My aunt is a professional dog trainer and I recently asked her the same question, if I could change a dog's name if it was a year or two old. She said that dog's don't have the same sense of identity when it comes to their names like we do. They see their name as a command like "come" instead of the word belonging to them. If they are really used to their current name, the best way to change it would be to start by combining the new name with the old name and then gradually wean them off of the old name.
Another sidenote: the reason many puppies do not always come when called is when their owners have used their name when yelling at them, so be careful when you use their name! You'd never want your dog to ignore you when they were in danger just because they associated their name with getting in trouble!! |