Re-naming a pup

Hi everyone!
27 more sleeps until we bring our new girl home! I can't believe I am counting down the days, especially since we are going to Jamaica for two weeks during that time...lol....at least coming home to the cold won't be so bad.

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, our new pup is already seven months old and will be 81/2 months by the time we get her. She currently goes by the name Porsche...but...my hubby and my stepson don't like the name....GEEZ and they are the car buffs in the family.

They'd like to change her name...although we have yet to agree on one we all like...lol. My hubby says that since I am a wine writer, it might be fun to name her something like Chablis or Merlot...and I kinda like the name Crush -- Stepson hates them all...lol

Anyway, what is everyone's take on re-naming a pup this old?

If you are going for the wine theme, you could call her Riesling with the nickname Ries (pronounced like Reese Witherspoon), you could even end the nickname with a "y" as so many think it makes your dog smarter.

Then there is always "sauvignon blanc." You could call her Savy or Blanca for short. Kinda off topic, but on The Girls Next Door, Holly names the white peacocks, Casa and Blanca (they were Hef's 80th B-day gift).

I think Syrah (a hearty red wine) would be a beautiful name...

Remember too, you could always name her after your favorite winery or such. They usually have such beautiful names... you could even get a bottle to celebrate her homecoming and enjoy it with the family. It could be a "birthday" tradition for the years to come. You may even get a bottle to just store in your wine rack (i have some that are just pretty bottles that I never intend to open icon_whistling ) and then pull it out for when friends ask how she got her name.

All in all, just thoughts and suggestions! I hope you are happy with whatever name you choose!!!

My favorite girls names were/are:

• 
  1. Eydie
  2. Tillie
  3. Allie
  4. Lola
  5. Beatrix (call her Trixie)

edited to add....

IMHO... dogs are smart and with repetition can learn any name you wish to give... i mean, they do it every day to those poor dogs that come into the shelter with no identification... they have to learn a new name... so I think your smart little cavie should have no problem... Just make sure you don't keep changing it... pick one and stick to it.

Thanks Cicero's Mum - those are some good suggestions, especially Syrah.

I agree with you on the name changing thing. My Brittany was almost 6 months old when we got him and changed his name from Buddy to Behr...he picked it up in no time. But he is such a lover, I think I could have called him Rat Face and he still would come running to me with joy!

Names I have proposed to the family so far (not all wine related):

Cab (Short of Cabernet)
Bambolo (Named after a very fine Italian wine)
Mateus (The very first wine I ever drank :yikes )
Chablis
Crush
Chasselas
Tawny
Amarone
Viognier
Luna
Jazz
Prada
Jinx
J'Adore
Rabbit
Poem
Siren
Foxy
Luxe
Sage
Soul

Finding a name we can all agree on will be tricky indeed! My Stepson would prefer a name more suitable to a Rottweiler :yikes and Hubby wants only a one-syllable name :sl*p:

I may have to pull rank!

How about naming her Portia from the Merchant of Venice? She would hardly notice the difference (and I like the name)! If you do decide to change her name to something very different, she will have no trouble. One of my sister's changed her rescue Keeshond, who was almost five years old, from Destiny to Meisje (Little Girl in Dutch) She started by calling her Destiny-Meisje and then just dropped the Destiny. Took her less then 72 hours.

Good luck!

Piece of cake re-naming her. We did it with one of our Boxer puppies that came back to us at 18 months & we didn't like the name he'd been given.

Just double barrel the names for a little bit & then after a while drop the old name. So if you are going to call her Merlot, you would call "Porsche-Merlot come" and then when she does you'd say "Good girl Porsche-Merlot".

Yeah it is a bit of a mouthful for a while but it really works and you will only need to do this for a few days. You will be amazed at how fast she learns her new name.

I got Luke when he was 3.5 years old. He is a retired stud dog, so he lived at the breeder's house with 8 adult dogs and numerous litters of puppies. I thought I would have to keep his name, because he had it so long.

Once we got him to my home, he didn't seem to know his name at all. He didn't come or look when you used his name. I could've changed his name to anything, but decided that I liked his name, so I didn't change it. So we keep using his name to make him aware of what it was.

I think you will find that it will be very easy to change her name. Just pick a name and keep using it and she'll get the hang of it.

My Ellie is almost 7 months old and her name was Libby at the breeders. I have always wanted to name my first pup Ellie though if she was a girl so I decided I would change her name. Its only been 2 days since we got her and she is responding to Ellie fine. She knows that her name and comes when we call her. She is almost the same age as your new pup so I think it should be fine to change his/her name. Just keep saying it and they will pick up on it I think

For what its worth I read that dogs respond best to names that end in an "ee sound" and Libby and Ellie both do so this might make the transition easier for her as well

Sorry no help on wine names as I dont drink. My hubby does but he wants to name our next puppy Guinness after his favorite drink so sorry Im not much help in the alcohol department

Not a problem changing the name. The above suggestions work great...use both names and gradually drop off the old name. My most recent adopted boy was called Jitterbug and the owner changed his name to Jasper. She said by the end of the week he was responding to Jasper and seemed to know...that was him!!

All of our dogs know their own names & each other's names too... and at one stage we had 8 icon_whistling When I give them treats, they all sit in front of me waiting their turn, and as I put the treat into their mouths I say "this is for Sam" and "this is for Scarlett". None of them, including our new Sonny try to take the treat until they hear their own name being spoken. Dogs are so much more intelligent than we give them credit for

lol at the Porche-Merlot... it actually sounds like a really awesome name... so sophisticated...

LOL - Last night hubby and I were once again talking about names and he suggested we call her Pinot (as in Pinot Noir) and the transition from one P name to another would be fairly simple...

I said since she is a female we should call her "Pinot Envy" :yikes lol

I like Envy - that's cute!

You probably all know my position on naming your animals by now. You have to get to know them a bit first then the name will come. We call ours as a group "Gorillas" (instead of Girls) and they come running.

As most have said, I think that repetition is the key, along with the love she will get when she responds.

You can change her name just pick a name when you have her a while----Aileen and the gang (Jazzie---Barney---Sam)

Absolutely NO problem changing a dogs name ...even if they are adults ! They adjust VERY quickly !! just think of all of the shelter dogs who had names ...get adopted and get new names !

I also thin its important to give her a name YOU and your family like as part of the "adoption" ...making them "yours" process