# Others give your dog a nickname or get hte name wrong?



## DWP (Mar 31, 2011)

Looking at another thread about nicknames for our dogs, I thought of this.
We had a friendly old neighbor man, who has since passed, that would talk to our dogs over the fence. He called them “White Dog” and “Big Dog” for the longest time. He finally asked their names, and I guess he didn’t hear very well. Pyzon, became “Pizza” and Kana became “Conner”. He thought they were both boys. It was really kind of fun. You could hear him talk to the girls over the fence while he worked in his garden. He would go on and on, telling them about dogs he had as a kid and how pretty they were. Never forgot that. They did not bark at him, but would sit quietly and listen. He would occasionally reach over the fence; they would stand up and let him pet them. They never permitted that with anyone else.
To make a long story longer, they brought him some pleasure and I was proud of them.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh has been called everything from Socks to Sasha to Scotch. The vet we used to go to called him Stoshie which for some reason bugs me- there's nothing cutsie about him. Most people call him Mr. Stosh because he's so masculine


----------



## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Gilda gets called 'he' all the time...even by vet techs that don't know her. I think it's because she is such a big girl (not fat, has a waist, she's just big).


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

What a nice story.

People often mistake me saying "Raven" for "Raymond". I personally don't understand it and the more I try to clearly say Raven the more they misunderstand me. People usually assume she is male because she's so big and it doesn't help that I don't put girly colors on her. She used to get called "Rave" all the time as a young dog and it drove me nuts because I absolutely hated that nickname.


----------



## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Everyone just calls Hondo, 'Sir'......... 

Mostly he gets called 'Big Guy'. He is on the larger side, but because he is a LH, he appears to be much bigger than he really is.


----------



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Cool story!

Some of my friends call Pimg "Pim" which I absolutely hate. I have a million nicknames for her, but Pim is not one. Don't know why, I just really dislike it...


----------



## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Yea, I did a thread on this not too long ago... http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/chat-room/159586-nicknames.html


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

The people at the vet's office are _constantly_ calling Kopper, Kooper.


----------



## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

"What's his name?"
"Liesl, its a 'she'."
"Lisa?"
"Lies UHL, with an 'L'."
"Hi, Lisa!"
"LEES-UHL!"
(women "Oh, like the girl in The Sound of Music!!"
(men *silence*

Sigh.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Oh yes...my obviously female dog got called Jackson by a doctor that knows everything. 

What is his name?
HER name is Jax.
oh...Jackson.
No, Jax.
Jackson.
No, what part of Jax...J...A...X...did you not understand?


----------



## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Some of the trainers at our training club used to call him "Jackson" because there's a small fluffy Jackson that started around the same time and they get confused! I always corrected them because it bugs me! My dad calls him Jackson though as a term of endearment  Oh well!


----------



## Cara Fusinato (May 29, 2011)

Father-in-law: Athena (cat) = blackie (hate that), Quasar (Aussie): Quaze (didn't particularly care for that). 

Strangers: Calling a 95-pound Aussie with a wiiiiddde head SHE because he's fluffy.


----------



## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

wildo said:


> Cool story!
> 
> Some of my friends call Pimg "Pim" which I absolutely hate. I have a million nicknames for her, but Pim is not one. Don't know why, I just really dislike it...


Pardon my ignorance but how do you pronounce Pimg? It's rather unusual, so I can see how it would be pronounced "Pim". 

My mother in law used to call Gunner "Gunther". And after a few times that I corrected her, it became a joke to her. She'd call him Gunther just to mess with me. I deserve it though, I always ask her what month my niece was born, just so I can get her to say "Jew-lie".  She's still got a bit of southern drawl at times, and she knows if "ya'll" comes out of her mouth, it's game on. Good thing she has a sense humor.


----------



## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

billsharp said:


> "What's his name?"
> "Liesl, its a 'she'."
> "Lisa?"
> "Lies UHL, with an 'L'."
> ...


LoL, my friend named her female GSD Liesl. I could not get it right for the life of me. Her dog is awesome. What does that name mean?


----------



## Zuiun (Jul 1, 2011)

Tsura is constantly called "Sarah." I can understand someone mishearing it once when I tell them, but people will still pointedly say "Sarah" no matter how many times I correct them.

ETA: I should also add that the best part is when someone says "well hello there SARah!" Tsura just looks at them like they're an idiot.


