Can you change a dog's name?

If I rescue a dog, can I change it's name? C.M. says that names are basically a human need, not a dog's. I assume I can get a dog accustomed to a new name.

 
absolutely...never once had a problem changing a dogs name.... only one of my greyhounds has ever kept their "race track" name... some of the names these dogs are given are not pet names... so when they come off the track they are often given a name by the rescue, and then often when they are adopted a few months later the new owner changes their name again....  no problem with name changing at all...    

Yup!  When we first got Copper his name was George which both DH & I didn't like so we changed it.  He was pretty young when we did it, but I've known other people who have rescued dogs & changed their names without a problem. 

I changed Ace's name when I adopted him as well.   He picked it up very quickly. 
 
His life before I got him seemed pretty scary for him -- I am just as glad he got a totally fresh slate here, complete with a new name. 

Yes, you definetly can Raja used to be Winnie. But she barley knew her name anyways, so I changed it, because I liked it better and because It means "hope" in arabic which I thought fit her well.
 
Also, alot of shelters will name the dog if it was a stray, so the dog may have only had the name for a little while, which makes it even easier to change it.

Definitely...I've had rescues where I had no clue what the name was before.  If you do know the name, it may be easier to change it to something similar.

As an aside, we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what Biscotti might have been named...LOL...she didn't respond to anything!

Oh, absolutely.  One of our fosters was "purple puppy eater" or snuggle bug and when he went to his "forever" home he became Gizmo, and when he came home again Tyler.    He hopefully doesn't remember being Gizmo or the bad situation he was in there.  He's perfectly happy being Tyler.

We named Sammy when we adopted him...... he had been taken in by a family as a stray, so who knew his name before then, and then they named him "Big Ben" but DH and I didn't like that name one bit......  but it kind of goes along with a fresh start, with a fresh name.  Maybe he doesn't know his "name" is Sammy, but he knows that word applies to him and gets his attention.  It only took him a few weeks to get used to it.

They greyhound I just adopted was being called "Patsy" at the rescue, which I didn't care for. Her racing name was Sunnys Sidra, and I changed her name to Brenya. I was a little worried that having so many names might be confusing, but I have been using the clicker, and when I say her new name and she looks, she gets a click and a treat. Hopefully she will start to catch onto her new name pretty quick. []

Teenie was nine-ish when I got her. I had no idea what her name was, so I picked one out of the air. She learned it on the first day. 

We've always changed the names of our dogs. Our first two were named by their original families, but if a family is going to dump a dog at a high-kill pound just because the dog is too much work, well, I'm sure the dog is happy to be rid of a name given by such people. Oooor maybe I'm projecting. []  But they were lame names and in Conrad's case it was clear that they'd let the kids name the dog.
 
Marlowe was a stray so who knows what his name was. At the shelter they named him Bubba which, just *gag*. For some reason shelter workers feel absolutely compelled to name all stray scenthounds and scenthound mixes things like "Jethro" and "Elvis" and "Cletus". Really not doing any favors to those breeds as far as their reputation for being stupid and lazy, folks!
 
A name for a dog is just a predictor of a reward when they respond in some way to hearing that sound. If you start using a different sound as a predictor of reward and stop rewarding for that other sound, well, you've just changed the dog's name.
 
OMG did I just agree with Cesar Millan about something!?!? [sm=rotfl.gif]

OMG did I just agree with Cesar Millan about something!?!?

 
I think you did.....[8D]
 
All of my rescues, except for one had their names changed.....no problem at all[]

A dog's name really just means to him, "hey you, pay attention." Even puppies just named have to learn their names.

Cletus almost made me coke zero my keyboard.  I'm going to have to keep that one in mind for my next hound!

Paula

I have no idea what name Max originally had.  He was in the shelter for 10 days and they were calling him Mookie. They said it makes them seem more appealing and adoptable if they  have a name.  He had no problem at all realizing that when I said "Max" I was referring to him.
 
Joyce