Choosing a Good Name Can Improve Your Dog’s Training!
As a child, I was enchanted by TS. Eliot’s The Book of Practical Cats, especially his poem, The Naming of Cats. I had the whole thing memorized at one time, and can still recite parts of it, starting with, “The naming of cats is a difficult matter — it’s not just one of your everyday games And you may think I’m as mad as a hatter when I tell you a cat must have three different names.”
Eliot may have thought naming cats was difficult, but I think naming dogs is infinitely harder. The wrong name can be a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom, while the right one can steer a dog onto the road to success. “Killer” and “Stupid” are obviously poor name choices, while “Champ” and “Hero” are clear winners. Dogster.com breaks down dog naming nicely here.
But it’s not always as clear cut as that. The owner who gets a new puppy at Christmas and names her “Noel” or “Snowbird” may realize too late that the unfortunate inclusion of the sound “No” in her dog’s name can create a strong negative name-association rather than the positive one we strive for — especially if it’s an owner who hasn’t fully bought into positive training and uses a strong aversive “No!” reprimand. Check your prospective dog name choices for any negative sounds and toss out any that might have a bad association.
In a multi-dog household, it’s best to avoid redundant name sounds. We made the mistake of naming our Scotty “Dubhy” (pronounced “Duffy”) while Dusty, our aging Pomeranian, was still with us. Although we vowed never to do that again because of the confusion it caused, we currently have a “Missy” and a “Lucy” – close enough that it can also create “mistaken identity” incidents between the two.
Multi-syllabic names are usually shortened to nicknames, so that’s not a problem: “Footloose and Fancy Free” becomes “Lucy,” and “Bonnie Wee Lass” is just Bonnie. Even nicknames are fine – a dog has no problem with happy associations with many different name-sounds. “Lucy” is also “Lulu”; “Dubhy” is “Doodles”; “Bonnie” can be “Bon-Bons”; and “Scooter” is also quite happy to respond to “Scootie Man.”
Clients often ask me about changing a dog’s name. Of course, many shelter and rescue dogs arrive without names. They may be given temporary names by staff and volunteers, but adopters often choose a different name once they get their dogs home – and dogs do just fine with that. Some people spend hours trying out different names to see if the dog responds to any of them, but that’s not necessary. In fact. if you have reason to suspect your new dog may have any kind of negative association with the name he came with – abuse, neglect, or harsh training methods – you are better off changing it.
Like many dog owners, we like to select names for each of our four-legged family members that have some special significance. We had a cat for 18 years named “Gewurztraminer” because that’s the kind of wine we were drinking when we found him. “Dubhy” means “dark” in Gaelic – appropriate for our Scottish dog. My husband, Paul, wanted to name our current Pomeranian “Harley,” because we have great times together on our motorcycle. “But,” I said, “He’s too little to be a Harley. He’s more the size of a scooter.” So “Scooter” he is.
Remember that your dog’s name does not mean come. It simply means “Look at me and wait for further instructions.” It’s important to make this distinction. There will be times when you want your dog’s attention but you don’t necessarily want her to come running to you. If she’s on the other side of the room and you want her to lie down there, you might say, “Lucy,” and when she looks at you, say “Down.” The more you aspire to advanced levels of communication and training with your dog, the more important it is that each cue has a very clear and specific meaning.
In order to train your dog you must be able to capture and retain her attention. Teach your dog to respond to her name by associating it with a click (or a verbal marker such as “Yes!”) and a food reward. At first, when your dog is already looking at you, say her name, click, and offer her a treat. Do this several times to create an association between the sound of her name and the resulting click-and-treat.
Teach her to continue to focus on you by clicking and giving her a reward several times, for time periods that gradually increase in length, as she continues to look at you.
You’ll have the most success with this if you start off with a high-value treat. If I wanted you to look at me instantly when I say “Fribbit,” I might say “Fribbit” and hand you a one hundred dollar bill. That would get your attention! If I give you a one hundred dollar bill every time you hear me say “Fribbit,” you’ll probably become pretty consistent about looking at me for “Fribbit.” In time, even if you don’t get a hundred dollars for every “Fribbit,” you’re still going to look, in hopes that this”Fribbit” might be a winner.
