# Names for your SD



## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Names and how you picked one. Don't forget a picture if you think s(he) looks like its name.
Did you name your current Service Dog? If so, how did you choose it? 
Did you have the name before the dog or wait until later?
If your dog came with a registered name then what is his/her call name?
And finally does your dog have a different name when it is being corrected?


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

I can only answer for my son's SD. She came with the name and it's part of her registered name. He doesn't use any other names. Since her name is Demi and she a good size, she doesn't 'fit' her name that way. But it does fit her somehow. I don't think any of us could think of her as anything but Demi.


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## CarrieJo (Oct 1, 2016)

Being that a service dog goes through a lot of training before you get them I would think it would be weird to change their name at that point. Although we took in an abused Dachshund (the owners didn't want her anymore I think it was because she couldn't have puppies) and we where told her name was Blacky (she was tan and black) well we just didn't feel like the name fit her so we kept discussing it and finally all agreed on Abby. Guess what when given her original papers 2 months later her name was really Abby Gale. Strange huh?


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I wanted a male and had named the male from the litter that I was supposed to get. But then when they did the puppy tests the breeder changed her mind and said she didn't think that male was the best one for the job and that we should have this female instead. The breeder had given her a registered name already which I kind of hated. My pup went to a volunteer puppy raiser for 6 months before finally moving in with me. At the time I was unable to do the baby puppy stuff. I lived about an hour away and met my pup at group classes weekly the whole time she was with the puppy raiser, I met them at dog shows and even got to take care of her on weekends when the puppy raiser was away trialing so even though ahe didn't live with me we were quite bonded and the transition to living with me seemed natural.

I had hoped to change her name, at least make up a different call name, but the puppy raiser had been calling her a shortened version of her registered name and it stuck and she knew it so that was that.

She has had so many nicknames I wonder how she is mentally healthy lol. She seems to know them all. Most of the nicknames are used more with affection, if she is in trouble it is her real name but thag isn't the only time I call her by her real name. Probably the longest running is "wolf" and if I say "where is my wolf?" She will come running from wherever she was because she knows what that means.

The boy was a V litter and I came up with a whole bunch of V names ahead of time but none would really gel and when we picked him up from the breeder and were driving home a name that I never would have chosen came into my head and I looked at him and thought, that is his name. I told my husband and he said "yes, that is his name" and it was 100 percent from day one. I figured out a way to but a V word ahead of his call name on paper to register him. It reminded me of a foster dog I took in once. She didn't know her name anyway so changing it was no biggie to her, driving her home a name popped into my head...not a name I would ever choose for a dog but I couldn't shake it and I just really felt like it was her name. I called my friend who was supposed to be actually adopting the dog and I said, "I don't know where this came from but I really feel like her name is _____" my friend says "no way! I couldn't get that name out of my head either!" Neither of us had a connection to the name or previous experience with the name so no reason for it to come up like that. So that was it, she was named.

I have a list of names I want to use on dogs but at this rate none will ever stick anyway.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

_I had hoped to change her name, at least make up a different call name, but the puppy raiser had been calling her a shortened version of her registered name and it stuck and she knew it so that was that._

Why wouldn't/couldn't the puppy raiser call the puppy by the name you wanted?


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Honestly I couldn't come up with anything by the time she arrived....I was still sort of trying but the other name just stuck in the mean time. I guess her name was meant to be what it is


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

One nick name she definitely knows is pretty. The first pic was her back in the day, she was probably 4. I don't have a digital copy of it because my sister took it. Second pic is her now. Still lookin pretty good for an old lady


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Well I don't know what happened to the other pic,,


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## VixZen (Oct 7, 2017)

My service dog's name is Vixen. I chose her name because she's beautiful, has a mischievous streak, and I got her in December. 

She had a different name when I took her in as a rescue: "Mamas"--and shortly after I got her, my mother came for an extended visit. The poor girl was soooo confused by not knowing who I was talking to unless I was looking directly at her that I had no choice but to rename her (plus, I didn't particularly care for her original name). I noticed within days of taking her in that she had a very unique temperament, and after having her for about 2 months so we could bond, began working with her to train her as my service dog. Luckily, Vixen wanted to work for me & with me, she's extremely eager to please, highly intelligent, and a total sweetheart.

She doesn't have a different name when she's being corrected--however, I seldom use her name when correcting her. A simple 'No', or tongue click is all the correction she needs. I _will_ use her name during recall on the rare occasions she's not by my side, and she comes running. I also call her baby, honey, darling, pretty girl, sweet girl, and my little wiggle worm--- my little wiggle worm is reserved for those few occasions when we're separated for a bit, and she's doing her happy dance to see me as we're reunited.


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## Davycc (Jun 16, 2021)

I got my last fella as a rescue and was told his name was Sultan. He was approx 18 months old and to me his nature didn't fit with that name so I changed it to Max. I never had an issue even at the very start with him and the new name.

as a side note, he had been left locked in the house for over a week when his owners moved away and was only found when the housing authority came to assess the property. He would come into our house for 15-20 minutes then always wanted back out. Sadly he never became a house dog and was always happiest in the garden.


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