What's In A Name

Practicing how to climb over things, starting with Mom's legs. Could be out of the box if we could only see!

Within the next couple of weeks the puppies will all have a litter name. Linda has decided to use watchmaker names - hence "Swatch" - since Maeve's registered name is "About Time". But, their AKC registration names do not have to be related to their litter or call names. Maeve's litter theme was Irish names, Corey's were all flowers.

For their AKC registration papers, they will all include the kennel name PatchMt, but then it is the decision of the breeder and owner to decide the rest. With LUCK mine will be PatchMt Spring Time at Blackthorn - call name SPRING!

Here is an article on the process:

How to name a new puppy or dog.

It can be difficult to name a puppy. Because people have a strong attachment to their own names, there's a desire to come up with a name that means something special. For dogs, however, things are a little different. Puppies don't identify themselves with their names like humans do. They only recognize it as us asking for their attention. When they hear the sound of their name, they know it's time to listen up because we want something. A good puppy name is a call to action.

With this in mind, here are a few guidelines to help you choose the perfect name for your new puppy:

• Keep it simple. One or two syllable names are usually best, three syllables at the most. If the name is long or complicated, it'll be hard to call out and your dog may not understand. Having to repeat a dog's name to get his attention makes training difficult and can be dangerous in certain situations.


• Avoid names that rhyme with or sound like obedience commands. The basic dog obedience commands include sit, stay, down, come, and heel. Of course, if you plan on teaching your dog to shake, you don't want to name him Blake.


• Short names with ending vowels are easier for a dog to learn. This is due to the nature of how people form words. A name that starts with a sharp consonant and ends with a trailing vowel sound is easy to pronounce and has a distinctive sound. Examples would be Donka, Hero, or Vera.


• Consider not using traditional human names. A good puppy name should be just that, a puppy's name. By naming your puppy or dog like a person, you might forget that he's, in fact, a dog. This only increases the tendency to treat our pets like people while forgetting that they see the world very differently than we do.


• Don't use dog names that demean or poke fun at your dog. Dogs are very perceptive and they know when you're being insincere. You want people to respect your dog as much as you do. A name that's overly sweet or dopey makes that impossible.

Have fun choosing a name - and remember most of our pets end up with several - Carina is also KK, and Corey is Coorman!