After hearing someone call their dogs at the dog park – Waffle and Toast, I kind of thought I would go that round next time, but then I read Rule #1. Maybe not.

I laughed at loud at Africa and Christie and the Honey ones. So funny!

Jasper kind of got his name by default. I had already named his sister Jasmine when my friend suggested Jasper have a J name too. She picked Jasper and it stuck. Daisy came with hers and fits her better than you can imagine. Cupcake is my cute dog name, but I didn’t pick that one either. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever named any of my dogs! Damn! Now I want one I can name!

My cousin had a Shepherd named Stella. When Stella passed away at about 16 years old, my cousin buried her ashes in the garden and planted a daylily called “Stella D’Oro” over the grave. I thought that was a beautiful tribute.

My current girl, Indiana, was originally… Flo.

And there was no way. Whenever I read it/saw it on her paperwork/kennel, all I could think about were my childhood Judy Blume books. The horror. Oddly enough, Indy wasn’t even on my list of names. I had a bunch of state-type names (and I still really want to name a dog Nevada), but Indiana had never struck my fancy. Had to call her something though, and she was from an Indiana shelter, so I started calling her my “Indiana girl”. It stuck?

She’s also known as Squish, Little Squish, Squish-squish… The list goes on from there, but I’m sure you see the theme. Ha!

We got it right with both dogs. Luna is a Spanish (my husband is fluent in Spanish) name which means moon (which is appropriate for Luna’s Gold color) and an old park in my hometown of Seattle.

Penny was originally named Betty Jane, but I didn’t care for it as that was one of my nick names in high school. We thought Penny was an easy transition from Betty, and we thought ourselves to be ‘lucky’ finding this sweet little dachshund looking for a home.

Oliver (“more, please”; Dickens fan here) was my first Beagle. Many have come, been adopted and left, some with name changes, notably from “Look Jane” (whose sister was “See Sally”) to “Coda,” since her new owner played piano.
I had two Dachshund puppies, Pip and Squeak and then the two feral Beagle mixes, Chip and Monk. Chip went to a feral foster home in MN; Monk will be with me forever (his name not only is part of Chip but spelled for the TV show).
My favorite change was Cora’s; she came to me first as a foster after her mom had a stroke. When it became clear she would not recover, I told our local humane society I would keep her. Never liked her name, kept saying she was “cute as a button” and “Button” replaced the name Cora with ease, even though she was a fully adult dog.
Fun, fun entry – and loved reading the comments.

Suffice to say I named Our Best Friend something too common, and have regretted it. My new rule: No human names for dogs, ’cause when you meet a person with your dog’s name, they tend to feel insulted.