changing dogs name?

[princepaulie]

So when we adopted Paulie, he already had the name... My daughter is begging to change his name to BOY (the yorkie on sharpay) Is this a horrible idea? He seems to come to whatever name you call him lol, I just hate to confuse him... I'm not thrilled with either names lol BUT it is "her" dog... lol. I feel wierd just changing his name... I don't want to do anything to cause him anxiety or a complex LOL. Thank you.

[Maximo]

Names changes are fine. I brought home Teddy when he was 8 months and changed his name.

Trainers often say that 2-syllable names are ideal, so "Boy" may not work.

Choose a name, stick to it, and say it often, especially in conjunction with praise. He will soon learn to love his name, and he may take to it immediately. Teddy loved his instantly. That is how I knew it was right.

[RachelandSadie]

we got Bentley at 10 months and he was Buster back then. we wanted him to have a new life and a new start so we changed his name and he responded to it perfectly from day 1

[Lovetodream88]

When we got a lab rescue when I was a kid her name was Hank and everybody thought she was a boy but we still never changed it. When my mom got Sammy she kept his name too. I guess if he doesn't know it or is a puppy it would be ok.

[ReillysMom]

When we got Reilly, his name was Duke. We changed it to Maxx and then two weeks later, we changed it to Reilly. We've had him for about 4 months now. For a while he wouldn't come, no matter what name we called him. lol. Now he responds to Reilly.

[CouversMom]

Dogs adapt really quickly. I changed Couver and Khloe's names when I adopted them and they weren't ever confused

[J_is_my_initial]

We got Harley when he eas 9 months old. He was named Edgar at the time. We went with Harley and did nto seem to notice a change.

[Smokey2011]

hmmm.. Smokey didnt have a name when we got him at age 6 months from his breeder ... seemed strange, but he took to his name almost immediately.

I got OJ (Orange Julius) whippet back during the murder trial. He was 10 months old and would not respond to anything else, not matter how unpopular the nickname was at the time and we just lived with the comments.

I adopted Ebony (greyhound) when she was 3.5 yrs old and the resuce lady had changed her name to Isis, which I hated. The dog would not answer to the name 'Isis' and when I experimented one day and called her 'Ebony', she charged over to me like a shot out of a cannon. Ebony became 'Ebony' again from that moment on.

So there you go.. three scenarios, three different responses. No harm in trying and you wind up going with the flow anyway. "Here, BOY" does have a certain ring to it. :>)

[BLowry]

Originally Posted by RachelandSadie

we got Bentley at 10 months and he was Buster back then. we wanted him to have a new life and a new start so we changed his name and he responded to it perfectly from day 1

Our new furbutts name is Bentley!!

[BLowry]

We just got our little Bentley just this past Sunday so we haven't even had him a week yet....he is 5 months old...his name was Sigmund...He already knows his name..

[BellarousasMom]

When I got Bella at 16 months old, her name was Haley. She didn't respond to it at all, so the first stop was at the vets to get her in the system. I changed her name right then and within the week, she was diffently recognizing it.

[princepaulie]

Thank you for all the responses! Nobody in my house can come to an agreement about what this poor dogs name should be, so we all decided to leave him as Paulie. I was kinda warming up to the idea of Boy though. Maybe it can be his nickname ;-) He is going to be one confused little guy lol.

[navillusc]

Of course you can change the dog's name. I have changed lots of dogs' and cats' names. It happens all the time with strays and dumped animals. What do you call a dog when you do noy know it's name? You pick something, right?

If you know the dog's current name you can either mix the new name with the original name, gradually dropping the original name completely, or...like you would with a stray...just start calling the dog by whatever name you choose. It won't take long, if they are ever going to respond to the new name, for them to realize you mean them when you say the new name.

You can try several names out...to see which name the dog responds to best...or which one you like best for them...before settling on 'the' new name, too.

All of my babies...dogs and cats alike...have an 'official' name, and several other names/nicknames we call them. I changed one rescued black short haired mixed breed bitch from Spade to Samantha ("Sammy" for short...and because she preferred it) by combining Spade and Sammie and gradually dropping the Spade part. I also have one adopted long haired black cat that I renamed...but he didn't like the "Pepper" I chose and wouldn't respond to it. Finally, I asked him what he wanted to be called and started going through a list of names. Running out of ideas, I finally said to him, "I cannot think of anything else except, since you have some little wisps of smokey hair on your tummy..." and the instant I said "smokey" his head snapped around and he looked me square in the eye. He chose his name, Smokey, and he responds to it like a dog would...even will 'heel' which is really cute. He does reserve the right to act like a cat, too...sometimes. Although his name is Smokey he is more often called 'Mokey, 'Mokey-Mokes, 'Mokey Baby, etc.

Brody and Mia were named by their previous owners. The names were okay from my perspective, and the dogs were over a year old when I got them, and knew their names already...so, no reason to change. But, I would have changed their names in a heartbeat if I didn't like them or felt them to be inappropriate.

- Cat

[mky]

I think she could start by calling him Paulie Boy and over time drop the Paulie.

[dinkyweil]

Dinky was Roy at five months. I hope I don't offend any Roy's out there, but no way were we going to call him Roy. It just did not fit him!