Unusual Dog Names

Don’t make silly mistakes when choosing your dog’s name which you will regret later! Name your dog right for life.

There are tons of good baby name sites out there, but very few sites listing dog name ideas and inspiration - there are many sites just listing tons and tons of words you’d think they copied a dictionary. That wasn’t very helpful for me, I would prefer smaller lists of names that would work, and lists that might trigger my own ideas.

So I figured why not make my own with all the ideas I didn’t use when naming my dog

Here I am gathering the common sense dog naming rules, where to get inspiration, dog name ideas under many categories, and more. I have also listed some great youtube clips I found on how to do very basic dog training - especially how to teach your new dog their name - and some questions found on the web.

And if you are looking for some gifts for dog lovers, I have also built a selection (amazon.com only at the moment, although I will also provide an UK store if it helps people) of books (teaching books, but also great fiction for adults and kids, real life chronicles, and art books), some DVDs,  toys, and more. It started as a gift list I was doing to make my gift buying easier, but why not share it, and perhaps this will fund a few more books for my library. Check it out, it is full of great stuff!

Don’t make a choice that you will regret in 5 years’ time - use common sense:

The basic Do’s

1. Choose something easy for a dog to recognise - that means a word of 2 or 3 clear syllables, with a nice “melodic” sound to it
2. Plan for the dog’s lifetime. you will have to use the name in public, possibly yell it across a park - what sounds funny right now could be outright embarassing in public 5 years from now
3. Try it on the dog - once you have a shortlist of names you like, tell them to the dog in a nice animated voice, and see if one is easier to get your dog’s attention with.
4. Choose a word you enjoy saying, or that makes you smile - sounds silly but you will be saying it a lot and it might help your mood when the dog has caused you trouble

And the don’ts:

1. Don’t confuse the dog. Say the name to youself to make sure it doesn’t sound like a command you might use (eg: Sid can be confused with Sit, and Beau with no)
2. Don’t make your life difficult by choosing a word your household uses in regular conversation. You dont want to have to say “pass the s.u.g.a.r. please” for the rest of the dog’s life.
3. Don’t choose a name that is in common use in humans in your area . I know many people do but it just is a given that one day you will get a new boss with the same name as your dog… Max is a #1 dog name and yet I know quite a few people named Max. There are plenty of other choices.