Most of them arrived named, but some of them have stories...

Muskwa didn't have a name at all until he was about four months old. My hubby couldn't think of the right name. He was originally going to be Heyoka, but it just didn't fit. My husband is a Cree Indian and he was talking to his medicine man one day who told him that he has a bear spirit. The medicine man said that Muskwa also had a bear spirit and that was why the two of them had connected so strongly. Muskwa means bear in Cree.

Hoodoo was named by his breeder. He was the first of the litter to learn to howl and she was always asking him "who do you think you are?". The first part stuck with a different spelling.

Heyoka's name was Nanook at the shelter. I hate that name for a northern breed dog. We had him at home for about two hours when we realized that this was our Heyoka. Heyoka means a "crazy clown who teaches through his antics" in Cree. It fits him perfectly and he has always answered to it.