Did You Change Your Dog's Name?

Yep!  His shelter name was Toby.  It just didn't fit him.  Went 'round and 'round with BF the first day, and finally called my mom, 2 states away, and the 2nd name she said was Harry.  I looked at him, and said, yup, that fits!

Yes.  At the shelter they called him Mookie. He was only there for 10 days so I think they name them to make them seem more adoptable. The day I signed the adoption papers was the same day Max had his picture in the paper as "pet of  the week."

Joyce

This is a great idea for a thread!

Twister's name was Oliver, they said it was not like the name as I spelled it but like Allover because he kept getting sent to this relative and that one, moving all over. I changed it to Twister, Oliver Twist seemed sort of cute and related in some weird way in my mind and Twister because he's a JRT and he likes to dance!

Rex was Baron in the shelter and that just didn't suit him or me. LOL  Rex is a not so special name for a very special dog.  He does look sort of regal and Rex seemed sort of like a name for royalty. 

Belle had no name in the shelter as she was only there five days and I don't have a clue why I named her Belle.  Just liked it I guess.

I shortened Sam's name from Samson to Sam or Sami....that doesnt count thou.

 Joker's name was Jake at his breeders. I had Ruben picked out when I saw his picture but it didnt fit when I met him. My friend came with me and we kept throwing out names and when she said Joker he looked at us. I didnt like it at first because I like more human names for my dogs but Joker fits him perfectly as everyone who looks at his pictures can see!

Fynn was Johnny. Eck. No way was I gonna call a dog of mine Johnny. Plus I already had a dog with a J name. I looked up Irish names on the net and came up with Fin and Brody. I liked several Irish names but I picked the 2 that I would never name a kid. Every time I would think about "Johnny" Fin just kept popping up in my head so Fin it was. Of course I had to change the spelling!

My second Irish Setter I had name was Cherry. Really? Cherry? Come on couldnt come up with a better name for a red dog? I renamed her Morgan. She didnt know her name anyways when I got her so it wasnt no biggie renaming her.

Luke was "Luke" at the Humane Society.  I tossed around a few different names in the days before I got to bring him home -- Fisher was high on my list and I can't remember the other one anymore...  At any rate, everyone kept telling me that my choices were bad names.

On our first night at home I sat in the living room on the floor with him and threw out different names.  He responded the most to Luke, so I kept it.  It suits him.

Kaiser's registered name through his breeder is Kvichak.  There's no way you can convert that into any useable call name -- I didn't really mull over his name long at all.  I pretty much looked at his picture, proclaimed his name to be Kaiser and was done with it.  I knew I wanted a "K" name and it was the best male name that popped into my head.  I love it, and it totally fits him to a T.

Ohhhhh, I kinda love this thread.

• Grady - His Shelter name was Buddy.  I really hated that name.  We wanted to name him something that might have a southern flair to it.  Grady won out.  Why a Southern flair you ask?  He was in a horrible shelter in Little Rock Arkansas.  There was a member here who was able to find his non petfinder pictures from the shelter.  Wow, they just about ripped my heart out.
• Aspen was named ESPN by his former sports obsessed family.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with being sports obsessed but to name a Papillon ESPN??  Get real.  So Aspen it is.
• Maghee - well her rescue name was Magee.  I wanted to call her McGhee.  When I met her I realized that she is & was a Maggie.  I just decided that I'd spell it differently.

Kenya's registered name is Lamb Chop (see sig) and she was called Chopper or ChopChop.  I called her that for a while but people always assumed she was a boy and was mean so I've called her Kenya for over a year now.  Her breeder and others who've known her longer than I've had her still call her Chopper.  She answers to both.  I call her Kenya, Kenny, ChopChop, or Cheech.

Coke's name with the rescue was "Teddy".  No offense to any Teddys but I just don't like it at all.  We wanted something easy to say, short, and reflective of his personality.  I thought "Coke" was cute and we both love the drink, plus Coke is a "bubbly" dog and is black/brown in color.  I also call him Cokie, Coca-Cola, or Coker.

Nikon's name I picked since we got him as a pup.  He's from a B litter so technically he's Alta-Tollhaus' Bono.  I was also thinking of Barack but turns out the breeder doesn't care for his platform, lol.  Nikon is his call name so that's on his tag, microchip, and vet records.  The other call names I considered were Dieter, Da'Tara, and Zidane but so many people told me they liked Nikon the best.  My sister insisted (and still insists) I name him Kimbo Slice after some cage fighter.  My mom wanted me to call him Jaeger without realizing probably 1/20 GSDs are called Jaeger.  I also call him Noodle, Noodle Brain, Nik, and Nikey Noodle.

My male cat is Beckham, I can't remember his shelter name.  Posh was Cody; Marijke was Coondog (yes, Coondog).

Nora's call name was changed.  She is Tri Sorts Bounder.....need I say more

 Rosco was Jimmy Dean, which I hated. His full name is Rosco Calavitto Coltrane. A little football, a little back woods good old boy.

Lexi's shelter name was Pearl. I hated that too. Her full name is now Lexington McDonald or Lexi McDonald if she is in trouble. We picked Lexington because we got around the 4th of July and wanted a revolutionary-related name. She was probably born sometime in April, when the battle of Lexington and Concord occurred, so we fudged it a bit and Lexi she is.

Luna's registered name is Incandescent. I had to pick a one word name to fit with her kennel/line, and she is certainly "characterized by glowing zeal and strikingly brilliant." Luna came out of Lunatic. She was/is a total nut, and that was the only appropriate word to describe her as a puppy.

ETA: I usually change foster dog's names too, just to give them a fresh start. Minnow's old name was Blue, but given her shy nature/depression I just felt like that played on her negatives. I don't know where Minnow came from, but I just started calling her that... maybe from mini since she's some kind of mini-Aussie mutt? 

 Bugsy was Boscoe at the shelter but he'd only been there a week and been neutered in that time.  He was found as a stray and being so young he was nameless really.

I just didn't like Boscoe - at all.  DH kind of did and we had a really hard time agreeing on a name.  So about three days into his nameless life here I was out on our deck with him and calling him to me and just like now he was unresponsive - LOL - and then sat down and scratched.  So I said what you got bugs or something and he came running.  Really.  We went inside and I told DH his name is Bugs.  DH was mortified.  It kind of fit because I have a lifelong affection for Bugs Bunny.  And like Bugs Bunny, Bugs is full of mischief.

We went through a time when we thought we should have named him Kramer from Seinfeld but now that he is full grown he might well have been called Tank

brookcove

Did your dog come to you with a name and did you change it?  Any particular reason?

Apollo came with his name. I thought that was what his first owner called him, and since he is older I figured why not keep it, it fits anyway. Well, after a few months of me owning him I heard that the shelter volunteers actually named him "Apollo" was not his original name. Looking back, even if I did know what I know now, I wouldn't have changed it.

Our next dog I really want to name "Mary Anne", and she'll probably be called "Mary" because that is Apollo Creed's wife's name in the Rocky movies :) I gotta theme goin'!

River's breeder called him two spots but once we choose him at 3 weeks she called him River until we picked him up at 9 weeks.  Hailie didn't have a name she was also a puppy.  Brooke came to us with the name Chloe.

Heidi's breeder called her Danice, which was ok.  Her sire's name is Danos.  But, my naming theme for a while now has had a hard "D" in the middle.

Bruder's name from the shelter was Bud.  And, since we already have a Buddy...nah...didn't work at all.  Besides, I was thinking of something along the lines of Little Brother when I got him.  And, credit goes to GypsyNBeau for coming up with "Bruder" which means Brother in German.