----------



## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

Usually people get "Saber" right, but there was one guy who thought I said "Cyber" and was calling her that, and another who thought it was "Savior." LOL...


----------



## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

A guy I used to date called Luka "Lookie" and I HATED it. I nipped that in the bud pretty quickly. He then started calling her "Luka Bazooka", and that one kind of stuck.


----------



## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

GSDGunner said:


> Pardon my ignorance but how do you pronounce Pimg? It's rather unusual, so I can see how it would be pronounced "Pim".


Yeah, seeing that name in writing, I have no clue how to pronounce it. Is it a foreign word, or a literary reference that I am too ignorant to get?


----------



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

GSDGunner said:


> Pardon my ignorance but how do you pronounce Pimg? It's rather unusual, so I can see how it would be pronounced "Pim".


Pim- as in "pimp" + gee- as in "gee- this is a strange name." 

Actually, I've never heard anyone say "Pim" from reading it. They usually always do this hilarious drawn out thing trying to figure out how to make an "img" sound something like an "ing" sound. They usually do something like:

Pimmmmmiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggg??????

haha! For the record, Pimg is named after Dialogic's *P*bx to *I*p *M*edia *G*ateway, a device that converts proprietary phone switch signaling into SIP messaging for use in more modern equipment. Click here (pdf) if you really care. (And no, I don't work for Dialogic.)


----------



## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

wildo! You took out the pronunciation guide from your signature! It always cracked me up, the whole pimp + Jesus thing!


----------



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

cassadee7 said:


> wildo! You took out the pronunciation guide from your signature! It always cracked me up, the whole pimp + Jesus thing!


True! I was way more proud of her earning her first title than the pronunciation guide. :rofl:

for everyone not in the know, I've also described the pronunciation as:
Pim- as in "pimp" + gee- as in "Jesus"

lol!


----------



## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Sinister's nicknames


My mom calls him "Granddog and Sinny"

My ex calls him (Sin's daddy) "Boy or The Boy"

My friends call him "Sin or Sinner"

My friend Josh calls him "Dumb Dumb and Little Sister"


----------



## Kris10 (Aug 26, 2010)

Pim cheese


----------



## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

Stella's Mom, Liesl is an archaic Austrian/German version of Elizabeth.


----------



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Everyone use to call Stark "Star"... lol... one guy did it until he was about 18 months old until his wife caught on and corrected him... lol.

With Zefra, they keep calling her "Zepla" not sure how they get that but it happens.. lol.


----------



## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

wildo said:


> haha! For the record, Pimg is named after Dialogic's *P*bx to *I*p *M*edia *G*ateway, a device that converts proprietary phone switch signaling into SIP messaging for use in more modern equipment.


No wonder I didn't get it! So it's pronounced "Pimjee", yes?


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Karlo is forever getting called Carlos...I correct the ones who do so by saying his name and letting them know he is German not Hispanic


----------



## APCURLS (Apr 14, 2011)

Love this thread! Very funny! 

My dad has trouble with names (growing up he mis-named friends, boyfriends, etc) so it's not uncommon for him to take a while to register someone's actual name. He calls Draco "Drago" and my mom, a 5-ft-tall French woman with a very strong accent calls him "Draaaakkooo"  I also call Draco "Pooch" in an endearing way, my dad has caught on and resorts to "pooch" if "Drago" doesn't respond to his "name"


----------



## Gmthrust (Mar 3, 2010)

There's just only one of my girls that her name gets messed with ...and not meaning to offend anyone but so far it's been only by white women of a certain caliber which I won't mention because then it will surly offend. But dang, no matter how I explain it, changing Keek (pronounced exactly how it is spelled), to Kiki, is offensive too! lol. Aw well.

No one dorks with the names Cristal (Cris)....nor Trinity (Trin).....nor Pipen (Pip) .....nor Celestial The Extraterrestrial (Celest, our nutty cat) ....the way these certain few ladies do with Keek (In Cup'ik---Eskimo---- means White Hair, like the Elders have, so dang it, show some respect and quit calling my dog after some long ago lady who sang with Elton John). It's incredibly a very weird science to witness....


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

my BFFs husband calls Shasta, Shaysta. No idea why. We picked on him one night making him pronounce it correctly and he just cant seem to do it lol. We even pulled out a Shasta cream soda and showed him.


