinct personalities in the trendy names. Chloes are always sweet. Gingers are always neurotic (then again, that could be a crazy red dog thing?). Roxys are always mischeivious. Buddys are always wild. Diegos are always teddy bears. etc! I swear that your dog's name is an omen of what they will turn out like. I highly discourage naming your dog Chaos, Malarkey, or Frisky!

[MonicanHonda]

I'm a name *hore. Lol I want the perfect name for my dogs. I wouldn't say I agonize over it because I start picking long before my puppy comes home. I actually pick my names without meeting them!!! I know. Lol

Honda came with the name... but I honestly think it fit her amazingly well so I didn't change it. It was unique enough to catch my interest.

However, since I am so picky over names, if I got a rescue with a name I didn't like, I would change it. Lol

Remy was the name I picked out. Zac wanted Bailey but I didn't think that fit her at all. Remy short for Remington of course. But she definitely seems like a Remy to me. That name wasn't too hard to pick out when I was looking for hunting dog names. Lol

Delta became Delta... We wanted an Army name and I thought of Delta the dalmatian from the phonetic alphabet. It wasn't until we brought her home and saw how sneaky and quiet she was that she became Delta Force. Lol

Doc was Doc when we were getting Delta. Lol We said our next dog would be a male named Doc, since my hubs is a army medic. They call him Doc and we loved it for a doggie. So Doc was in the making for a whole year before we got him. Lol