changing a dog's name

[SizzleDog]

I'm a notorious name-changer.

Ronin was Hugh. (name change @ 22 months)
Kaylee was Dee. (name change @ 12 months)
Jayne was Louie, and then Newt. (name change @ 11 months)

I won't re-use names though. I know some people who do... like their dog Bud dies, and the next dog they get is also named Bud.... I couldn't do that.

 

[Airn]

Gwen's name was Bunny at the shelter.....

I'm not having a DOG named Bunny. :rofl1:

 

[milos_mommy]

I've never renamed a dog...my current two came as unnamed puppies and childhood dog was an adult whose name we kept.

Fosters: Tom was Tom at ACC, found as a stray, didnt know his name when I got him but I kept it anyway. His new owners renamed him Cudi without a problem.

Edna was Edna at ACC, then her temporary foster renamed her Coco, but I went back to Edna because it was on all the paperwork already. Her new owner kept Edna.

I'd have no qualms about changing a dog's name

 

[Taqroy]

Murphy's name at the shelter was Sarge. Did not fit him at all so I changed it immediately (not that he knew it, or any other cue, anyway). He was fourish.

Tipper's name at her foster home was Daisy which fit her but I was so not a fan of. She was two when we got her and we changed it about two weeks later. She'll respond to pretty much anything though, as long as it's said in smoochy tone.

 

[Toller_08]

I think the only dog's name I really changed was Journey's. She was Nina. And it did suit her, or at least that's what I'd come to know her as, so it was weird to change it, but at the same time I just didn't like introducing my dog as 'Nina' in public. She was about 11 weeks old when I changed it, and she'd actually seemed to know her prior name before I changed it. But it took her no time at all to catch onto 'Journey'.

Dance was from a laundry call name themed litter (cause her dam is "Bounce") and was 'Snuggle' at her breeder's house. But I don't really consider that a real name change because she didn't respond to Snuggle at all. Not that I really tried haha. No way was I keeping that name. And she wasn't even snuggly (still isn't). So, Dance she became. It's unique and different and suits her perfectly.

Dance and Journey also respond to a few other names. Journey is mostly: Bean, Jelly Bean, Journey-Bean or just Journ. Dance is Dance-a-roo or Roo most of the time. Both dogs respond to their nicknames just as well as they do their real names.

Ripley and Keira never had names prior, and I don't think any of our past dogs did either. We kept the names our few rescues came with. It was just easier.

But yeah, a name is just another cue word to a dog. It's not like it means the same to them as a name does to us, so I don't have a problem changing names as far as that goes. My problem with changing names is that I get used to a certain name and have a hard time calling the dog something else after I'm used to their current name.

 

[Southpaw]

Gwen's name was Bunny at the shelter.....

I'm not having a DOG named Bunny. :rofl1:

Lol we had a dog at work named Kitty. Annoying as heck because we had cats there as well... someone would say go get kitty and I didn't know if they meant the dog or the cat lol.

Juno was named Diva at the breeder, don't really count that though since I don't think she knew what it was lol.

 

[Beanie]

Kota was Dakota from the sheltie rescue, which isn't a huge change - but who knows what his name was before that since he was found roaming the streets.

We called Georgie "Rockette" for a few days until we decided we just didn't like it.

Payton was "Willie" before he came to me. I think they had been calling him that for a few weeks. And then he was just "Puppy" with me for like two weeks (poor guy, hahaha.)


I sort of wish I could change Pepper's name, I don't think it really suits her, but I have no idea what I would change it to anyway.

All of mine respond to a nickname or two and they know it's "their" nickname. Georgie comes running to girly. Payton is often just P and frequently goose (as in silly goose.) Auggie is Augs, poopy, boopy, all kinds of things, and even responds to poop face.
Pepper will respond to ANYTHING even if it's not her name... I call Auggie and here's Pepper. I call Payton and here's Pepper. I yell something to my mom and HERE'S PEPPER. Sigh.

 

[swabby]

Punkin was "Pooch" when I got her. That one had to go.

 

[Sit Stay]

I haven't changed a dog's name yet, but I have no qualms about changing names. Quinn's litter name was "Amy" (Doctor Who themed litter) and while it actually did suit her and I'd known her as Amy for 8 weeks, I know too many people named Amy and she didn't really recognized it. She was "Puppy" for a week before I finally settled on Quinn. I was wild about the name but didn't think it suited her much, but it was getting to the point where she needed to be called SOMETHING and I didn't have any other names I liked as much. Luckily she's grown into the name and I think it suits her quite well now.

