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HelpName Change For A Dog?
My nephew's father passed away a year ago this month. His father's mother passed away about a month ago and his father's father passed away four days ago. Wow. And to make matters worse, the couple had an 18-month-old female Chihuahua that none of the other four siblings want. Someone comes by each day to feed the poor thing, but she spends her days and nights alone in that big house. My sister's family has two huge boxers so their home isn't ideal for a small dog so my my niece asked me today if we want her. James and I are going away for a few days and we'll discuss the matter. We're both definitely receptive to the idea.
Now, as for the name, her name is Sweetie which I don't care for since all of our pets have had "people" names. She's not a puppy but young enough to adapt to change and she'd have a lifetime of getting used to a new name. I was thinking something along the lines of Sophie or Susie since they begin with the name letter and end the same way. We could call her Sweet Sophie / Sweet Susie for a while and eventually work our way up to Sophie / Susie. Still, I'm wondering if it would be cruel to her. OTOH, we found our cat Jasper in our neighborhood several years ago. He was around a year old and not feral since he was so friendly yet shy. I'm sure he had another owner/name at one point, but he picked up on Jasper almost right away.
WDYT? Cruel or a good idea?
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now, as for the name, her name is Sweetie which I don't care for since all of our pets have had "people" names. She's not a puppy but young enough to adapt to change and she'd have a lifetime of getting used to a new name. I was thinking something along the lines of Sophie or Susie since they begin with the name letter and end the same way. We could call her Sweet Sophie / Sweet Susie for a while and eventually work our way up to Sophie / Susie. Still, I'm wondering if it would be cruel to her. OTOH, we found our cat Jasper in our neighborhood several years ago. He was around a year old and not feral since he was so friendly yet shy. I'm sure he had another owner/name at one point, but he picked up on Jasper almost right away.
WDYT? Cruel or a good idea?
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It's not exactly "cruel", but it's not a good idea, because it takes time for dogs to adjust to new names, if they ever do. Like, I had a dog originally named Buddy, but one of my neighbors already had a Buddy, so I changed it to Joey, after the drummer of a band I liked at the time. Horrible idea! He never adjusted, and I eventually had to give him up because he was too much trouble.
But OTOH, your idea seems fine, because unlike in my case, you're going for a similar name. I'd go with Susie, though, because it sounds closer to Sweetie than Sophie does. :)
But OTOH, your idea seems fine, because unlike in my case, you're going for a similar name. I'd go with Susie, though, because it sounds closer to Sweetie than Sophie does. :)
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I have lived with quite a few dogs, and they've all been called multiple soppy nicknames as well as their own names, all of which they've responded to. Affection and tone of voice counts for a lot. I think if you wanted to go straight to Sophie or Susie, they're similar enough for her to be happy with: try it and see. Hope things work out for you and her.
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I'd change it, sure, because Sweetie is more endearment than name. But I'd use "Sweetie" as an endearment regularly at first, to get her attention, and in the hopes that the sound would trigger reassuring emotions. I'd keep it as the endearment to use any time she is stressed, if it seems to have any positive effect. But you might find that she doesn't have any special responsiveness to it anyway - maybe it's mostly your tone of voice, posture, and gaze that "calls" her. If you are also using another name, especially if you use it to call her to eat, she will learn just as fast that it refers to her.
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I started to say it's fine, because we re-named all four of our cats, but then I stopped to think about how cats are different from dogs. I don't think, most of the time, they even learn to recognize their names the way that dogs do. (I now expect to hear from cat owners whose cats recognize their names, lol. But I've never had a cat whom I thought did.)
I would keep her name the same. Not really because I think it would be cruel to her to change it, but because I'd be thinking of the now-deceased people who named her. I don't go so far as to say it would be disrespectful to them to change it, but I'd think of how they didn't get the chance to own the dog for the rest of her life and I'd think at least she has the name they gave her.
I would keep her name the same. Not really because I think it would be cruel to her to change it, but because I'd be thinking of the now-deceased people who named her. I don't go so far as to say it would be disrespectful to them to change it, but I'd think of how they didn't get the chance to own the dog for the rest of her life and I'd think at least she has the name they gave her.
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My cats both recognize their names every time :)
We changed one of their names when we first got them. I don't remember any problems with him adjusting, but he was pretty young at the time. Now he responds to his name even more than my other cat.
To answer the original question, I don't think it would be cruel at all to change the dog's name. You don't want to have to call the dog by a name you don't like for years. I also like to give pets human names, so if I were in this situation, I'd do the same thing.
We changed one of their names when we first got them. I don't remember any problems with him adjusting, but he was pretty young at the time. Now he responds to his name even more than my other cat.
To answer the original question, I don't think it would be cruel at all to change the dog's name. You don't want to have to call the dog by a name you don't like for years. I also like to give pets human names, so if I were in this situation, I'd do the same thing.
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I've had lots of (adult) rescue dogs and since we never knew what their original names were, we gave them new names. They never had a problem learning the names even as adults. Why in the world would it be cruel? Animals don't care what they're called, as long as they're fed and loved. If a family member is attached to the name Sweetie, they should take in the dog. If you're the only one willing to take the dog in, you can call it whatever you want.
The new name doesn't have to have anything to do with the old name. As far as the dog is concerned, any new name will be new, and they will learn any new name just as easily. You can name the dog a similar name to honor her former owners, but i wouldn't do it for the dog. She won't care.
I would just start training them to come to the new name cold turkey. Transitioning with "sweet _" would more likely add confusion imo and draw the whole process out. It would be like changing their name twice, rather than just once.
The new name doesn't have to have anything to do with the old name. As far as the dog is concerned, any new name will be new, and they will learn any new name just as easily. You can name the dog a similar name to honor her former owners, but i wouldn't do it for the dog. She won't care.
I would just start training them to come to the new name cold turkey. Transitioning with "sweet _" would more likely add confusion imo and draw the whole process out. It would be like changing their name twice, rather than just once.
This message was edited 10/19/2016, 10:05 AM
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What's cruel is to leave a dog alone for so long after it's owners died…
I don't think it's cruel to change a dogs name. I would do what you were mentioning and just gradually work around to calling her whatever you want. Who knows? It may only take a few days, if that.
I don't think it's cruel to change a dogs name. I would do what you were mentioning and just gradually work around to calling her whatever you want. Who knows? It may only take a few days, if that.
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In most cases I'd say keep the name the dog already has, but in this case, since the poor thing has had little human interaction lately, and you're not changing it to something dramatically different, I say it's all right to change the name the way you describe. She will probably just be glad somebody is paying attention to her.
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