Picking out good names for your pets small rant

LillianD

LillianD wrote the following post at 10-19-2008 9:14 PM:

I think naming a pet "Bad Dog" is stupid, but I don't care too much about others.  Everyone has their own taste.  I'd rather see a cutsie name than a totally stupid name or one that will degrade the dog.  Sometimes cutsie names give off a friendly vibe, I'd be more apt to approach and talk to a dog owner who named their dog "Pumpkin" or something cute than one who named their dog something overly serious.

I think that was what my original point was supposed to be.   Standing next to that big poorly trained mastiff puppy  I wanted to cringe everytime they laughed as he pulled or jerked and scared some of the dog show observers as all they heard was NO NO BAD DOG !! .... He wasn't being bad, he was being an iquisitive puppy but having nearly 100 pounds of slobber and elbows bumping into you the last thing you wanted to hear was No No BAD DOG.   Had they Said No No Fred or George, or Tex the people standing near by may have been simply fascinated by his puppy antics.   The corner of the South I live in has a horrible Pit Bull problem and no one relaxes when the new family chains thier lovely boys out to a tree and  hollers " Shut up Killer, Havoc be quiet "  calling them Teddy Rumplestilskin would not make most of the neighbors relax either but they would at least pause a moment .  We have a Califorian RR named Cruiser, his registered name is Bwana's Country Roads, because  love will always bring you back home, and Cruiser because he was just so cool.   While I rarely care what folks name their pets or kids I have to share that my girls went to school with a little boy who's legal name was Possum Macadoo.... This kid never got past week two without being kicked off the bus, or suspended for getting into it.  And if you hare holding this animal out as a breeder of champions wouldn't it be nicer to not blush when you rattle off his name in the pedigree?  I do admit to liking clever,   a magnificent Afghan was Called Grand Theft Larceny since the stud fee was over the moon and ther was only one pup, the call name was Thief.... a lovely funny dog who tossed the hair about it's face and moved as if the Gods had laid out the steps for him to use...  And one of our dearest friends has a Chinese Crested Named Punkin Puss.  LIke you said if it does no harm and does not degrade the dog clever or funny can be delightfully different.

Bonita of Bwana

I named my puppy CC.  She was named that because my grand sons names are Cody and connor so she was named after that.  It was either CC or Coco but Cody the 5 y/o wanted CC so that is what we did.  It fits her though so I like it

When DH brought Willow home, I knew her breed before her name.  And, I remember this really clearly, I asked him what her name was.  I held my breath.  He said Willow.  And, I said, "oh, good, at least they gave her a nice name".  I fully planned on changing it if her name was Bandit or Killer and anything negative like that.

I think "Nonobaddog" is kinda cute, but I've got a friend with a UDX lab named Uh-Oh. :P I also know a BC x named Oops and a Cardi named Stolen Moments (from an accidental litter). I think it's just such an individual thing.

 Bonita, I love your kennel name, but DARN it's hard thinking of short ones. I'm using Cloudix for the spitz, and that took me a LONG time to think of!
 

 My poor doggie...named by her show breeder...Buffy the Cookie Slayer...sigh!

 I too think naming is a personal thing, and I accept that some people may have a sense of humour I don't get or different opinions on names.  I'm quirky in that I like SOME "people names" for dogs (clearly) but others sound very wrong to me.  Still, as long as I don't have to live with it I don't really let it affect me.

I do agree some registered names are a little nutty but it can be hard to come up with an available one, picking something silly or crazy probably increases the chance that you won't have to go back to the drawing board and think of another one. 

Krissim Klaw

Cita- heh, I always loved the name Rascal but maybe I'm partial since my mom used to have a Quarter Horse called Rascal with a registered name of Tag This Rascal.  Actually, whenever I see you talking about Rascal he reminds me of our Rascal because he had a very similar tempermant to your boy only in horse form.

Too funny! Heh, he must've been a handful!

