# Changing rescue dog's name



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Most people do... unless the name really suits the dog + the owner likes the name.


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

Name change can be a fresh start--I know a number of dogs come into rescue as strays & intakes from pounds where the original name is unknown. I always enjoyed getting to name intakes, but found that I didn't change the names of the 2 I adopted--Duke came to me from his first & only home at the age of 11 and Tiffany was a foster who was named by the intake coordinator, wasn't fond of the name but when you teach the dog its name, kind of hard to justify renaming once the adoption paperwork was signed.

I thought you're getting a puppy?


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

I changed my rescue dog's name. It was actually pretty easy. I just added the name I was going to call him in front of the name the rescue had assigned to him and called him by both names at first. By the end of two weeks, I had dropped the name from the rescue and just called him by the name I had given him.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

It absolutely is okay, and I think most people who adopt a dog do change their name feeling that it gives the dog a 'fresh start' to their new life.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

jennretz said:


> I changed my rescue dog's name. It was actually pretty easy. I just added the name I was going to call him in front of the name the rescue had assigned to him and called him by both names at first. By the end of two weeks, I had dropped the name from the rescue and just called him by the name I had given him.


That's a great idea! I never would have thought of doing it that way.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

GoldenCamper said:


> That's a great idea! I never would have thought of doing it that way.



I can't take the credit. Somebody on this forum suggested it


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## Lennap (Jul 9, 2010)

Remy came to me from rescue with the name given to him by his first family - Hadley. Yup it just didn't work for me with this dog. It took about a nano second for him to respond to Remy and he has never, ever responded to Hadley again. 

Very bizarre when you think about it, he had that name for 18 months - can gave it up in a heartbeat. But hey it worked for us


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Our rescue Joseph came with his 'name', though it was more of an 'identifier' given him by the shelter he was in. He had no idea what that 'sound' meant, that we were talking to him. Hubby liked the name, I was not sure, but in time came to see that it truly did suit him. We paired it with treats and attention, it didn't take long before it came to be a 'predictor' of good things for him.
Charlie, from what I know, had at least two names, probably more, before coming to me. He was surrendered to the shelter with the name 'Jasper', the rescue that saved his life named him 'Pheonix', but when he came to me, it was clear, he truly needed a 'fresh start'.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Smooch*

When we adopted our Smooch, her name was Bedlam in the Golden Ret. rescue! We adopted Tucker from someone on the forum, and kept his name. It goes nicely with our other dog, Tonka's name.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Randomness to share, but every single one of our puppies had a "name" that the breeders called them. I forget what Jacks' was, but Bertie was Butt (LOL!). Prior dogs went by the names "Bobby" and "Barker" and so on. Obviously probably not the same as with a dog who may have had a name for years before you got them, but still - it's not a huge deal teaching a new name to a dog. 

Honestly speaking - my dogs respond to a variety of nicknames all the time. Seriously - I could be going "Sunny" and "Bubba" and they know which is which (Jacks is Sunny and Bertie is Bubba - LOL). If I say "Sunny" - Jacks comes running. If I say "Bubba" - I get Bertie coming to see what I want. And those aren't the only nicks that get. My parents have their own nicknames for the boys, as do siblings... dogs pretty much go with the flow. 

They respond to tone of voice and stuff they hear from you all the time. If you get their attention and you are looking at them and smiling - they know you mean them.  

Had our Arthur been named something stupid or if he had a "non-human name" (only our cats and birds are named non-human stuff), we probably would have changed his name. As it is even he responds to his own nicknames - Collibear, etc.

^^^ And that's just us chirping at the dogs. We really don't include "name recognition" in training. I've never really seen the point of that....


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Absolutely, if you prefer a different name, by all means change it. 
Some names just fit a dog better than others.


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