When you rescue a dog from a shelter, do you change its name? Answers at Dogster Answers.

Fri, Oct 12th 2012, 08:40 GMT

I feel that it all depends on the situation. If the dog comes in with I.D., or name tag the name should remain the same, especially if it is an older dog. Younger ones are more flexible.

ANSWERED BY

Colter

Wed, Aug 1st 2012, 16:04 GMT

Absolutely! When I adopted my boy, he had the stupidest name that he didn't even answer to! I changed it the day I adopted him. When the dog gets a fresh start in life, they deserve a new name.

ANSWERED BY

Cupcake

Tue, May 22nd 2012, 00:59 GMT

When we adopted Hope, her name was "Spice" She lived on the streets as a scrounger. She was dumped and hopelessly Lost. Her only meals were the ones she got out of trash cans and discarded trash on the sidewalks. The Shelter named her Spice. Spice...Really, as in the spice of life? I adopted a hopelessly lost dog, and my husband said she now has "Hope" the name stuck. We've had her for almost 6 years. She is blind. People would describe her as bald, and ugly. However, she is a happy baby, that gets doted on. Her Daddy loves her as much as I do. http://www.darkcornercockers.com/Hope.html

ANSWERED BY

Hope

Sun, May 6th 2012, 03:25 GMT

yes (: unless you like the name of the dog already.

ANSWERED BY

Lucky

Tue, Mar 20th 2012, 12:39 GMT

When I adopted my cat a couple years ago his name was Dustin, my mom liked it and it was an okay name. We couldn't think of a name for him and almost kept the name Dustin until we agreed on Spinner!

ANSWERED BY

Natcho

Thu, Feb 2nd 2012, 09:21 GMT

Just change it, but your dog might have a little trouble responding. good luck with your new dog :) :D :P

ANSWERED BY Member 1080469

Mon, Jan 30th 2012, 10:55 GMT

You can,if you want to,but you don't have to.

ANSWERED BY Member 1088455

Mon, Jan 23rd 2012, 23:29 GMT

most of the time people just go with the name that it already has but if you want then i believe that most shelters allow you to change the name.

ANSWERED BY

Dixie

Fri, Dec 23rd 2011, 00:13 GMT

Well, I sure did since one of them was named Patsy Cline and another was named Bradley. Now they are Dublin Rose and Samoa.

ANSWERED BY

Savannah Blue Belle

Sun, Dec 18th 2011, 02:23 GMT

It depends if it's gotten used to the name or not. If it hasn't then you could change if it you want.

ANSWERED BY

Blinkey

Fri, Sep 30th 2011, 13:52 GMT

Yes, if it the name doesn't fit. I agree with the fresh start idea. One of our rescues was a 10 month old collie/something mix and her name was Freedom, of all things. So fitting- name a dog Freedom and then drop her off at the shelter at 10 months when she outgrows her cuteness...Ugh! At that time this shelter was high kill. We renamed her Maggie and she lived until she was 16 and was a wonderful dog.

ANSWERED BY

Lily Anne

Thu, Aug 25th 2011, 01:19 GMT

Yes. Our rescue pup was named Warren but we changed his name to Bruno when we took him home. Warren was a sad, depressed 4 month old puppy. Bruno is now a feisty 9 month old.

ANSWERED BY

Bruno

Thu, Aug 25th 2011, 00:10 GMT

Yes. Shelters give simple names that dont fit most of the time. My puppies name was G.G. like really?! I immediatly renamed her Tawney just so the records wouldnt say GG. But her final name is Harlie.

ANSWERED BY

Harlie

Thu, Aug 11th 2011, 03:54 GMT

All 9 of us dogs are rescues of some kind, either strays, adopted from shelters or given up by their owners for whatever reason. All of them have been given new names when we figured their personalities out, their looks and some have been named after football players and TV characters. We have Andy, Otis, & Barney from Andy Griffith. Marino and Zack (Miami dolphins), Foxie, Jazzy, Woody, & Sebastian (formerly Shadow. How boring for a black standard poodle). Don't even get me started on the 6 cats!

ANSWERED BY

Sebastian

Sat, Aug 6th 2011, 15:56 GMT

If you want to, you can, but i don't think it should be done immediately. shelter life and then life in a new home would probably be stressful enough without the added confusion of learning to respond to a new name. once the dog is settled in the new home(is really relaxed and confident of his place in the new home/family) then the shelter name may be changed gradually (the new name can be introduced as a nickname and gradually the shelter name can be eased out - gradual decreased usage and eventually can be dropped).

ANSWERED BY

Mikhail (at Rainbow Bridge)