# Changing Names



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Everyone does it when they adopt a dog, since .. let's face it .. not much thought it given to naming pound puppies. They come in and get tagged with a name.

But ..

I've never HAD to do it myself. So..... when should you do it? Immediantly, or after the dog is acclimated to it's surroundings? My new adoptee has some self-confidence issues (per my other thread) .. so maybe this makes a difference?

My problem is .. Jazzi sounds an awful lot like JB or Jezabel to our other dog (and evidently they sound similar to Jazzi too) .. seeing how they seem to get confused when we say either one.

So what should I do? Experienced name changers .. HELP! lol

Also .. I need some suggestions. I'm usually good at coming up with names, but I dunno if I should try to keep the name close to what it already is (she has had the name for 2 months .. she was at the Rescue for 2 months, she was found July 12 and I got her Sept 18) or if I should just change it completely altogether.

Any suggestions welcome !!


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## Kina_A (Jun 8, 2009)

I think dogs eventually adapt to any names you give them. When I first got Sadie from my sister her name was Sissy. I couldn't see myself owning a dog named "Sissy" (Sorry to anyone who's dog is named Sissy). Seriously can you imagine being at a dog park calling for your dog, "Sissy, Sissy". Anyways, I tried picking something that sounding similar to Sissy, thus the name Sadie.

Approximately 4 or 5 years ago when DH came into my life, he started to call her Dumb-nuts. I think it was because she fell going up the stairs and fell into the bushes so he started calling her Dumb-nuts. (we were laughing our heads off when she did that).

Well she responds to that. She also responds to Big-Girl, Baby Girl. 

Now Kina responds to Kina, Weasel and Wing-nut and Baby. So I'm sure you can chose any name you want and your dog will respond to it.


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Ok .. now just to find a name. lol I feel the same way .. Jazzi is just not my speed (nor does my BF, he says he feels silly calling her that, and the roomate mistakenly called her Jizzy the other day lol .. now that was funny!), as far as names go, plus .. it just doesn't really fit her imo. Maybe that's because I just don't really prefer it either lol.


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## 3dogmom26 (Dec 31, 2008)

I'd say just change it....they catch on very quickly. Before I brought Atreyu home, his name at the breeders for the first 7 weeks of his life was Deuce. He learned his name very quickly. And when I found my pitty, he was a stray, so who knows what his name was, for the first week or so, we called him Bolt....boyfriend came up with it, I hated it.....after a week of hating it and it just didn't fit, we renamed him Bruno. His full name is Bruno Bolt LOL. And he learned his name very quickly too.


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## Kina_A (Jun 8, 2009)

What kind of dog is she?


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Kina_A said:


> What kind of dog is she?


Well, she was listed as a Min-Pin Mix on the rescue site, but after looking at her in person I just really didn't think that's what she was (of course, I didn't really care either .. she was just too precious to care). 

So I came home, and after looking at her head and body structure for a while .. I got to thinking about a dog one of my friends had .. a rat terrier. so I did some research on the breed, looked at at least a ton of pictures .. and (under my own assumption) decided she was a Standard Rat Terrier.

Now, I certainly may be wrong in my assumption .. but she just looks WAY too much like 90% of the pictures I looked at on Google.

What do you think?


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## 3dogmom26 (Dec 31, 2008)

A friend of mine has a rat terrier...I don't think she really looks like that. I think they were pretty accurate in calling her a minpin mix....maybe mixed with a rat terrier? She's a cutie! Do you have any names in mind that you are debating between?


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Well, we have a min-pin .. a papered one .. and this dog looks nothing like her, frame wise, size wise, heightwise, personality wise, skull structurewise .. nothing. This dog is meaty, her chest cavity isn't nearly as deep, he tummy is thicker, bone structure heavier .. 

This is our min-pin (she weighs 8lbs)











Here is a rat terrier puppy I found on google


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## Kina_A (Jun 8, 2009)

Few names for you,

Ambi
Tasmina
Greta
Jasmine


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks .. I will run those by my BF and see if he likes any of them


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## DogsforMe (Mar 11, 2007)

She is a real cutie. I would try & change her name asap. All my animals have names that describe them in some way.
April was born in April,
Sooty is sooty coloured,
Blossom the cat has a bright face & was born in the spring,
My past cats were Fluffy & Smokee for obvious reasons & I forgot the torty Coco.
Tilba was named after the village Central Tilba near where she was born.
Just noticed the check chain around her neck. Please don't leave it on all the time. She could get caught on something & choke.


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## kelpie (Sep 10, 2009)

BigLittleSmall said:


> Everyone does it when they adopt a dog, since .. let's face it .. not much thought it given to naming pound puppies. They come in and get tagged with a name.


Oh I know, they're always named Buster, Roxy, Buddy and Max


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## Adustgerm (Jul 29, 2009)

All of my dogs respond to other names besides their given names. Like bonehead and stinkybutt. Go ahead and change the name. They will learn to answer to anything you call them, be it their real name or nicknames.


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## Meshkenet (Oct 2, 2009)

She looks like a Min Pin-Jack Russell cross to me, but I'm not always good at these things.

