When you rescue a dog from a shelter, it's ok to change its name

Changing his name from the name assigned at the shelter is fine and it's a good way to get your dog to learn his new name. Get a handful of yummy treats. Feed them one at a time, saying the pup's new name in varying tones and volume as the food hits his mouth. This helps create a positive association with their name, and ultimately helps with recall too.

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How to Teach Your Dog His Name

I would suggest classically conditioning the name: Put a treat into your dog's mouth. As the treat touches your dog’s tongue, say your dog's name. Vary the way you say the name, trying to include every way you may say your dog’s name in real life. Include nicknames. Do this many times throughout the day, using different intonations, in different rooms, at different times, with different treats. Your goal is to do this 5000 times - honest!

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Wine or Liquor Names

I know a few of my friends that named their dogs after quarterbacks. Mine are named after liquors and good wines! I had one that was named Cognac, easy two syllables, like "Jaeger," or "Alize," kind of fun.

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How We Named Our Adopted Dog

Our rescue dog was previously named 'Kade' a hard name that didn't suit this loving, gentle, mistreated little soul at all.

Although we could have chosen any name, we felt he should have a similar sounding name to be easy to learn and not confuse him. We chose to call him Jake (now known as Jakey Boy or Jakey Loo!!) as this would sound similar to him. Otherwise we love the name Buster and our previous soul mate was a rescue dog called Max (who we always called Maxi or Maxwell House!)

It should be a name that reflects your dog's place as part of the family, not something just to be original in my opinion, but an original name that does both is grand. My childhood dog was Major, as my WWII veteran grandad thought it was a cool name. He was a black Lab - my dog - not my grandad!

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Human names for dogs

We've always given our dogs human or semi-human names. Here are some of them from over the years: Sherlock, Jessie, Regis, Margo, Tasha, Charlie, TeddyBear, SugarBear, HoneyBear, LolaBear, Caliope (called Callie) LeRoy, Carmine, Caldonia and Crystal. Someone once gave me good advice - name the dog a two syllable name that doesn't sound like a command, such as "Moe."

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Name them for a relative or historical character

Annie was a gift from a friend. She was one of a kind in a brood of six presented by a mixed breed mated with an unknown. It was my greataunt's name.

Hayley was a Cardigan Welsh Corgi found covered with mud and wandering on a country road alongside her brother and taken to PAWS. I named her Hayley because it had the British connotation of "from the fields."

Anastasia was another PAWS dog. They named her that and I liked it because it reminded me of my paternal grandparents, who came to America from Russia in 1900. The name she mostly answers to is Ana, but I also call her Anakins, or Sweet Little Brown Dog.

I guess you could say that my way of naming my dogs is to relate them to a relative or something in history I know about.

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Their quirks or mine?

My husky I named Rocky because he ate gravel in the driveway when he was a puppy.

Monkey got his name because he crawled all over my roommate when she tried to hold him.

Java (my dog and Monkey's littermate sister) got her nickname because she looked like a coffee blend.

They know their nicknames, too: Chunken Munken or Chunky Monk and Miss Javs or Java Waba -- which can easily and readily be shortened to MONK! and JAV!! when discipline, attention, or recall is necessary.

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Naming Dogs After Family Members

If there is someone in your family that you would like to honor by naming your dog after them -- an aunt, uncle, grandmother, etc. -- you should always make sure that the family member is a fan of dogs. As example, dog lover Aunt Lucy might be honored to have your dog named after her, but Grandpa Steve, who never really loved puppies, may just think: "Boy! You're naming a dog after me?!"

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Nothing Wrong with Bob

I've been around dogs all my life, usually two at a time. My parents owned them. My brother owned them. Girlfriends owned them. Even though most of the time their dogs adopted me as the head of the pack, I have only actually owned one dog.

I decided when I finally got ME a dog, I wanted to name it Bob. Well, my chance came when a stray entered our neighborhood and after three months of trying to catch it, I finally did. She was an adorable dog about a year old. Everyone said, "She's a girl. You can't name her Bob!" But I did. She loves the name. She doesn't know it's a boy's name. At least it's a name, whereas Poopsie and Precious or Cuddles and Flopsie aren't even names. They're adjectives.

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Name your Dog from the Heart!

When I went to pick up my Bichon Frise from the SPCA, he was originally named BICHON JOHNSON by the shelter. Awww, c'mon! He looked like a Mickey to me, not a big ole football player. So from the heart I named him MickeyFin. He is a super little white fuzzball. He seems to love the name.

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Go for the Weird and Wacky Names

Since my dogs are rescues and since I have a weird sense of humor, they all got new names. I have Bugz, Calimari, Taco, and Squid. There aren't too many with names like this.

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A Dog Who Is a Dragon

My German shepherd's name is Saphira. She was named after the dragon in the book Eragon. I get comments on her pretty and elegant name.

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Spend Some Time with Your Pup First

My new pup is named Digit. He was born with a small genetic "defect" -- one of his paws including his pads and digits, didn't fully develop before his birth. But it doesn't stop him from having a good time!!

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And don't forget a middle name....

When you really want them to listen, it helps to have a middle name! How quickly did you turn around when your mother used yours?

I have a Jenks Michael and a Cocoa Marie. My neighbors have a Buck Rogers and a Toby Ann.

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Careful what you wish for......

We picked Kali Ma (Kali Ma, called the "Dark Mother," is the Hindu goddess of creation, preservation, and destruction) because she was black and spunky. However, the latter turned out to be quite prophetic!

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