# is name "Bo" too close to "NO!"



## maureen phelan (May 6, 2013)

Hi: I just adopted two brother 2-yr-old papillons from the animal rescue in Salem, MA. I don't like their names, and they don't respond to them all that well, anyway. I haven't got a name yet for the smaller white and sable boy, but I've been calling the larger white and tri boy "Beau." My brother pointed out that this is too close to NO! and so may cause problems in training. What do you Beau-owners think?


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

I think a lot of people overuse their Doug's name. It's likely that Beau will be listening more to how you say "No" vs. "Beau," than the actual words. I'd be more concerned about naming a dog something close to a command that I frequently use, such as "come."


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

If you feel that it sounds too close to "no" ... you could do as I did with my GSD's. I substituted the word "nine" for the word "no" (German for "no")


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

We have a papillon named Beau who seems to get along just fine with that name.


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## angelwalk (Apr 26, 2013)

We have no problem with confusion in our house. Our Bo seems to know the difference because they pay attention how a word is said and not necessarily the word itself.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I named a Shih Tzu, Keno, before I thought how close that was to NO especially because you put the emphasis on the No in Keno. I changed it before he really learned it was his name.


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## maureen phelan (May 6, 2013)

Laurelin: My two look very much like your two....in fact, I printed the picture of yours to show people what they look like.
Maureen


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

It depends how you say it. For my Levi I taught him "don't touch" instead of leave it.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Other than being exasperated, we don't typically tell the dog "no" anyway. It doesn't mean anything to him. We use commands relevant to what he's doing that we want him to stop doing. Jumping up? "Off" Going after something he shouldn't be? "Leave it" Got something he shouldn't have? "Drop it" About to walk into the street (always on leash! but still)? "Wait"


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## victorino545 (Apr 8, 2013)

We had a dog we rescused name Bro. Because he was older and abused we did not want to change his name. Never had a problems with it sounding like "no" and he was one of the best most behaved dog we ever had.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Hmm, do people really say "no!" that often? I always make like an "ahp!" sound to interrupt when they're about to do something inappropriate because the sharper sound seems to work better and it prevents me from going "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and really screaming.


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