# Names sounding alike?



## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

What's your experience owning dogs with names that sound alike? Any issues you've run into that really affect things in the grand scheme?

Jon and I have been brainstorming names for the new pup in the spring. We've gotten quite a few decent ones that I'm very interested in testing her on, but the one that keeps sticking out to me is "Freya". Only issue I see is the fact that her and Frag would both have very similar names and I'm worried about commands getting confused, etc. 

Has anyone else had issues or am I worrying too much?


----------



## SOKAIBA (Aug 17, 2010)

Before Hank became Hank he was Chase, which was cute but too close to our Pug Charlie. I kept mixing their names up, so we changed it to Hank so I could keep my sanity. The funny thing is Charlie has been an only dog for 9 years and pretty much responds to all of Hank's commands anyways, go figure. I like Freya, it's a great name and the best thing about a puppy is you coould try it out and see how it works for you and always change it if it doesn't.

Kai


----------



## waterbaby (Jan 20, 2009)

I have a cat, Cicely, and a dog, Sophie and at first they were always getting the names confused. It was mostly an issue when I was calling Cicely and Sophie would come barreling in over top of her. Cicely was pretty miffed that I brought a dog to her house in the first place and now she had to deal with a goofy lab running her over every time she came for a treat. It's better now. They seem to have figured out who is who. I actually did a little work addressing each one by name and treating. I don't know if that helped or if they just got the gist of it after a while.

Anyway, it hasn't been catastrophic, but in the future, I'd make a bigger effort to keep the names more unique. And not that it helps, but I also like the name Freya.


----------



## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

I don't think names that start with the same letter would be as much of a big deal as names that rhyme. Like, if you had Frag and Mag, or something like that. Frag and Freya really don't sound anything alike, especially if you're calling them over a distance. The dog is probably going to be hearing "AG" and "AYA" which I think are different enough. Plus, I think most of your communication is body language, and they'll know you're talking to them because you're looking at them. I'm not sure the word really even matters much.. If I were to wave my arms around and shout "Palm Tree!" at Basil at the dog park, he'd probably still come running. He responds to Basil, Basil pronounced like Bay-zil, Beezle, Beezle Weasel, Beezy, Wheezy, Beelzebub, Bee, Little Guy, My Puppers, Mon Petit Papillon, Hey you little dog! Etc.

ETA: Oh, I forgot one nickname! Can't leave out "Spazzle" :biggrin1:


----------



## pbmix (Sep 8, 2009)

Nargle said:


> I don't think names that start with the same letter would be as much of a big deal as names that rhyme. Like, if you had Frag and Mag, or something like that. Frag and Freya really don't sound anything alike, especially if you're calling them over a distance. The dog is probably going to be hearing "AG" and "AYA" which I think are different enough. Plus, I think most of your communication is body language, and they'll know you're talking to them because you're looking at them. I'm not sure the word really even matters much.. If I were to wave my arms around and shout "Palm Tree!" at Basil at the dog park, he'd probably still come running. He responds to Basil, Basil pronounced like Bay-zil, Beezle, Beezle Weasel, Beezy, Wheezy, Beelzebub, Bee, Little Guy, My Puppers, Mon Petit Papillon, Hey you little dog! Etc.


This cracked me up! 

I used to get the biggest kick out of calling my first dog, Sammy, by many uncouth names: "Hey buttface, come here!" "Hey turd, come get your food!" It never got old watching him lumber over, wagging his tail and giving me sloppy kisses after calling him names. Thankfully, I've matured. A bit. Kind of.


----------



## Deron_dog (Feb 21, 2009)

We had two GSD's Growing up who came to us from the same breeder same litter who had been named Diablo and Nibs, Diablo's name got downgraded by my inability to speak as a kid to Dibs or Diebs, SO you could just imagine us and how confused those poor pups were but everything worked out LOL!


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

I agree with Nargle that I'd be most concerned about perfectly rhyming names as a problem. And honestly I often use nicknames or a collective "doggies!" when I'm actually directing them to do something vs. just talking to/about them, anyway.


