Tips for Naming Your Dog
From LoveToKnow Dogs
Need some tips for naming your dog? Two Minute Dog Advice columnist Wendy Nan Rees offers tips that will help you choose a name both you and your dog can live with.
Tips for Naming Your Dog
When it comes to naming certain animals, sometimes there is a rule of thumb to follow if you want good luck. For example: you never change the name of a new horse if you want him to continue having good luck and good health. Thank goodness there really are no rules or superstitions that you need to worry about when it comes to naming your dog.
Even Dogs have Preferences
When naming your new dog or puppy, the one rule to make sure of is that you do not give your dog a name that sounds like the word "no", like Noah. It is a wonderful name, but for a dog's main name it sounds very close to "no", and this could cause a lot of confusion during training. Other than that, the rest is up to you, your family and your new family member. Yes, dogs do seem to have name preferences as I found out with my second dog. I received my eight-week-old black Lab and it took two full weeks to settle upon a happy name we all loved, "Governor". Now for readers that have come to know me well, you also know I have Senator, Captain and Little Man. Little Man's real name given by my niece and nephews was Governor Jr., which is why I nicknamed him Little Man. I was still too filled with grief after my original Governor's passing to call my new pet Govvy Jr. Little Man stuck, mainly because my dog really responded to this nickname.
Try It on for Size
I wrote an entire book in 1995 on how and why people name their pets. So the best advice I can give you is to take your time naming your pet, and talk it over with friends and family members. Perhaps you have a great family name with meaning, or maybe there's a great story connect to how you got your pet that you can draw inspiration from. I happen to have a running theme based on politics, but you can choose names from any theme that sparks your imagination. Once you have narrowed down your choices, it is time to test them with your new pet. Try calling him each name as you look at him to see if it seems like a good fit. You also want to watch how your dog responds to each name. If you get no reaction to a name, try out a few more to see if you do hit upon a name that gets a positive reaction. If you find FIDO wagging his tail and really paying attention to you when you call him by a particular name, you know you've just hit gold. Now you have a name you can use to begin training your new dog, and soon you won't remember ever calling him anything else.
More Tips from Wendy
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