Hey Friends!

We just got a yellow Lab puppy, cute as can be but hubby is insisting on a totally weird and "swishy" name (think French). I need top present a slate of fine, solid, interesting names for consideration or this poor puppy is going to go through life terribly confused (because I REFUSE to call it this name!)

Thanks in advance.....

Patricia

PS. I remembered you all doing this for another perplexed pet owner and checked the archives - unfortunately, that was a female Queensland!

-- Patricia (Hemsley@hdo.net), June 03, 2001

Answers

Barnaby, Jazz, Gibson, Samson, Dart, Kirby, Deuce, Briar, Bruin, Guinness, Bojangles, Farley, Taj, Tavish, Montana, Lancelot, Scout, Jericho, Creek, Jules, Jonah.... What about place names, mythical characters, biblical references? We have goats named Delilah, Vashti and Jezebel, for instance.(If you met them, you'd understand LOL). One of our dogs is named for an Eric Clapton song, Layla (sp). Think of names you don't mind saying LOUDLY, because you're going to find yourself doing that a lot with a new puppy Enjoy the chaos!

-- Kristin, in LA (positivekharma@aol.com), June 04, 2001.

Patricia, Finding a name for a new pet that suits him/her is sometimes hard. I have found that waiting for a few days or even a few weeks before naming your new pet helps a lot. Watch your pet closely during this "introduction" period and an appropriate name is sure to fit your Lab puppy. For instance, we have a black lab named Samson (Sam for short), he is big, kind, and STRONG like the biblical Samson. Our cats, yes Sampson loves cats too, have names that suit them perfectly such as...Cary Grant, he has dreamy eyes, Screamer, he is a very vocal cat, Cricket, this cat churps like a cricket instead of meowing, Gracie Allen, she is not quite all there in the thinking department. I know you will find a good name for your lab, and your husband will come around to your way of thinking.

-- Carol Garber (plantlady51@webtv.net), June 04, 2001.

My kids name all the animals - we have a donkey named Butterfly!! They just named our new puppy Marta or Marchetta, they still aren't sure. Course we have a dog named Barney (the 3 yr. old picked that one!!) - the kittens usually get names like Kitten or Cuddles or Flower.... then there were the 2 pigs - Pinky and Rosy -

Is it a male or female??

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), June 04, 2001.

Well if you want something offbeat how about DeeOhGee

Lets see how long it takes people to get that one.

Gary

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), June 04, 2001.

Let your husband name the dog anything he wants. This doesn't mean you have to call him/her that name. I must have 10 different names I call my dog.

Ok, but sense you want to present a strong name to your husband...

Dammit!

Name your Dog Dammit!

Think about how many times you are going to say "Dammit, stop chewing on that shoe!!" or how about "SIT!! Dammit!!!" and then there is "Dammit! go lay down on your bed", "No, No, Dammit!".

Just makes sense!

sorry couldn't resist!

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), June 04, 2001.

I agree that you should consider naming the dog something you don't mind yelling. Also make it something you don't mind other people, like neighbors hearing. I once had a roommate when I lived in a not very good part of Kansas City Missouri. She had a white cat she named "cocaine". I cringed every night when she opened the door and loudly called COCAINE, COCAINE! I kept expecting the neighbors to start lining up at the door with their mirrors and straws!

-- debra in ks (solid-dkn@msn.com), June 04, 2001.

I name all of my dogs "girly". Even if its a male dog! And even if I have more than one dog, I still name it "girly". Usually when you call one dog, they all come anyway. So give them all the same name and you and they will not get confused.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), June 04, 2001.

A wise old person told me many years ago when you choose a name for a child go out side and yell it several times loudly if you still like it it should work, this should apply to animals also. We have a lab named turbo, a geriatric dog named Dakota whos mind is as vast and empty as the states. And a dog named kenny???? thanks to my 19 year old. We had a dog named watch many years ago because he would sit and watch you. And we had a Dee Oh Gee when I was a kid. We named many of our pets after the people we got them from eg. Ida and Andy named for an elderly couple who gave us two kittens. Pets tend to name themselves make a rule that you have to give it a couple of weeks before you decide on something.

