Animals 'Naming Themselves'

[Spudrick68]

Our Dolly is a Bedlington Terrier. She was raised around Siamese cats so she likes cats! She is very fast so we can't let her off the lead unless in a fenced area. They were bred for hare coursing and many have died after going off to chase small prey and getting fun over. She likes sky raisins in the summer - flies to me and you. We often hear her jaws snapping shut at thin air.

 

[No2 Roadman]

Yes, our's is a 'double terrier' - staffy/jack russell cross. I've had staffies before but never a JRT. The JRT half is batshit.

I also have a a double terrier Border/JRT cross, completely insane animal who sometimes acts in a totally unexpected manner.

 

[Jacket_Potato]

I saw the same program I think! I remember there being a dog who wouldn't behave and was very depressed. The psychic spoke to the dog who said he was unhappy with his name and wouldn't respond to it. He said his name was actually <insert bizarre name that sounded like a demon>. It really stayed with me, because I remember the name being so odd and chilling! Anyway, they refused to call him that, but shortened it to something palatable and the dog's attitude changed completely.

We got a rescue cat about eighteen months ago, he was called Jaspreet when we brought him home, but it just wasn't right somehow so we renamed him Vincent (after Vincent Price, he's a real horror film cat!), which he does respond to, but more often than not we call him Tong. My boyfriend claims this is a descriptive verb for the action he makes when he touches things with his paws, but in reality it just became him name somehow. He's Tong. Definitely not a name we would have chosen!

Yes i think that was the same programme! Hope little Tong is very happy in his new home, my own cat (who doesn't answer to anything!) is pottering in the garden in this spring like sunshine we're having!

 

[plastic wiganer]

The first cat we got was a stray -rescued by my wife,and who by the vets reckoning was approx 18 months old or so. he was in a real awful mess with no fur and open wounds around his neck area - all scratched off because he was lousy with fleas. Anyway we took him in and as we obviously did not know his name, we eventually decided his name would be PADDY (we already had a dog called MAX - so MAX and PADDY it was - after the tv characters)
From day one however, he has always responded to his given name. It makes you wonder if that was always his name or did he just like the name we chose?

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

And I wonder how animals refer to each other? When my young dog thinks or dreams about the other dogs in her pack, (which she does, looking to the door when a dog is coming in, etc) does she think of them by the 'human' name? Or by some characteristic that she sees but we don't? 'The one with the big bark' and 'the one that growls when she eats'? She certainly knows their 'human' names, because if I say (for example) 'where's Tiggy?' she looks up and around and will give every sign of having seen said dog.

That's a good question. For most of our married life we've owned 2 or 3 dogs at a time, and if we ever mentioned to one dog "where's <other dog name>" they would often go to the other dog so they clearly knew the names we'd given them.

Saying that, though, whenever we'd call one dog's name invariably they all would appear. And they also all answered to 'biscuit' even though that wasn't the name of any of them

My Border Terrorist Evangeline can even spell words now.

Border Terrorist



As for dogs providing their own names... well, we've always named our dogs once we've got them home and thought about it for a while to see what seems to fit. Just over two years ago we brought a new puppy home and took upwards of a week to think of a name for her. It honestly was the most difficult naming process we'd ever had (usually the name had come either on the way home with the puppy, or maybe a day later). We thought we'd finally settled on a name (and actually used it or a day or so) but then discarded it in favour of a different one which suited her better.

Fast forward to late last year when we welcomed another new puppy home. This time it didn't take us long to settle on a name which suited her perfectly. It was a few weeks before we realised that the name we'd settled on, was the name we'd almost used two years ago. And as both names were in a similar vein (both being old-fashioned female names) the two of them 'sounded right' together.

But to make things even more poignant, we sadly lost the first one recently; it seems fate would never allow them to share more than a few weeks together. It broke our hearts and still hurts as I'm sure anyone who's lost a pet will understand. All we can do is treasure the tragically short time we had with her, and we know that she had a hell of a lot of love and a lot of adventure and even if life was too much for her in the end, at least we made it as good as we could for her.

