Names

[Edenishy]

Please excuse my ignorance..

Ive been researching dogs for a while now (in prep for getting one) and one thing I can't seem to find any

info about is names.

All the pedigrees I see have, what some might consider, to be odd names as opposed to singular names like Fido etc.

I understand and personally like that these "odd" names make a dog much more distinctive and individual but I do have to

wonder how people come up with these names.

I also wonder how people come up with the breeders prefix. Theres some really interesting names out there! Do they just get assigned

or ??

Finally, theres another name thing I don't understand....and can't seem to find any information on it..

Is it the registered breeder that decides what a puppy is called or is it left to the adopter?

If the breeder decides when registering the litter or puppies, does the new owner usually give the dog a pet name or do they just use

a shorter version of the breeders prefix and name (I think its called Pedigree name?) ?

I was reading thru dogs QLD rules and it did have a section about naming and mentioned names you couldn't use...common names etc.

Is this in regards to any member naming any dog with any name or is this in relation to what the breeder calls the dog after the prefix?

What is a common name too? Is it like "fido" or "Spot"? Does it include human names like Bob or Charlie?

I do hope some of these questions make sense. I've never been so confused about names!

I will look forward to seeing some of the answers from above.

Thanks in advance for your help! Being the newbie that I am, im sure there will be more silly questions in the future.

[Bindii]

Hi there! Welcome to the forum

Breeders register a prefix which they are granted upon completing an open book exam. This name is up to the breeder, but there may not be any other breeder with the same name, so the breeder needs to provide a few other options too and the state's canine controlling body will chose which one is suitable (ie, is not a common name - as you have mentioned, or is not already a registered prefix etc). Some chose something relevant to their breed, others combine their names, or their first dogs name's etc etc, it is entirely up to the breeder. There is also a number limit. This is the breeders prefix.

The pedigree name is the breeders prefix and an extension unique to each dog. Some breeders may chose to include parts of the dam or sire's name, others have a theme and carry that through a litter. This is usually decided upon by the breeder, but if a puppy buyer is wanting to have a say on this i'm sure that many breeders are happy to chose a name that the new owner likes. These are also subject to the controlling body's decision as the pedigree name cannot contain the prefix of any other breeder (i think?) and i'm sure their are other limitations to what can be included in this. There is also a number limit on the pedigree name (including the prefix) I think it is 30.

Pet names, or call names, are completely separate. Your breeder has no say whatsoever on what you wish to call your dog, registered names are so that each dog is completely unique as far as looking at a pedigree, easy to track via the prefix (more appropriate than just a number or something) A call name should be something that your own dog recognises and can be said quickly, it would be impossible to call out a dog's pedigree name every time you wanted it to come inside for dinner! Many do like to base a pedigree name around the call name or vice versa, but there is no rule about it.

Hope that makes sense!

[MsKatie]

We named our pedigree dog - in consultation with his breeder - so his pedigree name is My name is Earl and his call name is Earl - but my brother had a boxer that was Duncansby Dark Duke and his call name was Spike - so no link there.

Call names are personal preference as far as I know

[cointreau]

Ishy no ignorance on your part I bet lots of other people are thinking oh thats how it is done.

My Danes registered name is Lady Eowyn from "Harry Potter" I believe, never read the books so can't be certain. My pet name for her is Sparkles - and in my opinion that suits her she really isn't a lady.

[becks]

I think lady eowyn is from lord of the rings

[cointreau]

I think lady eowyn is from lord of the rings

Thanks for that info I haven't read that one either or seen the films maybe it is time I was educated

It goes to show unless you are showing or breeding the registered name really doesn't matter, I'm sticking with Sparkles.

[RealityBites]

I have two registered dogs Coppertop Caucha Out, pet name Akron and Jacobite Barraigh, pet name Erik What you call your dog is entirely your choice. Breeders norall name a litter on a theme, or certain letter etc, as it makes it easier to track them too.

[nikivds]

My new pup is Yurrugar Green WithNV and his call name is "Envy". I chose the pedigree and call names my self in consultation with the breeder. He is an agility dog so I needed a short easy call name, and have found myself referring to him as "v" in training to get his attention

A lot of my friends have dogs who have 'nicknames' eg. one friend's bc is called coco but when she talks to her she calls her coconut lol.

