Choosing Your Dog's Name

Dogs are vocal, not verbal. How words sound is important to
them, so consider that then choosing names and commands. To
your dog, the words "No," "Know," "Beau" and "Joe" are the
same sound; the dog will have trouble knowing which you mean.
If you name him "Beau" and use "No!" as a reprimand, saying,
"Beau, you know what I want!" reprimands him twice although
you didn't intend a single one!

You always want your dog to come to you when you call him, so
how much sense does it make to name your dog "Beau" and use
"NO!" as your reprimand? He'll have trouble knowing whether
you called him or yelled at him.

I like to have a dog choose his name. There are two ways to
do this. First, spend enough time with the dog to really get
to know his personality and select a suitable name. For
example, when new to us my Husky-mix not only jumped on me,
he pinned me to the wall and took stuff out of my shirt pocket!

I said to my wife: "Look at this! I'm getting mugged!
" Naturally, he became Mugger! A client had a very
rambunctious Great Dane pup and I love the name she
chose: Chaos! Let the dog earn his name!

Another way is to make a list of your favorite names and--in
a playful and animated voice--try them on the dog. The one to
which the dog reacts best is IT! And he WILL react differently
to different names! Try it!

Contrary to popular belief, a dog's name should change with
every new owner. The old thought was that once a dog
recognized hits name, you couldn't or shouldn't change it.
Wrong! Since many owners make the mistake of using the name
with a reprimand, or even AS the reprimand, if you keep the
old name you tell the dog you're one of THEM--the former crew.

If the dog is now yours, you can't presume former owners did
everything right. If they did, you probably wouldn't have him.
And you're trying to tell the dog this is a new start in a new
home, right? Then why use the old name--especially when it was
likely used negatively in the past?

Be sure to teach the dog his new name by using it only with
things the dog likes such as treats, praise, meals and love
and affection. And don't choose a new name that sounds a lot
like the old one, like "Bo" and "Noah".

Use the new name consistently and positively ONLY with things
the dog likes and within a week or two he should respond nicely. We changed the names of two of our dogs and now they ignore the old names.
Article written by Dennis Fetko, Ph.D., "Dr. Dog".

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email: john_admt@yahoo.com