(To make things even worse our elderly dog also passed away just a few weeks after that, so for the first time in a long time, we're down to a one-dog household. We're very protective of our remaining one now and she gets a lot of love and pampering.)

 

[catseye]

I'm a one-dog household again at the moment, Zeb. My deepest condolences on your recent losses.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I'm a one-dog household again at the moment, Zeb. My deepest condolences on your recent losses.

Thank you so much, catseye. And may I offer condolences in return for your loss back in December. I think only those of us who own pets can possibly understand that they are part of the family and that their deaths hurt us greatly. They are far from "just pets" as some ignoramuses would think.

 

[catseye]

The other day I was walking Teal past a family, all milling about on the pavement. One of their dogs slipped its lead and dashed up to her, so I pulled her close and tried to keep the front end under control while the loose dog was prancing about snarling (my dog bites, and, as a terrier, if she bites, she REALLY means it). Eventually other dog was regathered, apologies were made (which I accepted gracefully) and then, as we moved off, I said to Teal 'come on, dreadful, let's go' and a woman who'd been with the family looked over and sneered 'Dreadful - what an apt name!'

I kept walking but I SO wanted to turn around and snap that it was THEIR BLOODY DOG at fault and mine behaved impeccably!

 

[oraclepaige]

The other day I was walking Teal past a family, all milling about on the pavement. One of their dogs slipped its lead and dashed up to her, so I pulled her close and tried to keep the front end under control while the loose dog was prancing about snarling (my dog bites, and, as a terrier, if she bites, she REALLY means it). Eventually other dog was regathered, apologies were made (which I accepted gracefully) and then, as we moved off, I said to Teal 'come on, dreadful, let's go' and a woman who'd been with the family looked over and sneered 'Dreadful - what an apt name!'

I kept walking but I SO wanted to turn around and snap that it was THEIR BLOODY DOG at fault and mine behaved impeccably!

My moggy was at fault once in a cat fight, so I said to her you're to blame for that and she said me-how?

 

[Analogue Boy]

Ever think what the cat is calling you?

 

[oraclepaige]

Ever think what the cat is calling you?

Of course Hugh man!

 

[Weatherwax]

That's a good question. For most of our married life we've owned 2 or 3 dogs at a time, and if we ever mentioned to one dog "where's <other dog name>" they would often go to the other dog so they clearly knew the names we'd given them.

Saying that, though, whenever we'd call one dog's name invariably they all would appear. And they also all answered to 'biscuit' even though that wasn't the name of any of them




Border Terrorist



As for dogs providing their own names... well, we've always named our dogs once we've got them home and thought about it for a while to see what seems to fit. Just over two years ago we brought a new puppy home and took upwards of a week to think of a name for her. It honestly was the most difficult naming process we'd ever had (usually the name had come either on the way home with the puppy, or maybe a day later). We thought we'd finally settled on a name (and actually used it or a day or so) but then discarded it in favour of a different one which suited her better.

Fast forward to late last year when we welcomed another new puppy home. This time it didn't take us long to settle on a name which suited her perfectly. It was a few weeks before we realised that the name we'd settled on, was the name we'd almost used two years ago. And as both names were in a similar vein (both being old-fashioned female names) the two of them 'sounded right' together.

But to make things even more poignant, we sadly lost the first one recently; it seems fate would never allow them to share more than a few weeks together. It broke our hearts and still hurts as I'm sure anyone who's lost a pet will understand. All we can do is treasure the tragically short time we had with her, and we know that she had a hell of a lot of love and a lot of adventure and even if life was too much for her in the end, at least we made it as good as we could for her.

(To make things even worse our elderly dog also passed away just a few weeks after that, so for the first time in a long time, we're down to a one-dog household. We're very protective of our remaining one now and she gets a lot of love and pampering.)

So sorry to hear this, nothing much worse than losing your dogs. You willingly give your heart to a dog to tear (Rudyard Kipling) and then they shred it to pieces.
The love and happiness is worth it though x