My Quarter Horse mare came with the name Leni, which I promptly changed to Lani (a favorite name of mine, anyways, that just happened to be very close sounding). I was also very close to changing my other mare's name - her breeders named her Lizzy, which I didn't like. While thinking of other possibilities, I began thinking of strong female protagonists, and Elizabeth Bennet was the first that came to mind. So I decided that it was meant to be and I kept her name Lizzy.

 

[ruffiangirl]

I changed Diesels name, it was Buddy, which well eww, and I had a dog as a child named buddy, he was 14 months old.

 

[k9krazee]

Gwen's name was Bunny at the shelter.....

I'm not having a DOG named Bunny. :rofl1:

Lol! We have a pembroke corgi friend named Bunny but it TOTALLY fits her! And she was born on Easter.

 

[speedydogs]

I have no qualms about changing a dog's name - like others have said, it doesn't have the same significance to them as it does to us. Danny was Dakota and then Dancer (urgh) before we got him at a year old, and he adapted just fine. Cricket was Amelia for four months, and Journey was Denali until she was eight weeks old. Newton is our only dog that kept his litter name.

 

[SaraB]

Zuma had a name change when I adopted her. She was Mimi, named by the person who found her as a stray. Zuma fits her perfectly and I can't imagine her as anything else.

 

[AmberH]

I adopted my Great Dane when he was near 8 years old. His name was Gem and as far as I know had it his entire life. He was an owner surrender. I named him Kaiser. It was no issue at all. He didn't respond to Gem when I called him anyway.

 

[Paviche]

Rowan was "Draco" when I got him, just shy of 2 years old. He'd been Draco his whole life. It is SO not a fitting name for him though, and I think transitioning him was really easy, but that was a while ago.

Riff was "Jaxon" (and was also just shy of 2 years old, weird, I hadn't thought about that.) That's an okay name, but I know several Jacksons and I like having unique names. He had been Jaxon since he was a pup and responded to Riff IMMEDIATELY, like so quick it was kind of weird, since it sounds nothing like Jaxon.

I agree that it's just another cue for them, and that the attachment to names is all ours. Still, naming is such an important convention for me that I'm not sure I could rename a dog if I'd lived with it, with the original name, for very long. I couldn't imagine changing either of their names now, and not just because they fit them so well.

On the flip side they have TONS of nicknames and respond well to most of them, haha.

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

Chloe was Nina at the shelter and then named Alex by her fosters. Who knows what she was named before that. She definitely knows her name (will wake from a dead sleep if you mention her in conversation) and had no trouble transitioning. I think Violet took much longer to learn her name and she's only ever had one lol!

 

[DJEtzel]

Frag was bubba before we got him, he had no trouble learning his name.

I had a rat terrier mix who I rehomed to my parents who was Snookie at the shelter and I changed her name to bailey very easily.

Sir was Samson at the shelter, which I changed to Chernobyl for the first 6 months, then we changed it again to Sir.

Recon was Cree, but responded really well to "puppy puppy puppy" when I got him.

I change a lot of fosters names, too. Whether they came with/knew it or not. I just click treat for attention when I say the new name for a few days and they're good usually.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

Yep. Rider came to me as Gunner. Didn't fit, I didn't care for it, so I changed it. Lol.

If Lucy were for some reason to ever stay with us permanently, we would change her name to Goose. XD

 

[stardogs]

Ziva was Sasha at the shelter, which does not fit at all. Once we knew what we wanted to call her, I think I did one day of ZivaSasha and then she was fine with just Ziva. Somehow she's also gotten a middle name (Marie) that I use when I need her attention more urgently. lol

Kestrel was Laddy, which I knew I didn't want to keep once we decided to make things official, but he didn't have a real name for about 2 or 3 weeks after the decision was made, either. I think he mostly answered to Puppy at that point. lol

Aeri was Allo originally, but she didn't really know it when I got her, so transition was easy - we just started calling her by the new name!

Snipe was Sheeba. Not very fitting for such a tomboy. It took about a month to figure out what we wanted to call her, so she also had a no name period that made switching names simple.