How To Choose A Name For Your Dog

Introduction

The name that you give your dog is one of the most important choices that you make concerning your pet. The first question that almost everyone will ask when meeting your dog for the first time is "What is its name?" The way that you answer this question will affect the way that they feel about your dog. The other reason that the name you give your dog is important is because you will utter it more than most other words on a daily basis. You call your dog by its name all the time, yelling the name off the back porch when you want your dog to come in or stop barking. Hopefully, this article will help you pick a name that is appropriate for your dog.

Instructions

Difficulty: Medium

Steps

Step one: Get the dog before picking the name. Just because you are in love with a particular dog name doesn't mean that it will fit just any dog. You might have an idea for a dog name but you should wait and meet your dog and find out about its physical features and personality characteristics before bestowing a name on your dog. You might find that there are traits that your new dog has that just have to be reflected in the name.

Step two: Spend some time observing your dog and trying out names. My neighbor just got two boxer puppies that she named "Rocky" and "Foreman". The only problem with the name Rocky is that she named him Rocky because he was the bigger of the two dogs and she assumed that he would be dominant. Turns out that Rocky is the more passive of the two dogs, turning his head away from the food bowl when Foreman is eating ore even her cat Clyde. Rocky also flips on his back at the first sign of confrontation. This isn't the kind of behavior that she expected from her tough little boxer, Rocky. Spend some time with your dogs before bestowing names; get to know their habits and idiosyncrasies. Names that fit the dog are much better than names that don't.

Step three: Consult a list of dog names. If you are having trouble coming up with good names for your dog, you might need to look at a list. There are several great lists available on the web. One of the better web sites is Dog Names. This site offers over 6000 names for dogs by male and female names and several different categories (such as appearance, historical, and movies).

Step four: Make a list of possibilities. Unless you come up with a name that is absolutely perfect, you might want to try out a couple of different names. By trying out the different names on the list, you will find that one of the names just roll off your tongue better and seems to make more sense for that particular dog. I once named a cat "Breakfast" while trying out different names from my list. Breakfast was not a name on the list but he was so fascinated by breakfast every morning that it became the name I used while trying to select his "real" name. If your family is trying to name a dog together, you might have everyone choose a name and then take a vote to find the favorite.

Step five: Start using the name. As soon as you have selected the name for your pet, you should start using it immediately. Use reinforcement, such as a small treat offered when you say your dog's name. It won't take long at all for your dog to start to listen for his or her name.

More Dog Names

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