-- ronda (thejohnsons@localaccess.com), June 04, 2001.

Hello Pat If its a boy ,name him Buster If its a girl give her a feminine name My favorite dog a Boxer was named Daisy Achihuahua was Kitty my present ,a toy fox terrier is Dolly, Because 14 years ago, she was a doll. Good luck Big George

-- George Wilson (cwwhtw@aol.com), June 04, 2001.

We named our chocolate lab puppy Ursa Major - she looked like a baby bear when she was born! The "Major" part was based on trust in her genetics - Mama (Bailey Sioux) is 90+ lbs, granpa was 100+ lbs - we figured she'd be a big'un. We were right - she's also 90+ lbs! Fruit don't fall far from the tree...

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), June 04, 2001.

bear,spike,breeze,beauty,or bute,sugar,norman,jaws, just to name a few. All these names come from either horse I've been around or dogs. And jaws is one of our cockatiels! Good luck!

-- michelle (tsjheath@nci2.net), June 04, 2001.

How about Amarillo (or Amarilla, if a female)? It means yellowish.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), June 04, 2001.

A friend in Flint Texas has a new Great Dane pup who's name is No Shamus No, he hopes to shorten it to Shamus real soon...

-- Willy Allen (willyallen2@yahoo.com), June 04, 2001.

NIGEL

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), June 04, 2001.

Max is the perfect name for your dog!

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), June 05, 2001.

Name the dog something that it will respond to. Short, hard sounds are best for the dog to hear and respond to. Example -- Jet, Bob, Skip.

Or just go for the obvious and name him 'Boy'. Everyone always calls their dog "Here, Boy!" anyway.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), June 05, 2001.

With credit given to comdedian Steven Wright, might I suggest naming your dog 'Stay?' That way you could give commands like "Come, Stay" & "Heel, Stay." Seriously, look at the dog's personality and that'll give you the best idea as to what name to choose. Good luck!

-- Gary (gk6854@aol.com), June 05, 2001.

Some of our animal's names (past and present):

Chumley, Bruiser, Waldo, Boomer (our dogs), Scampy, Scooter (cats), Barley (our buck), Chief, Ranger, Sundance (our horses). All of our other animals are females, so I won't bother listing them. Good luck.

Tammy

-- Tammy Williams (btawilliams@juno.com), June 05, 2001.

I remember a stately lab named "Governor" and he did grow into it.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), June 05, 2001.

I like the names Jonah or Schooner. Depends on his personality. Does he look like either of these?

-- Michele Rae Padgett (michelesmelodyfarm@Yahoo.com), June 05, 2001.

Hubby and I always have a battle about naming our dogs because we never agree so we take turns naming them. Here are the names of our current eight great danes and why they have the names they have. Stormi - born in a hurricane. Spirit - Saw the name Country Spirit on a billboard. Thumper - when he was a pup he sat behind hubby's chair and everytime he talked to him his tail thumped the wall behind him. Quasar - used to stare at the television. Isis - Hubby just liked the name and since it was the Goddess of fertility and we are breeders and wanted her for our breeding stock, we thought it was a good name. VooDoo - Registered name is Pyramid's Dark Side of Magic (Pyramid's Mystic Magic was her mother) and she was a darker brindle than her mom so the name VooDoo seemed to fit. Amy - Registered name was Pyramid's Amiable Lady so Amy seemed natural. Trouble - She sure was when she was a pup, into everything. Nikki - She is the latest pup and just a sweetheart. The name seemed to fit her.

I have a friend who named her Saint Bernard, Wellington. Sure seems to fit him.

I recommend that you wait a few days and see if something fits. To be honest, all of our dogs have a zillion other names we call them as well so it really doesn't matter.

Good luck and have fun.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), June 05, 2001.

I agree on the waiting thing. What we do - & we JUST named a puppy we've had for almost a week - is we just try names out for a little while. The puppy's going to respond to your tone of voice & not the words spoken, till things make sense to it ANYway . . .