----------



## Gmthrust (Mar 3, 2010)

PS. to my little crazy rant....I like it when the very young children try to say Keek's name.....pronouncing it like this, "Keeeee--Keeeeeeee!," with their excited cute little voices. Holy cow, now that's endearing to hear! lol


----------



## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Ginger, my red Golden Retriever, got nicknamed "Red" a lot by random strangers. Her groomer used to always call her Ginger Rogers which I thought was cute. Some people called her Ginger Spice which I didn't like so much. 
I used to call her Gingie sometimes, but I hated when people called her Ginny.
One of my friends who lives out of state used to call Ginger 'Chicken-dog' whenever I talked to him on the phone, because of how shy and scared Ginger was when I first got her. I hated that because she had totally turned around by then and was totally outgoing and not scared of anything. I forgave him since he hadn't actually seen her in person.
I used to call Ginger "Brat" or "Spoiled Brat" as a nickname because she was pampered (not really spoiled since she was very well-mannered.) The funny thing is when a friend started calling her that it really annoyed me! Maybe it was the tone of voice she used...

One of my cats is really large and kinda chubby. His name is Spot but I call him Chubby, Chub-chub, Giant Kitty, and Big Boy way more often than by his real name. I didn't mind other people using those nicknames, but my brother started calling him Fatty and for some reason I just hated that nickname!

Some of my friends call Bianca "B" or "Miss B". I've had people mis-hear the dogs' names but I can't think of any specific examples.

I used to have a pet rat named Kei but pronounced to rhyme with eye (I usually would tell people it's like sky without the s). The vet techs always had trouble with that one. I remember one time they were trying to call us to the exam room and the tech calls out, "K... Kay....? Key...? Keh-ee?" She got every possible pronunciation but the right one. My other rat was named Cara but I was always correcting people with her name too: it's Car-a not Care-a.


----------



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Freestep said:


> No wonder I didn't get it! So it's pronounced "Pimjee", yes?


Probably. If your "jee" sounds like Jesus- then yep. But definitely not a "jay" sound. It's really a "gee" sound as in: A, B, C, D, E, F, G <------- that sound.


----------



## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

Sage is often called Sarge and mistaken for a she.

My parents call him "Sagey" or "Sagey boy" and I have caught myself doing it.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

As you know, I thought Pimg had an entirely other meaning- as in the urban dictionary's definition.


----------



## APCURLS (Apr 14, 2011)

Stosh said:


> As you know, I thought Pimg had an entirely other meaning- as in the urban dictionary's definition.


:rofl: Had to look it up but love it!!


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

And he can buy lots of cool stuff that says Pimg on it!


----------



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

So funny! I've considered buying a couple things with Pimg on it from Urban Dictionary. It is hilarious!


----------



## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

a girl at school calls Dodger, Doctor drives me nuts because me, my teacher, or my friend always go it's DODGER not doctor, but she just doesn't get it 

I have a friend at work who adopted a dog named Tucker and he gets so annoyed with me when I call him Tuck Tuck. He always tells me don't call him that it's not his name!!! I get his point now that people are calling my dog weird names and actually just prefer Dodger it is his name after all. so I no longer call Tucker Tuck Tuck lol.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

my next door neighbor calls our dog
"pooch". my neighbor is very friendly 
our dog. one day i was letting the dog
out (the yard). i heard my neighbor say
"hey pooch, you're just in time for
fillet mignon". my neighbor cuts a healthy
peice of fillet and brings it over and reaches
over the fence to hand it to my dog.


----------



## LukasGSD (May 18, 2011)

Never really had the problem of others misunderstanding Lukas or Jaxon. They're all mispelt on the vet papers! But I think they're more at the mercy of me calling them something!

*Lukas* AKA Lukas Pelukas, LuLu, Boo, WooWoo (Actually grew on me because my mom started calling him that because of the way he "woos" xD ) For the longest time when I first got Lukas, my step dad continuously called him "Buddy" and I HATED it. 

*Jaxon* AKA Jax, Jaxon Bo Jaxon, or just Bo. 

All pretty much variants of the same name. And I'm pretty sure both of them come to _Handsom_! 

I've called my friends dog Skittles "Skitters" because she's so skittish and she skitters across the house when I come in.


----------



## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Everyone (family, friends, breeder, GSD club members) calls my Sage (female) "Sagey". I'm not too sure anyone realizes her name is just Sage...

