Pet Names

[rushdoggie]

Plus I find the alphabet soup of a dozen or more agillity titles silly...but hey, if that is your thing, go ahead. It tells me what I want to know.

 

I wonder why an agility title is silly, and I wonder what it is that it tells you?

[Smalahundur]

Of course I 'pay' to work my dogs - how could there be any other way!

 

Well of course I have to invest quite a lot in the dog to work her, but in the long run the plan is she´ll pay that back, in time and energy saved on the farm, and especially during round up of the free range sheep in autumn. That´s the obvious "other" way.

Back on topic, both in my horses and dogs I like short, down to earth names. As I live in Iceland (though not a native) I follow Icelandic tradition. The name I chose for Tauta (Icelandic spelling is Táta) is a common dog name for female farmdogs.

[appyridr]

>I wonder why an agility title is silly, and I wonder what it is that it tells you?

 

I didn't say 'an' agility title was silly....just dozens of them. I don't know why people list the 'beginner' titles once they have earned the advanced ones. It seems obvious that if a dog has the highest level of agility title, they are at the top of the game and have probably earned all the other ones. Same in herding or obedience, just my pet peeve.

It tells me that this is not a working dog/breeder etc.

 

I stand corrected on the 'payment for sheep'. I like the idea that the dog will pay for itself, well put.

cheers Lani

[juliepoudrier]

I didn't say 'an' agility title was silly....just dozens of them. I don't know why people list the 'beginner' titles once they have earned the advanced ones. It seems obvious that if a dog has the highest level of agility title, they are at the top of the game and have probably earned all the other ones. Same in herding or obedience, just my pet peeve.

I have never understood this either. I guess there are some folks who maybe shot right to the top without getting the lower titles, but ISTM that the most advanced titles would be sufficient to get the point across.

 

J.

[airbear]

Well, even when I put the most advanced titles only, it looks like this:

 

Wicked MADC AGDC MSDC MSCDC Ex-J Bronze OAC OGC EJC TG-E S-TN-E FDCH

 

If you compete in more than one venue you can rack up a lot of alphabet soup. She has some USDAA titles too but I can't remember them.

 

I know that some might think these performance titles are silly or meaningless but for some of us, who worked quite hard to accomplish them with dogs that had to overcome quite a lot to get them, it's testament to our journey.

[PSmitty]

I didn't say 'an' agility title was silly....just dozens of them. I don't know why people list the 'beginner' titles once they have earned the advanced ones.

 

I really don't know anybody (who is informed, at least) that actually lists ALL of their agility titles. It's well known "etiquette", if you will, that only the most advanced titles are listed. As Kristi points out, even if you just list those, because of different agility venues (plus things like flyball and obedience), you can end up with a whole slew of letters.

[juliepoudrier]

Kristi and Paula,

Thanks for clarifying. I don't know how everyone keeps up with it all, but I guess if it's a subject you're immersed in, then it's not that difficult....

 

J.

[rushdoggie]

I really don't know anybody (who is informed, at least) that actually lists ALL of their agility titles. It's well known "etiquette", if you will, that only the most advanced titles are listed. As Kristi points out, even if you just list those, because of different agility venues (plus things like flyball and obedience), you can end up with a whole slew of letters.

 

Yes, this.

[skiba]

When I named my pooch I chose a something you don't hear often, Oliver. He has quite a few nicknames, Oli, Olive, Oli Boy.. you get the idea. :] I have yet to meet another dog with his name.

[juliepoudrier]

I have a friend with a dog, not a border collie, named Oliver.

 

J.

[Mariji]

I am extremely unoriginal and suck at picking dogs names. All the ones I adore are taken by close competitors/friends and colleagues. My first Border is called Myla, it was her mums name and her mum was beautiful just like my little girl and it made sense having grown up hearing that name that she should take it. She is called Mylie or Miles for short. My next puppy was difficult I LOVE the name Swift for me is just is the essence of Border Collie but it was up to my partner to name her. It was part of the deal of getting another dog and he names her Echo. I like it because it is short and sharp and easy to repeat which is great for an agility dog. She was named so because believed for the first couple of weeks she had a high possibility of being deaf and she is almost void of any colour being solid white so it just suited. Next was my 8yr old rescue/permanent foster and I had alot of trouble naming her. Nothing I liked stuck and it just wasn't working. I posted a thread about naming her and whilst looking over all the suggestions loved Ivy. My partner reading over my shoulder saw a forum members dog was named Seek as he repeated the name she appeared out of nowhere. And so it became Seek, which is the only word she every answered too and suits her to a T as she is always seeking attention and any kind of close contact with me. I think you will know what works for your dog, fancy long name or short and simple. If I get another Border Collie I will have my name Swift there and ready. To me it fits especially with the type I may get if I stick with this breeder, but you never know, my pup might have other ideas.

 

As for adding titles after my dogs name I think it if we worked as hard as we did to get that title I should be able to display that with pride. It definately is a testament to our journey. Of course when you have a long list of letters it starts to get ridiculous but a couple of titles is fine.

[skiba]

I have a friend with a dog, not a border collie, named Oliver.

 

J.

 

Bummer, I thought I was original

[timberviewfarm]

Bummer, I thought I was original

 

 

And my Oliver has had his name for quite some time since he is around 11. I actually named most of my dogs after horses I showed, he was named after a nice big chestnut gelding named Oliver twist, kind of fits since he is red/white

[Star]

When I got Star, the old rancher said to try to give her a short, sensible name and she'll respond better to it. He just called her "Here Puppy Puppy". Well, Star is technically my 9 year old daughter's dog. The first name she tried on her was (brace yourselves for it.....) .......Giggles. Thank goodness she decided she didn't like that. She finally settled on Starlight. Star for short. Worked okay for me. She still will come to puppy puppy (and she still loves to chew on gloves as the rancher let her chew on his gloved hand all the time). It appears we've picked, inadvertently, a suitable Border Collie name. Whew! She does love to hear her name and "Star" presents endless possibilities--I say "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight", and sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star..." and "Baby I'm a star, yes I are..." etc. She really actually enjoys when I do little odd things with her name. Maybe it's the affection in my voice....

 

I do think the dog makes the name. If I'd named Star, it would probably have been Missy. Don't know why. Our Hound's name is Seven (long story there), but I wanted to name her Charlotte and I still think she's a Charlotte.

 

My oldest daughter's name is Sadie, and people always say, "Oh, I have a dog (or cat) named Sadie." which bothers me for some reason.....

 

We have a lot of fun in naming our horses, both show names and barn names. I have a list a mile long of show names that I've been coming up with since I was a kid. The show name tends to be something meaningful to the person. The barn name is often a derivative or just the name that really suits the horse. Of course, lots of the warmbloods have naming conventions and those are followed for the show name.

 

I guess a pet's name is a pretty personal thing for most of us.

[Root Beer]

My oldest daughter's name is Sadie, and people always say, "Oh, I have a dog (or cat) named Sadie." which bothers me for some reason.....

 

I've come very close on several occasions to telling people with daughters named Maddie that I have a dog named Maddie. I have managed to hold back. I can't see that being warmly received!

[Smalahundur]

I talked to an old farmer yesterday, and he remembered an odd fellow who had two dogs; the first he named "spurð han" (means "ask him"), and the other one "sem þú" ("like you"). You can imagine people getting a bit irritated when they asked what the dogs were called...