But - there are some pretty cool baby names websites out there! One in particular even gives the meanings supposedly via the Kabbala. . . (I looked mine up, however, & it wasn't even close!)

We have a yellow lab named Dozer. I had nothing to do w/ that name, as he is my husband's PME (Pre-Marriage Era) dog. I think it was b/c he slept all the time when they got him. My brother has one named Sammy. My sister has a choc lab named Remington (Remy). Our friends have black labs named Winchester & Budweiser. (No, they're not rednecks, LOL!) Some other friends have an AWEsome wolfdog named Kodiak.

Some of my past male animals names are/were: Loki (Norse god of mischief); Drake; Spirit; Scout; Chile (as in: pepper); Winston; Dominic; Jesse; Ruffian; Ragamuffin; Lughnasadh ("Lughie" pronounced "Louie" for short - Norse sun god), Bagheera (black panther from The Jungle Book); LaMont; Marcel; Emilio. . . okay, that's all I can think of right now.

But everyone's right - the - THE name will come eventually. I was intent upon naming this new puppy something that was similar to Chile, who was our favorite dog who was hit by a car recently. But nothing worked. Her name is Sage. Sage . . . Chile . . . ? Not even close!

By the way, my sister had a cat named Dammit & another one named Hell. They both disappeared. Hm.

Good luck! Sarah/MI

-- Sarah/MI (chilechile@hotmail.com), June 05, 2001.

Rufus,alexander,apollo.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 05, 2001.

We just got a new Lhasa Apso and named her Biscuit. Some other ideas we had were Bobbin, Sugar, Belle, Pee&Pee (haha), Zena, Queen, and Vollie. Just a few names to help you along. Have fun with your pup.

-- JoAnn in SD (jonehls@excite.com), June 06, 2001.

So, Patricia, have you decided on a name?

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), June 06, 2001.

We like to name all our animals something different,let me see here.. How about: Goldeneye,007,Chevy,Popcorn,Chevalier,Knight,Goldsby,Ralf,Sandy, Sandler,Peppe, Well,there's a few suggestions. I might pop up with more here pretty soon ;-) We have a cat named "Goldeneye" and another one named "Popcorn" But they'd make good dog names too. Here's some Japanese names! Mamoru (Darien),Ryu (Dragon pronounced Rie-you),Chiba (protector pronounced 'cheeba'),Chibi (small pronounced cheebee),Inu (Dog pronounced eenoo),Anata Inu (You dog),Kawaii Inu (Cute dog),Kino (Tree or bark ). Good Luck! :-)

-- Cosmic Country Girl (CosmicCountry@Yahoo.com), June 07, 2001.

On my visit to the dentist today, I overheard the assistant talking about her chocolate lab. His name is Hershey.

-- ruth in se Illinois (bobtravous@email.com), June 07, 2001.

Well, I will be away from my computer for a few days after tomorrow and someone asked for an update.....

Lil Calvin...er Hobart....er Dawson.....er Ranger.....er _________which my husband still calls him (and you should see HIS puppy eyes and cute pout when I tell him NO WAY is that dog going to be named _______! Well Puppy Wuppy is still officially nameless but I have sincerely appreciated and enjoyed all your great posts and help!

I think it will really help ME alot to sort of "have permission" to call him a couple of names, at least for now. He doesn't seem to mind at all, either - just tumbles and trots along, eating, pooping, peeing and chewing everything in sight.....

Thanks again - so many good names and only one little dog!

-- Patricia (hemsley@hdo.net), June 07, 2001.

My dad once had a beagle type dog that he named 'Rabbit'. Thank goodness we lived out in the country, people would probably think he was crazy. Here Rabbit! Here Rabbit!

-- Emory Snyder (et@hazleton.net), June 08, 2001.

Bear.

Eagle from TX

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2001.

Hey, I think the BEST name in the world is Maynard!! :)

-- Jess (jessange66@yahoo.com), May 11, 2002.

Still looking? Try www.petrix.com/dognames

-- James (jfd@aol.com), May 28, 2002.