As for names, all 3 of my dogs came from refuges and I gave them new names the minute they were adopted (Jameson was originally called Budweiser , Léon was Shadoo and Cortex was not named anything). I found they adapted really fast to their new names: I kept repeating it everytime I touched them, fed them, played with them or did anything else they enjoyed. 

As for names, I usually go with their personality or characteristics. She does look a bit like my sis in law's dog Pixel. 

What is she like, personality-wise?


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Honestly .. she's just very humble and extremey laid back. I'm not sure if she's laid back because that's her personality or if she's just unsure so she just lays there though. She is doing much better tho.

I am thinking of re-naming her Shy. Haven't decided yet though. She comes to Jazzi, but .. I just don't like that name lol.

As far as the rat terrier part of her goes .. I agree . after doing more researfh and looking at more pictures, I just don't think she's got it in her, but I don't think she's got any min-pin in her either lol.

A friend came over and said that she looked jus tlike his parents Feist, so I did some research on those and found some dogs that look identical to her. The Mountain Feist (otherwise known the Treeing Feist or American Feist) and the Kemmer Feist.

Mountain Feist
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/mountainfeist.htm







































> The mountain feist is a member of the extended yet still rare family of pre-Revolutionary War "cur" or hounding dogs of which Bryn is a member. Bryn's breed -- the Catahoula Leopard Hound -- is also known as the Catahoula Cur, and is traced back to the brindled hunting and herding dogs who landed in the 1400s and 1500s with Nordic and Spanish explorers. The Feist breed pictured above is mentioned historically by George Washington and others, including Lincoln. Curs were vital to pioneer families, hunting wild boar and other game, herding domestic stock, and protecting the family. Puppies were a prized gift, often carried in baskets or in the arms of children as pioneers headed west from the east coast and the thirteen original colonies.





> The word "feist" is an ancient one referring to a small, often noisy, dog. Like the Cur breeds, the Feist breeds were developed in the rural South by breeders who needed low-maintenance dogs to hunt small game and to eliminate vermin. Feists were often the result of crosses between hunting hounds and terriers. Today's Treeing Feist is the result of generations of breeding for performance and it is still primarily used to hunt squirrel, although they are also used to hunt raccoon, rabbits and flushing game birds.



... any thoughts?


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## ColoradoSooner (Mar 26, 2009)

The feist is really just another name for rat terrier. (Or rather, rat terrier is just another name for feist.) Here's part of the wikipedia entry for a feist:



> There has been considerable crossing of feist dogs, since they are bred primarily for performance as hunting dogs. Feist dogs are the progenitor of what we now call the Rat Terrier. The Rat Terrier is a specific breed within the "feist" umbrella. Because the word "feist" refers to a general type of dog just as "hound" and "terrier" refer to a group of breeds, Rat Terriers are often called "feist". The terriers brought to America in the 1890s from England were crossed with feist dogs already here in addition to some of the Toy breeds (Toy Fox Terrier, Manchester Terrier and Chihuahua) to develop the Rat Terrier we know today.


So, I really think you've got a rat terrier there.  Or at least a rat terrier cross. The last feist picture you posted looks almost identical to my rat terrier, with the exception of the coloring. (My boy doesn't have any black on him.)

Oh, and as far as names go, here's a few to consider:

Pippin
Moxie
Izzy
Pippi
Libby
Piper
Lana
Polly
Poppy
Tullah
Phoebe


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## Jen D (Apr 23, 2007)

She will take to a new name quick, when I got Kramer he came with the name Jammer and I hated it! I with the rescues tried to keep the names close to what theirs sounded but most of the time we had no idea what their names had been.

I think she looks like a Jillie!


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## cudjo (Oct 3, 2009)

Actually, humans are the only ones who worry about names. Just play the name game when you decide. Several times a day just wait until your beast is not looking and in an excited voice call the name you choose... when it looks, IMMEDIATELY STICK A TREAT IN IT'S MOUTH AND GIVE EXCITED LOVING PRAISE. I promise you, in no time your baby will love it's new name.


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## emily445455 (Apr 8, 2008)

Awww she is too cute!! She looks like a Roxy/Roxie to me  Other girl names I like are:

Georgy
Ginger 
Minnie 
Pixie
Candy 
Ruby
Posie
Angel
Dolly
Lindy
Lady

But I still think Roxy/Roxie, let us know what you decide!!


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## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

SO many choices lol .. arrrgh, I wish she would come out of her shell more. She is so lacking in personality at the moment .. and I've always named dogs after their personality .. so I'm really havinga hard time deciding.

I really like some of those those .. so I will run them by my BF tonight when I get home and see what he thinks.  

Thanks!!


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## Spirit_of_Cotons (Jun 21, 2009)

I'd change the name, but I would do so right away so your dog gets used to it. If you want to, you could do Jazzi _____. And then just drop the Jazzi part and call her what you want to call her. 

There was an old Beagle that came to our kennel named Bright Eyes and all of the sudden her owners decided to change her name to Rudy (maybe her other owners died or something, never got the fully story as to why they'd change the dog's name at her old age). But I would call her Rudy Bright Eyes and then just drop the Bright Eyes and she came. That Beagle had to be about 10 or 12yrs old too!

My point is, your dog (which that's great you rescued her!) will get used to her name after awhile. Dogs are smart, they'll pick it up if you say it a lot.


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