Pet Names for Your Dog
Has this happened to you? You spend a lot of time and effort to come up with a cute, catchy, or meaningful name for your dog, and then you always call the dog by a pet name, such as doggie-woggie (not coincidentally, the name of this website).
My dog’s name is Shelley, but I’m usually calling her doggie-woggie, goofy-woofy, silly goosie, doggie-wog, woggie-dog, and on and on. I only call her Shelley when I am really trying to get her attention.
I think she likes it, though. She might not know what I am talking about, but she can hear the affection in my voice. She just bounces along, looking happy, when she hears this kind of talk. Combined with petting, it makes her pink tongue hang out while she pants with happiness.
By the way, that’s her picture at the top of the page. Doesn’t she look like a happy dog?
I guess this “pet name” thing isn’t too strange. It’s similar to couples who have been together for a while. They will hardly ever call each other Bob and Sue, but instead will use honey, dear, sweetie, etc. If they do use the actual name, someone is probably in trouble!
So am I the only one doing this? Do you have a “pet name” for your dog, and how often do you use it?
|
|
|
Subscribe in a
August 5th, 2005 at 5:40 am
Just found your blog through a comment you left on ProBlogger, and this post made me smile.
I think it’s just so hard to NOT come up with “pet names” after a while, probably for the very reasons you list–just like couples call themselves by sweet names. Our dog is named Vulcain (like the Roman God–or like Mr Spock’s people, depends on how one takes it), but we seldom call him this way. Names range from “Vul” and “Cain” to “Mister Doggy” and “Sausage” (yes, well, he’s so thin and nervous that looked at from above, he looks like a long black sausage moving frantically on the floor. I know, we’re weird). The hardest thing in fact is to not make him feel confused, because the day he stops answering to “Vulcain” during training sessions or in the street, we’re in trouble.
August 5th, 2005 at 9:25 am
Yzabel, thanks for your comment. Your “pet names” are so funny! It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who does this.
By the way, I checked out your blog, and it looks great! I like that it’s both in French and English. Maybe I can use it to brush up on my French.
August 5th, 2005 at 11:07 am
Oh no, you’re not the only one. Most people I know who have pets tend to do that. My parents’ cat (Luna) has been renamed Lun-Lun or Na-chan, and more than often diminutives are used in place of the “real” name (although do these count as “pet names” in the same meaning, I’m not sure). Sometimes it’s just so very weird, too; my boyfriend’s mother has a dog named Laika, but they call her “Zaza”. Go fig…
And thank you about the blog–maintaining two versions is a pain at times, but I really felt likeI had to make an effort in my own language as well for once, and not only write in English.
January 8th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
is clyde a good name for a dog?
January 10th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Yes, I think Clyde is a great name for a dog!