My Dad was the cause of our pets odd names. Cats were fat man, jabby, grunt, boof head and piggy. Dogs were pretty conservative with saber (sheltie x border collie), major ( samoyed x) , Jess (border colllie) , and Sheba ( border collie).
Maybe try wearing an old tshirt for a day then putting it in with your pup. That has settled all of my dogs even the ones that we got as older dogs. Although on dog I used to have to telephone every day when I went away for a week (for work) lol. (He was a family pet when I was living at home). I was also going to suggest the hot water bottle and maybe a ticking clock.