If you get an already-named pet, and its name is dreadful...

[dolo amber]

is it ok to change it? Should you check with the current owner? What's the etiquette here? Some background:

This guy posted on craigslist that he needed a new home for his dog, and I contacted him. Long story short he's agreed to let us adopt it (pics upon transfer of ownership :D). The thing is...he's called Smirnoff. Which is just totally not my style. He's 16 months old. I haven't asked the owner if he'd mind if I change it because a) as I said I'm not sure what the protocol is and b) I'm sorta terrified he'll ask me not to.

So oh wise DUers...what's your take? Ok to change the name? Should the owner be consulted, or as it's now my dog = my call?

[Broken_Hero]

1. If its horrible, I would change it....nt

[LynneSin]

2. Evita's name at the rescue group was "Precious"

And if you ever met Evita, "Precious" is not a word to describe the feline spawn of satan.

ANyhow, I don't name my cats after adjectives

[huskerlaw]

3. Your dog, your call

Unless at some point you're giving the dog back...you own it (or is it that the dog owns you?), you get to name it.

Both of my cats were named when I got them. One of them was particularly horrible...Sandy for a boy cat. No way in hell was I keeping that name. He's now Riley. I changed the other one's name too.

Change the name. Seriously.

[dolo amber]

7. So I shouldn't even mention/ask the current owner?

I feel kinda bad for the guy...he doesn't want to get rid of the dog but he commutes like an hour and a half (one way) to work, and works 10-11 hr days. His g/f and her kids are at home with the dog all day and none too happy about it, thus get rid of dog. I feel like I should at least ask, as he's pretty broken up over the whole ordeal. :shrug:

[huskerlaw]

13. Unless there's any chance

that the guy will ever see the dog again, then no.

If it's a situation where he may, for some reason, encounter the dog again and then be like "uhhh...why'd ya change his name?" ...then maybe you should mention it.

Otherwise, no, I wouldn't. It would probably just make him feel worse, and doesn't really accomplish anything.

[dolo amber]

16. Yeah, see...that's what I thought too

I have extended an open invite for him to visit with him if he wants. He's not sure yet if he will (might be too sad) but the possibility exists.

[huskerlaw]

23. Just tell him that

you're a recovering alcoholic and Smirnoff made you want to drink again. ;)

But seriously. He's selling you the dog. It's yours and it's well within your rights to rename it. If he will be seeing the dog in the future, it would be courteous of you to tell him that you're planning to change the name. Or, you may want to wait until you're arranging their first visit and then casually mention that you've already changed his name.

Then again, if you think that would be too awkward, you're under no obligation to tell him about the name change.

[dolo amber]

25. I like the "recovering alcoholic" idea

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[zanne]

15. That's so nice of you.

Really. It's very considerate. I would ask him if he intends to visit the dog once you have him. If he says yes, I'd keep the name. (But it he said no, I'd change it in a nanosecond.)

[johnnie]

4. Call him Jackoff and he won't know the difference

I changed my pets names many times. I got bored with their other ones.

[Richard Steele]

5. Sure, change it.

Our cat's first name was 'Fluffy'; we changed it.

Actually, we called her about 100 different names
until we found one that SHE liked.

[idgiehkt]

6. the dog may hate it too.

he might like a new one, try it and see if there is something he responds too.

I picked up this puppy around a month ago and gave him to my Dad...he named him Lucky which is a gross name to me for reasons i won't go into. I call him any damn thing I feel like at the moment...lately it's been 'mish-mash'.

[skygazer]

8. Well, personally I think there's more here than you and the old owner

How about the dog?

A 16 month old dog named "Smirnoff" probably doesn't know his name all that well, though he probably sorta recognizes it. I would consider it safe to change the name but to me, part of naming a dog is to give it a name that the dog itself will find easy to recognize. Calling a dog "Mr. Poopster Oompa Lumpdy Poo" might be considered cute by some strange wierdo but for the dog, it would be nearly impossible to recognize.

