I have always stuck with the dogs names none have been silly and the dogs all answered to name. My first grey was a stray and he had no name, he was fawn and red (now I know he was not a true grey) we called him Rusty. The others are Charlie (Chaiston Flyer) Tiger (Alley Tiger) and Chad (Dunmara Admiral). Only Chad's name seems to not fit with his racing name however, his Dad was Chart King and I think the Ch came from this and the ad from the admiral bit.

I am sure that there are some truly horrendous names about though that would need changing in order to hold your head up in the park!

Em XX 

When Neo arrived he was called Nemo and i didn't think it suited him but did not want to big a change so he would be easily fooled!! My son who is a big Matrix fan came up with Neo and that was that, i do think it suits him better though...

Not sure where the Nemo came from in the first place as his racing name was Winston Rocket

I've kept the names the same. Ziggy was a way cool name so I wasn't going to change it and he is a bit of a stoner dog, way too laid back. Maybe named after Ziggy Marley
Vernon is a bit of a lad so I think the name suits him too. I've wondered if I changed it to Derek or Egbert would he calm down and become a trainspotter geek dog who was calm and relaxed. Yeah right!!
The main reason I have them both is to rescue a needy hound so I wasn't too bothered about changing their names to anything else and maybe confusing them. Especially at their age! Although with a young dog it probably wouldn't matter. Anyway it is the intonation sounds when you call them they respond to not the actual name as such.

Timmy was Slippy Sensation when he was racing - hence my posting name. His fostering family called him Spot because he has a little white spot on his head. But we like our animals to have "real" names, so he became Timmy, in memory of the first dog I had as a child when I was an avid reader of Enid Blyton's famous five stories.

Sheila

Sim's racing name was Sim Card, which I thought was absolutely awful, but by the time we adopted him his fosterer had been calling him Sim which does suit him and is quite unusual.

Suzie was 9.5 years old when we adopted her so there was no way I would have considered changing her name. Her racing name was Crebilly Banshee (one of the best names I have heard) so I think she really ought to be Siouxsie (and the Banshees)!

I think foster dogs are a bit more tricky though - cos their new owner may want to change their name when they adopt them.  I have been lucky as my two fosters had no pet name when they came to me, so even if their new owner did wish to change from the name I chose - it would still only be one change for the dog to get used to.

Skipper's name really suited him - as he sort of skips if he spots something interesting (I didn't know that when I named him) - and he remains Skipper in his new home.  We hope that Ra will grow into his name (Egyptian Sun God) and become a large gorgeous golden creature.

-- Edited by Lesley at 19:03, 2006-07-23

What an interesting thread, hearing how everyone came up with their dogs' names.

When Dave was racing he was called Lorrha Concorde (cos he has such a long nose!) and Daisy's racing name was Sylvanna Lark.  We had decided on the "human" names before we even met the dogs but they have grown into them very well, and they answer to them .... most of the time.  However, we sometimes shorten Daisy to "Daze" and, as it sounds a lot like "Dave", we usually get two for the price of one call !!

Hi Jackie

Wills has always been Wills, right from the day that I got him from the Blue Cross.  I reckoned that he had enough to contend with understanding my accent let alone a name change too (he came from Hampshire originally). 

Millie has stayed with her name although while she was fostered she became Tilly because they already had a Millie. 

Tigger was Star.  She didn't answer terribly well to Star however and she eventually chose her own name.  She was out in the garden and when I shouted her (as Star) she ignored me.  I shouted "Tigger", the head shot up and she came lolloping across to the door.  So Tigger she has remained. 

I read somewhere - long time ago - that it's supposed to be bad luck to change a dog's name... but both our girls were renamed.

Although no 1 dog was only 10 weeks old she had already started responding to her given name of Becky - but my brother's Irish Setter had the same name, which was just going to get way too confusing. After much discussion, we chose Bonnie, which was actually the name of one of our pup's sisters. However, she now responds also to Bo, Bo-dog, Bodily Dog, Dogger, Cute and Stupid...

No 2 dog was Windgap Maryland, called Mary for short, but didn't pay any attention to her name anyway. I'm not keen on having people's names for dogs (although what I define as people's names may seem odd ) and Martin had a grandmother called Nanny Mary. My daughter Kyra, who had badgered us into adopting her, came up with Piper. I only realised much later that it's probably inspired by a character in 'Charmed' which I loathe... but I do like the name and it suits her. She responds well to it, although if I want her to pay instant attention I call Bonnie! She also goes under the names of Big Lummox and Pinhead

Off topic: I once knew a woman with a rough collie. One of them was called Anna, the other Mary. I could never remember which way round.

Freddy's racing name was Baby Shane and I refused to stand and shout "Shane" like an ozzie! I just liked the name Freddy - I found that every time I called his name, if he responded he got a treat, and he soon got the hang of it!

Wilma was called Snowy, which I thought was more of a cats name anyway! It was my brother who suggested that as I had a Freddy, then a Wilma should follow - and so were born the Flintstones!!!  Although, she does tend to get her name shortened or changed to Willy-Wilma, Willy, Blondie, Pinhead, etc etc!!

Sharon

Bovril was called Rod when we got him from GAL he didnt answer to that so we found out from Dave that his real name was Bovrick wasnt very keen on that so eldest son  tried Bovril  that did the trick he perked up his ears and turned round  so Bovril it is  although he gets called Bov Bov ,bovvy ,mummys boy,  Denise.