I had a private lesson last month with Carly. The trainer kept calling her "Charley", which I thought was cute.


----------



## cta (May 24, 2011)

people have called chobahn "jovahn" or something to that effect. also my grandmother calls him "shobahn" and insists that she is saying correctly. can't really argue with an 86 year old woman.


----------



## The Packman (Jan 31, 2011)

My Mrs...calls Elly May, Elsa...it drives me up the wall !


----------



## tsteves (Jun 7, 2011)

As far as pronouncing the name wrong most people call her Koda instead of Kona which is understandable. The receptionist at the vet calls her Kuna which is odd since she has it written correctly. 

The only name that she gets called that annoys me is Ears, and its not even so much the name as the annoying lady at the dog park that calls her that. She screams Ears out as loud as she can when she sees her. I don't think Kona likes her either cuz even when she calls her by her real name she just comes to stand next to me and looks at her like she is nuts! LOL Heck no lady I know you are gonna maul my ears. :wild:


----------



## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

My son Andrew makes up names for all three of our dogs and they seem to eat it up. Clovercheese, Pattonsnacks and stuff like that. It's always funny to see what he comes up with next.


----------



## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

Sigurd has so many names... Zigurd, Zigurt, Cigar, Digger, Digar, Siguard... my neighbour across the street calls him Diggerd... love all the names people come up with, lol.


----------



## CookieTN (Sep 14, 2008)

People sometimes think that Treader's name is Trevor. They don't get it wrong as much as they used to.
I don't think anyone got Cookie's name wrong.


----------



## Furricane (Feb 18, 2010)

Poor Kendra has been called so many things! I swear no one can get her name right. She's been called "Kenya, kenyi, kendri, kenny, ken, cary....the list goes on! Most of the times if its a stranger I just smile and shrug it off. I laugh because they try to tell her to sit by using another name and she just looks at me and tilts her head at them. She always gets called a male because she's so dark, and everyone always tells me she's going to grow into her ears even though she will be 4 in November!


----------



## k_sep (Jun 21, 2011)

Luna gets "Loony Luna" or sometimes "Tuna" :rolleyes2:	

One of the women in her training class who owns a pit calls her "Fluffers" because she's never seen a fluffy GSD before. I do not like that one; my pup doesn't need THAT horrible name!


----------



## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

> The only name that she gets called that annoys me is Ears, and its not even so much the name as the annoying lady at the dog park that calls her that. She screams Ears out as loud as she can when she sees her.


Tsteves, when she does that, wave real big at her and yell "THIGHS!"

Bet it works after only one time.


----------



## hallix (May 18, 2011)

Everyone -including my family- calls Addie, Abbie. I get that it's close, but I've corrected everyone dozens of times. It was annoying. Now I don't bother. I'm sure my new girl will be confussed a lot. The spelling and the pronunciation. Her name will be Cierny (Chair-knee). xD


----------



## LijhaPup (Jan 9, 2011)

People mix up Lijha all the time, it is pronounced like "Elijah" without the "E". She has been called Elijah, Alisha, leesha and so on. Our other dog, Noni, pronounced "Naw-knee", is usually called "No-knee" by the vet techs. Not many ways to screw up Noni...


----------



## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

I can't count how many people keep spelling my dog's name as "Sampson" - understandable, but it's still pronounced different than "Samson."


----------



## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

My daughter always nicknames the dogs. Then they end up stuck with those names.:laugh:

Sebastian became Bass 

My female became "girly"


----------



## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

Haha I call Miss Molly The Lemon, as in I bought the lemon :rofl: Anywhoo her friends 'Dad' was asked by someone else if she is a PB GSD, and he said yes A Le Mon GSD. With my accent that's how he heard it and thought it was a type!


----------



## Chowgal (Dec 21, 2009)

Tippsy use to get called "Dipsy", "Dixie", "Tixy", and "Pixy". HATED it all! I like "Tippy", I called her that myself. But everyone has always spelled her name wrong too. They always spelled "Tipsy" and not "Tippsy" that drove me absolutely NUTS!

Jasper always gets called "Casper" and I dunno why because I say "Jasper" clear as day! But he gets called "Jazz", "Jazzy", "Jazz-Man", and "Jazzy-Bear". And I love those nicknames.