I tend to choose short names with hard consanant sounds which are easy for a dog to catch - Jake, Dixie, Zena, etc. That way, if they're running around playing, the name is easy to hear when you call it. "Smirnoff" has too much to it and the dog probably hasn't really gotten completely adapted to it. If he was 8 years old, I'd say keep the name.

In short, I'd say change it. And I see no reason to consult anyone - he's relinquishing the dog so it's yours.

[Arugula Latte]

How about something sorta close, like "Smitty?"

First sound is similar, at least. I always thought that would be a great pet name. That was my grandpa's nickname, too.

[Critters2]

9. My beagle was named "Jessie" by her first owner

Not a bad name, but when I met her she had this delicate, feminine way of carrying herself that just didn't fit with "Jessie". She needed something, well, prettier. So, I waited a few days to see what felt right. Today, she's Grace (not Gracie!!).

And yes, it's your dog, and you can re-name it. After only 16 months, it shouldn't take too long for him to catch on. Grace was a year when I adopted her, and she picked up on her new name fairly quickly.

Otoh, my first beagle was name "Spartacus" by the Humane Society. It was so funny to see this goofy, friendly beagle with a big, tough moniker like "Spartacus" that I just had to keep it. But most people called him "Spud".

I endorse you giving your dog whatever name seems right to you.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Are you saying my Sheltie, Princess Jessie isn't feminine enough?

Pfft on that. :P

[Critters2]

21. I'm sure she's a lovely sheltie, as shelties go....

:pals:


Btw, here's a song Spartacus and I used to sing on the way home from obedience class--made up of 2 shelties, 3 border collies, 2 Australian shepherds and a rough collie, and Spud the beagle...

Collies are evil, collies are bad.
Collies do things that make beagles mad.

Beagles are special, beagles are good.
Beagles do things collies never could.

You see, in a room full of collies, Spud was the "special" dog, if you get my drift.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Change it.

My ex-gf adopted a very sweet, but rough & tumble male Westie from an elderly woman, as a pet for her teenage son. Well, the dog's name was Mr. McMuffins and let's face it, no self-respecting boy (even if he's pretty damn metrosexual) is going to have a dog named Mr. McMuffins. So Mr. McMuffins became Max. Max seemed to enjoy his new name (which he learned in a couple days), but always gave a dirty doggie look when called Mr. McMuffins. Apparently, Max had been embarassed about his given name for a few years.

[pitohui]

11. i didn't change it

i did not change the pet's name, as a) he was in his twenties and probably didn't wish for a new name, and b) being a parrot, he actually loves and repeats the sound of his own name endlessly so i would have had little luck changing it

after 15 years or so i'm still not crazy about the name but i'm used to it, i won't say what the name is, but "smirnoff" is way cooler, you could have a little old lady name out there and many older pets do! -- the mr. macmuffins or precious cited above, the name is in that category

as long as the name is not obscene or offensive, if the pet already understood and liked his name, i would keep it

16 months? i'm no dog expert but i would think a dog would know his name by that age

i don't see any reason to consult w. the previous owner on the topic of the name, you more consult w. your sense of the animal and whether or not he responds to the name

alas, my sweetie did not give me the same courtesy, for some reason, he calls me "ethel"

sighhhhhh

[petronius]

12. I'm sure it doesn't matter to the pet...

All they really hear anyway is: "don't eat that, you little creep! That's NOT a toilet! Goddamit, quit running out the door!"

[Writer]

17. My cat's name at the pound was "Mittens"...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... so he became "Gandalf the Grey."

My dog's name at the pound was "Cody." :puke: So he became "Pippin." I had no problem changing the name in either case.

The dog is still quite young and can adapt to a new name. It's your dog - do what you need to do!

[dolo amber]

18. I wanna name him The Who!

:bounce:

[Writer]

19. Wait, now... that's grammatically confusing...

So would it be, "The Who, sit!" "The Who, down!" etc?

Or would it be: "Who, sit!" "Who, are you? Down-down, down-down?"

:shrug:

[dolo amber]

20. Who's on first?

:D

Nah, it'd be "The Who, sit!" There's no point in naming a dog The Who if you don't confuse people. :D

[Writer]

22. But "The Who" is a plural proper name!

Now... it would be cool if you had a pack of them. Then you could call them "The Who." Stick a long, curly wig on one of them. Then there you go!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. The next dog I get I'm naming God.

