choosing a perfect name for a puppy

Penny goes by many names in our household: The Flying Carpet - when she takes a mighty leap and launches into the unknown, fur streaming in the breeze; Princess Penny - when she's looking regal; Penelope - when we don't want her to know we're talking about her (we pronounce it Penn-ee-lope as in antelope, to make it even harder for her).

Her name isn't actually a shortened form of Penelope, as you might think. When she was a puppy she was a delightful reddish metallic color, so we named her after the copper coin.

Naming her took a great deal of thought, discussion and glasses of wine, because we were first-time dog owners and inhibited at the thought of calling her in public by anything other than a conventional name.

As for deciding what verbal command to give her for toileting, that's another story...

Perhaps we should have looked around on the Internet for ideas, because there are plenty of lists to help. I particularly like this one because it gives suggestions according to the country of origin of the breed. The list of Australian names is amusing, to a local. I can't imagine calling my dog shonky or daks or squizz. Yelling out 'come, Dilly Bag!' might work in some parts of the world but I think it would get a few strange stares in a Melbourne park.

On the other hand, the Eskimo names sound great. I can just imagine myself summoning Sakari or Desna. I would feel quite sophisticated. I'm not so sure about K’eyghashutnu, though. Anyway, who wants to give their dog a name that means Fish Harvest Creek?

There is a huge list of names at The Pampered Pup and I enjoyed the short article at Cute Puppy Dog reflecting on naming of dogs. I think the writer makes a good point that it's important that the name not sound like a command. I can just imagine the scene; the dogs sitting with their heads tilted to one side, trying to figure out what their humans want them to do:
Come, Conn
Sit, Sid
Stay, Stan
Wait, Walt.

I'm sure you get the picture...

There's some timely advice, too, on another dog-names site:

Choosing the perfect name for your puppy is an opportunity to demonstrate to the world just how creative and insightful you are. Dog names say a lot about your loved one and believe it or not a lot about you. Think about the last few dog names you heard. Did the dog names stand out, were they a good description, were they unique and easily distinguishable from other words and did they have meaning? These are all important considerations to think about when choosing perfect dog names.

Remember
You will use your wet nosed friend's name well over 30,000 times, so choose wisely...
While some names may sound great, be unique and seem like the perfect of all dog names, be careful as the name may have a hidden meaning. Be sure when you look through our lists of dog names you click the name to check the meaning and any hidden meanings.