Dixie has been called "Trixie", "Tixie", and the WORST nickname of all "Dix". Ugh! That is the reason I gave her the "middle name" "Rose" so she has something simple to be called that's not "Dix". And she KNOWS her middle name and responds to it.


----------



## Sue Smart (Jul 12, 2002)

Ann, my next door neighbour always gets their names wrong. First I had Candy, that didn't stick until I lost her and got Layla, who she called Candy. Kayleigh is now Layla, and Vixen is Missy? I've given up with her, I hear her telling her visitors the dogs' names and calling them - I suppose they've just got used to it. Kayleigh nickname is Kay-Kay and Vixen is Vixy. I have a 3 year old beagle Milo, Milly Milo, and I'm just wondering if the owner is ever going to send for him as they have emigrated to Australia. Anyone want a 2 year old beagle?:lurking:


----------



## sddeadeye (Apr 5, 2011)

A good friend of mine called my GSD Charlie, Goldfish. I told him I was going to town to pick up some goldfish for our horses' water trough. Came back with Charlie instead. The nickname stuck anyway.

Everybody gets Blue's name right. It's pretty simple. However, he does have two nicknames that I gave him: Ugly Dog and Funny Face. Poor guy. He is a blue merle with odd facial markings, bi colored eyes, and prick ears.


----------



## tjzick (Sep 5, 2011)

people call tony jaws, or (crocodile) dundee because hes still mouthy. i jus call him tony montana or soprano. occasionally mayor ruff ruff of ruffington, sitting at ruffly finished desk eating ruffles... life sure is ruff. ect.


----------



## GSDMUM (Aug 18, 2011)

Cheyenne is almost 4 months old and I have had two people think that her name was 
"Shy Ann"...I admit I get kind of irritated especially when they say, "the name fits, she is shy". I hate explaining it's the Indian tribe and then have to spell it out.


----------



## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

My dad has always given each of my pets a new name. I don't know why, it's just something he does. We had a pomeranian that we were naming Meeko and he started calling him Chico... and it stuck. His name changed a week after a had him. One of our cats, Oliver, he calls "Leonard" (why I don't know LOL). Saki he never did give a new name though, but often says "Sassy" because thats what their cat's name is. He does say Saki kind of weird though, I guess thats his nickname. He puts a lot of emphasis on the "ki", though, so it's like "SaKEEEEEEE". 

Knuckles has become "Knucklehead". 

People always assume we named Saki after the Japanese drink, but her registered name is actually Kawasaki. My husband collects old Kawi snowmobiles so when he bought Saki for me I named her after those.


----------



## cowboy17 (Sep 26, 2011)

My last shepherd was Toro, always got called Zoro. I didn't mind though, thought it was funny when people woulld call him and wonder why he wouldn't come to them. I got asked if he had down syndrome or something...lol.


----------



## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

People constantly mistaken Whimsy and Savvy's names, often with a confused look like they've never heard the words before in their life. Whimsy gets called Windy, Wendy and Mimsy (or once, "well I don't care for that name at all!"). Savvy is called Saab, Sabby and "huh?". It makes me laugh more than anything. They definitely aren't typical dog names 

Jora got mistaken a lot too, especially by agility gate stewards (who always get Whim's name right LOL). Jagger always gets a "like Mick?" comment.


----------



## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

It's funny, (great thread by the way) I nickname people's dogs all the time at work. That's because I don't want to create a bunch of competition between dogs and some dogs have some serious separation issues or bonding issues. If I use a nick name instead of their name they won't break up a play session to run over to me or chase dogs away from me. When I do use their real name, it's more important too.

I've used everything from "Hey Ladies!" to "Fluffy" to "The spotted one"
(occassionally "Re Re") I've heard convict, (a dog that has a teardrop spot under one eye), Fruitbat (now used to denote a certain behavior in young dogs...*sigh*) Hanky. Mr. Hanky, Mr. Awesome, Barn Owl, etc.

At home, Alice gets called by Fruitbat, Kramden or sometimes Kiyoko. Kiyoko is named after a co-worker (whom I miss terribly) who once jokingly said "YES, IT IS ALL ABOUT ME!" That one stuck.

Zoey, is the weasel or devil.

I don't really care what other people call my dog. Zoey would come up to you begging for pets if you called her Charles Manson....You could call Alice and she'd check her book to see if you're on the list.


----------