----------



## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Thanks for the opinions, guys! I also agree on the rhyming names being a much bigger problem and I'm probably over reacting. I think we'll stick with Freya as our #1 name for now 


btw Nargle, loved that speal about what you call Basil. I was laughing.


----------



## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

> He responds to Basil, Basil pronounced like Bay-zil, Beezle, Beezle Weasel, Beezy, Wheezy, Beelzebub, Bee, Little Guy, My Puppers, Mon Petit Papillon, Hey you little dog! Etc.


ound:

This reminds me of the time my son was trying to name his dog by visualizing himself calling after him down the street. The name "Axel" was definitely out.


----------



## Shandwill (Jul 23, 2010)

My sister and I both have names that start with "S" and mom always get us mixed up...but I think that's a totally different problem! =) I agree that rhyming names would likely be more confusing to your dogs, and I like Freya! I've always got the pet and then the name would naturally present itself. Choose something that's easy to call loudly and doesn't sound profane when yelled at top volume in public...see "Axel" above.


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

We once had a fox terrier named Molly. We were adopting a foxhound named Trollop. Now, I could not live with that name, I felt like I was calling her a whore LOL. We were going to change it to Trolley but it sounded too much like Molly so we went with Emma LOL


----------



## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

My name is Hank... altho I answer to other things  . My dog's name is Shep, which I trained him to understand... but he has also learned to respond to many other "pet-names" from me and my family. ... He doesn't respond to sound-alikes that have never been rewarded. So I think if you train the two dogs with different names (and associated rewards)... then they'll distinguish just as easily as "Sit" and "Down."

On a different, but useless  note, some research suggests that dogs are more responsive to sibilant names... containing an "s" or "sh" .... I believe that "s" has a louder whistling sound that dogs can hear - opinion only, no research or fact.


----------



## princesstiffany (Mar 26, 2009)

i have my 3 dogs
first we had izzy and we decided that we wanted to add another dog, we knew we were getting a male and my husband was set on the name koozie, so then we had an izzy and koozie. they were shortened to izz and kooz and it gets confusing to them. then we added keno so again, we added some difficulty...but recently they have all aquired nicknames that are nothing alike ( izzy= crocket, keno= rasty tasty or tastic, koozie= KOOOZZZZZZZIIEEE all high pitched lol) so it helps lol
i do sometimes wish their names weren't all so similar, esp. izzy and koozie, but i think we all give our dogs more nicknames than anything and their 'proper' name is just for when they are in trouble so it should be okay.


----------



## 3Lab (Jun 4, 2010)

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Lola and Daisy knows their names, but they come to each others name, or any other "come here" sounding command, no matter who we're trying to call over! 

Loved the post, Nargle!


----------



## Locke (Nov 3, 2008)

I have a Matrix and Mitch, and I REALLY wish they didn't have names with the same first initial. We call Matrix as Matey, and Mitch as Mitchy more often than not, and we mix up their names constantly. It's also not so good when I ask if either dog has been walked/fed, and my dad/mom will say "Matey was walked/fed" when really they mean Mitch, or vice versa.

My sister and I also both have names that start with T, and my parents and relatives mix us up all the time.


----------



## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

I never really call dogs their nicknames when talking to other people, so I don't know if that will be an issue for us or not. And, I'll be doing about everything with both still, so it shouldn't pose too many issues. I guess if we do have problems after the first week or two I can always change it.


----------



## bfoster (Feb 9, 2009)

I have an Eli and Levi- which I thought may be a problem, but it hasn't been.
They both have a lot of nicknames and they also both come running when I say"wheres my pumpkin?" LOL


----------



## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

While I haven't had dogs with names that sound very similar, Strauss's outing command sounds like the end of his name (Aus). No issues with confusion there.

Quite frankly, I've noticed that regardless of whether the dogs names are similar or not, if you call one dog, the other is gonna come if it's able


----------