Now think about your response if, instead of a hundred dollar bill, I gave you a penny every time I said “Fribbit.” You probably wouldn’t care much, if at all. You’d quickly get bored with pennies and look for something more rewarding and interesting to do. Find your dog’s equivalent of a one hundred dollar bill. It might be dried liver, cheese, anchovies, bits of canned chicken . . . try a variety of foods to find the one that immediately captures your dog’s rapt attention.
You can also use life rewards for teaching the name response. If your dog is a tennis ball nut, say her name, and when she looks, toss her the ball. Life rewards tend to slow down the repetition process (it usually takes longer to deliver repeated life rewards – you have to get the ball back before you can do it again), but if it’s something your dog really loves you can make up for lost repetition time with the enthusiasm of the response and the faster positive-association time.
When you think the association has been established between your dog’s name and the high-value treat, wait until she glances away, then say her name. (You might have to hide the treats behind your back, stop making eye contact, and wait a while to get her to look away.) If she looks back at you right away when you say her name, click and give her a treat.
If she doesn’t look at you immediately, don’t say her name again; instead, make a “kissy noise” (very technical dog training term) to get her to look at you; then click and treat. If you have to make the kissy noise several times in a row as you repeat the exercise, back up and spend more time creating a stronger association between the name and the click-treat while she’s looking at you, before trying again when she looks away.
When you’re getting a very prompt and consistent “snap” of your dog’s head back to you at the sound of her name, you’re ready to start adding distractions. Start with small distractions at first; you want to set up your dog to succeed, not flunk the first test. Ask a family member to make a small noise on the other side of the room. When your dog glances in that direction, say her name, and when her head snaps back, click and give her a treat.
If she doesn’t look back at you immediately, use your kissy noise to get her to look. When she looks, click and treat. If you have to “kiss” to get her to look several times in a row, go back to working without distractions again for a while, and/or find a higher-value reinforcer.
When you’re getting a reliable snap-back name response with low-level distractions, gradually increase the amount of environmental interference. First, increase distractions in your own home environment with more sound and/or movement of other family members, including four-legged ones, then up the ante by taking the show on the road. Play the name-response game when you’re taking your dog for a walk around the block, hanging out at your son’s soccer game, and playing at the dog park.
If you lose your dog’s response at any step of the process, back up to your last level of success, spend some more time working at that level, then move forward again, perhaps in smaller steps. Eventually you’ll have a rock-solid name response from your dog that, along with reinforcement for increasing length of attention, will serve you both well as you live and learn together for many years to come.
As most dog owners know, the bulk of commands are either one or two syllables to make them as easy as possible for your pup to understand. The same logic can be applied to what you name your dog. Any name you give them that is longer than two syllables could get lost in translation from their ears to their brain.
One of the most frequent times that you are going to call out to your pup is at dog parks. Because of this, you may want to ensure your pup’s name is something that you would be willing to yell out publicly. Your favourite band might be called the Doom Shackles but is that really something you want to be heard yelling out in the middle of a public space?
A dog’s name will also work best if it ends with a sharp “a” or long “e” sound. Again, this will be more distinctive to their ears and easy for them to differentiate from other words.
You will also want to avoid any names that sound similar or rhyme with the most common dog commands. Names that sound like “sit,” “stay,” “heel,” “no,” and “come” could be easily confused by your pup. Imagine how tough it would be to get your dog to stay if they are named “Fay” or how difficult it would be to get them to sit if their name was “Mitt”.
In the end, these are all just suggestions for the naming of your pup. Let your imagination flow and pick a name the whole family will love. Just be sure to make the name as easy for your pup to learn as possible. It can be one of the keys to setting up the best communication possible between you and your dog.
Should dog names end in Y?
Looking for the perfect dog name? … Dog names ending in “Y” are a popular choice because of their sweet, easy-to-pronounce sound, and they come back year after year in our top ten. For popular puppy names like Buddy or Molly, to new ideas like Remy or Barley—look no further.
Disciplined Dogs: Dog Wait Patiently For Their Names to be Called
Dogs tend to respond better to names with two syllables. They’re not short enough to be confused for a cue like sit, down, or come.
Your dog will hear their name over and over, and will learn to respond to it when learning commands. In fact, veterinary behaviorists agree that dogs recognize their names because something happens after they hear them. … That means that your dog needs to respond to her name, and associate it with good things.
Dogs do not hear words, but tend to recognise sounds. They hear names with two syllables and initial letters such as “CH, S, SCH, SH or K” better than long dog names. Dog names ending with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) are also recommended.