I guess I don't have a great naming history - I also ended up accidentally naming my dad's cat "Squeaker" since he never learned to give a proper, big-cat meow. I'd walk around saying, "Hey, where's my squeaker? Look at you, a big handsome squeaker!" and the name just stuck. I actually named Rascal accidentally, too - I didn't own him as a puppy, but I knew him, and he drove me crazy. In trying to express my frustrations with his behavior in a kind way, I was always saying things like, "Dog, you are SUCH a rascal! Unhand my power cord, you rascally rascal!" He's not a "nonobaddog," he just has a mischievous streak, and was a HECK of a puppy. Gahhh!

BF's family has a tradition of naming their animals after someone in the family, keeping only the same first letter. So since I'm Courtney, the cat I helped them pick from the humane society is now named Cammomile (sp?).

When I was 6 and we got a new puppy, my mother promised to let me name her. She quickly recanted when I decided the appropriate name was "Moon Dancer" - she said the puppy wanted to be named Daisy, and I resented it for many months afterwards. I'm sure the puppy was very grateful for the final decision, however!

I'm pretty easy going with names, but I must say I really hate over-the-top cheesy names like snookums. Anything else is fine by me - I don't think the animals care, as long as they're getting treated well.

Yeah, all that Bonita said.  I particularly have issue with some macho or violent sounding name just so someone thinks they'll sound 'cool' (which tells you right off how incredibly UN-cool they are).

Billy is actually Bilbo -- which is part of where "The Adventuring English cocker spanYELL" came from.  David found him on the TOP of a set of 8 foot shelves when he went out to get him about 2 days after we got him and there was NOTHING he could have 'jumped' up their easily to get -- HOW he did that is a complete mystery.  But we'd been calling him "boy" for days because the idiot rescue we got him from called him "Huggins" and you DON't name a therapy dog something that would encourage some kid to squeeze the stuffing out of him.

Tinkerbell is so aptly named it's scarey on a million levels -- but I wanted something kid-memorable. 

but having a cocker it makes me want to scream that darned near every one out there is muffin, taffy, brownie, lady ... you get me.  Expend a few brain cells folks. TRY!

I can't honestly say what I would have named Dahlia if we had chosen the name.  The shelter picked the name.  No doubt named after the Black Dahlia...unique, but still...naming a dog after a murdered actress?  Ah well.  We love the name, got to know her as that, and she was starting to know the name, so we kept it.

since most dogs probably think their name IS nonobaddog I don't see any problem with it. Who cares? the dogs don't.

I named her Jewel but we often call her Julie.The first time she saw the vet her name was mis-heard and written down as DrooleyWhen we picked out our Aussie Noel,only she and her brother Prancer were left.All the pups were born shortly before Christmas and given holiday names.With horses the owner of the mare chooses the name.I was suprised that it was not this way with dogs that are registered.

Tena

calliecritturs

 

but having a cocker it makes me want to scream that darned near every one out there is muffin, taffy, brownie, lady ... you get me.  Expend a few brain cells folks. TRY!

I had a buff colored Cocker as a young kid(like, 4-ish) her name was Sandy. I can't stand that name now, anytime I meet a light brown colored dog called Sandy I want to scream, please people, be creative - but not stupid!

I guess, for me, it's more of the owner/dog relationship that matters.   The "gentleman" down the street who has the shamelessly bred pair of Pitbulls, Killer and Vicious, gets no respect from me; however, the elderly lady with her toy poodle, Pookie" whom she treats like a child, taking her everywhere and walking her constantly, has my greatest respect, even though the name stinks.

I like human names for cats.  Many people are so anti-cat that I name my cats human names, because they're valuable creatures also, sometimes more so.  Thus I have Sebastian, Toby, Ivy and Jack!

Kenya's registered name is in my sig.  She was called "Chopper" for nearly 4 years.  It referred to some type of gloves the breeder wore when she live in Minnesota.  First, people assume Kenya was a male and second, they assumed she was an aggressive "attack dog".  So I changed her call name to Kenya because I think it suits her and is more feminine.  People that knew her growing up still call her Chopper (and she answers to both).  I don't correct them since after all, she lived there for 3.5 years and has lived with me as Kenya for 1 year.

I prefer to pick one or two syllable names that are easy to say and clearly heard when training.  I like names that are more unique but still easy enough for anyone to read and pronounce (Kenya the country, Coke the cola, and Nikon the camera).