God, no!

Bad God!

Stop it God!

God sit!

Good God!

[SoyCat]

24. Mom's neighbor gave her his cat that he totally ignored. The poor cat did

not even know his former name. *Wouldn't even come when called* Mom gave him a new name that really fits and he knew it within a week. Your dog will let you know if it accepts a new name. It's really not the former owner's business.

[greatauntoftriplets]

26. 14 years ago, my sister took her son to get a shelter dog....

He was 12 at the time, picked out an Australian cattle dog (dog was a total lunatic who ended up running into the street and getting hit by a garbage truck...to no one's major unhappiness except my nephew's).

But I digress. The dog's name when they got her was Colors. This was at the time there was a movie coming out about gangs called "Colors" and my sister thought that the association was not good. So my nephew chose the name Blue because her fur had a bluish cast. The dog dealt with it just fine...well, as well as that lunatic dog could deal with anything. She nipped constantly and was not a puppy.

Edited because I typed male pronouns for the dog when she was a she. It's just that they have had a male dog for the last 12 years and so the male pronouns come naturally now.

[DawgHouse]

27. Sure, change it.

My girl's name was Ashaya until her family abandoned her. The shelter called her Baby. I elected Annie, since she's an orphan. She doesn't mind at all :)

[Left Is Write]

28. Your dog, your decision - although it might be hard...

...to get him to answer to something else.

A few years ago, we adopted a cat from the Humane Society who came with the name Mufasa. We changed it to Gunder.

[nickinSTL]

29. I hated my late cat's name, and I had him for 15 years

I didn't feel right about changing it. Though I did tend to call him by nicknames, instead.

[Cathyclysmic]

31. Change it.

There was no way Eleanor was going to go through life as "Brandy." :puke:

on edit: Smirnoff? :wtf:

"In Russia, dog change your name."

[greatauntoftriplets]

33. My sister's first Brittany Spaniel was named Brandy...

Because she had fur the color of the booze. And she was Brandy the Wonder Dog. I still miss that dog!!!
Her AKC name was Brandy Alexandra.

My sister's current dog is Doogie because at the time they got him, my nephew was a devotee of Doogie Hauser. His AKC name is MacDougal.

Both are great dogs and absolutely adore(d) me. I am a dog magnet. Even the above-mentioned lunatic dog Blue loved me.

[dolo amber]

34. ...

:spray: :rofl:

[tyedyeto]

36. So, call him Yakov...

The previous owner might find that hilarious!

[RiffRandell]

32. It's fine to change it.

Although I didn't change my cat's name when I adopted her 8 years ago. Guess what her name was? KITTY! I know that is so LAME, but it was out of sheer laziness.

[InvisibleTouch]

35. Sure, change it.

I'm a stickler for names, and I feel very strongly that the name has to be "right for" the animal. But my definition of what's right may not be the same as someone else's. I name all my puppies because part of their registered name is my kennel name, and they respond to the names I call them - but I won't throw a fit if a new owner wants to give them a different call name. I might cringe a bit if I hate the name, especially if I went to a lot of effort to pick what I thought was a perfect name for a particular dog - but at that point it's no longer any of my business. The new owner and the dog have to be happy with each other.

And dogs are adaptable - they'll learn their new name quickly.

Slightly off-topic rant: It's just as easy to pick a nice registered name, by which to actually address the dog (not the whole multi-word name, of course, just the "first name"), than to put together some godawful concoction and then use an unimaginative one- or two-syllable call name. Why not just pick a good name to begin with, and then use it? Bah....

[Carla in Ca]

37. My two cents...

If this person thinks you are good enough to adopt the dog,(thanks for doing that, by the way) then he must assume you will do whatever it takes to welcome him into your family.

I have a feeling that someone who had the dog for such a short time isn't going to object at all. Don't worry about this. He will be yours to love and care for. Enjoy it, and please post pictures when you get him home.

Hope I could help you. I moderated an abuse/rescue message board for 5 years. We need more people like you, believe me! :hi: