[Dailydrool] Namesalot

[Riche Churchill]

Since I suggested the name thread, thought had better chime in, though am not nearly as talented, thoughtful or clever about such.
My very first dog, bought for me when I was 13 and with a head full of Albert Payson Terhune books about Lad, A Dog, etc., so naturally named mine Laddie. (I never noticeably improved at naming.)
Our first Basset, that my mother bought in the 50's was named (take a wild guess!) Cleo. Some years passed and she and I got interested in showing and raising Bassets. They were few and far between in Phoenix at the time, other than family pets, except for a then famous and large kennel -- the same one from whom mom bought Cleo, who was "pet quality" personified, so not on our list of options. Mom studied breeders in California, as much as one could back in the "olden days" and, having specified she wanted a good-quality bitch to be her foundation -- one who wasn't necessarily top show quality herself, but from good lines and likely to produce quality if bred to high-quality studs. So a young girl with good bloodline was flown to us. She was a disappointing dull brown all over, but with the exception of my beloved "Plum" never produced drab brown litters. Normally, such purchases come already named, but she didn't and was christened Redd's Pandora.
My mother chose a kennel name, Jocamime, and showed a spark of talent in naming the show prospects produced, from the fairly ordinary "Peter The Great" to "Apache Tear" and "Cherry Jubilee" (who was red & white) and all of whom became champions, but only Peter stayed with us.
I got out of the show and breeding aspect after starting the Bugler, feeling it was a conflict of interest, so all my dogs since have been "justapet" -- sometimes purebred, mostly rescued mutts. Since many were nameless puppies and others strays, they got called whatever came to mind. I personally can't abide a one-syllable name, and if a certain person-partner chose such, I always added words or syllables. If DP named a dog June, and she did, for me the name became Juney-Mooney. There have been hundreds of dogs over the years (and I'm not joking) that we took in and named. Many went on to homes or bigger rescue organizations. We found that names "just came to us" or were influenced by how or where we found them or their looks or quirks. Nothing outstanding or remarkable about the names, although we thought ourselves clever in naming a little black & white terrier "Oreo Cookie" -- tho we just called her Cookie and she's still in residence.
Titan, on the other hand, another still in residence, could not have been more miss-named except for his size. A table-height sized shepherd mix (who never, ever counter-cruised, although he could have without even standing on tiptoe), I mostly call him Sissy-Boy. Not politically correct, but he is the most timid and paranoid dog I have ever known. Sweet as sugar, but don't open a pop-top can around him or drop a cane -- or he's outta here.
Which reminds me: Though Peter The Great wasn't a scaredy-cat, he was dumb as a rock. The professional handler he was living with dropped him in the deep end of his swimming pool, intending for him to swim as part of an exercise regimen. Peter sank to the bottom and stood looking around in confusion. Luckily, he didn't try to breathe. He didn't move, either. The handler jumped in fully clothed and pulled him out. No more pool exercises.
This is getting way too long... sorry, but one other anecdote: Show people affix long and often quite novel and interesting names to their show dogs, but they rarely or never call them by anything resembling the registered name. They assign a "call name" that's usually quite ordinary. And this is another thing that often kept me hiding behind a post at a dog show. All the "in" people knew world-renowned dog's "call name" and I only knew the show name. So I would be in deep trouble if someone cornered me to ask my opinion of their "xxxx" and I didn't know who "xxxx" was. They would be insulted that I didn't know and I would be embarrassed, so I hid.
Riche
ninedogs04 at yahoo.com
P.S. The last name of all my dogs is Dammit. Sometimes the first name is "Nooooooooooo!"