Not all pedigree names have more than one word, e.g. all the Guirmere borders I know have only one word after their prefix, like guirmere trim or guirmere tegan, these are then also their call names (e.g. trim and tegan).

Oh and non purebred dogs are allowed one word up to 12 letters (so my rescues are registered as pepperoni and cabanossi, with call names pepe and nos) and some people in the agility world string a few words into one for this purpose (e.g. Utullyorsum pronounced as utterly awesome)

Hope that gives you a bit more insight :D

[SparkyTansy]

All well explained so i'll just expand on my dogs names:

Pedigree name - Silver Sparkle - Sparky (not chosen by us she was already named)

Pedigree Name - Lladro - the theme was China (as in dishes). royal Doulton was knocked back Call name Spartan

Pedigree Name - Aces Gold - I got to choose this but the rule was it had to have something to do with gold or hammers and i chose gold! Call name James

Pedigree Name - Underline Me - The theme was the letter U (breeder goes through the alphabet) so i just came up with a few options starting with U - Call name Ariane (Ari for short)

We also had a litter of pups when i was a kid on behalf of the breeder but we got to name them...

We decided on a "herb" theme

Pedigree Name - Wild Tansy - Call name Tansy (we kept her)

Pedigree Name - Sweet Basil - Call name Basil

Pedigree Name - Penny Royal - Call name Penny

Pedigree Name - Angelica (she was given her wings :D)

Pedigree Name - Lavendar Blue - Call name Lilly.

ETA my prefix was chosen based on English Setter History, but i didn't get my first choice which would have been lovely but i like my prefix now.

Edited July 14, 2010 by SparkyTansy

[Lowenhart]

Originally dogs were registered by their "Pet" or "Call" names. It got really confusing, especially when you'd have a number of dogs with the same name in the same breed. Lots of times they just added a number after them - Cleopatra II, Cleopatra III, Cleopatra IV etc.

So people started adding a signifier, such as the names of their properties, their village or towns to differentiate it from the other dogs. So you had - Smith's Cleopatra, Cleopatra from Jersey Cottage. It goes on.

In Australia, we haven't had purebred dogs for as long as other countries but we have learnt a lot from them. We have a prefix which identifies the breeder, we have to register those. We offer up a list of possible prefixes we would like and the Canine Controls pick the ones that have not been used before, or are not too close to another already registered prefix.

The remainder of the name is what identifies the dog. No 2 dogs can have the same whole name (Prefix + Identifier), otherwise it leads to all sorts of trouble. These days people get creative with the dog's identifier, using theme words or letters to identify which litter it came from. Lots of pedigree enthusiasts (those who collect pedigree information about dogs) who are also breeders end up using letters or theme words as they find it much easier to follow.

What a dog is called at home is not recorded anywhere and entirely up to you. I have a dog called "BumBum" which is a shortening of a silly name given to him by his breeder (Fatty Fatty Bum Bum). It has absolutely nothing to do with his registered pedigree name.

Each breeder is different, some will allow puppy buyers to choose names (either from a list, or which fit their themes) and others don't. Some will already come with a pet or call name (such as my BumBum) which you don't have to keep.

I use theme words, my last homebred litter used a theme word of "Kick". So all puppies had that word in their names. Their call names were (for the girls) good swiss goat herder names (as the mother is called Britta and acts like a mountain goat) and for the 1 boy, his name is a derivative of Weet Bix (because of Vita Brits = Britta).

So they are:

Kick It To Me - Bixley [boy]

Kickstarts Your Hart - Gretchen [Girl]

Kick Up The Heini - Heidi [Girl]

I named them all (both names) and the new owners have kept those names.

If you go look at racing greyhounds, you will find even more creative names. :p

[whiskedaway]

Our old Hungarian Viszla was Pretorium Eliscia. We could have used Eliscia as her call name, but it got shortened to Elley because it was a lot easier for training.

[poodlefan]

:p

[Genabee]

When we went to view the litter to pick out Genevieve, the breeder asked us if we had a name picked out for her already. We had our hearts set on the name ' Genevieve', so she was registered as 'Lady Genevieve'. At home we call her Genevieve or G for short.

When we are talking about her amongst ourselves, we refer to her as Little G. Or if she has been naughty, I usually hear 'That bloody dog of yours...!'. Because she's only HIS dog when she behaves!!!! :p

[claireybell]

My cocker's Registered name is Tavva Rock Queen, we call her Jesie or Scruffy Pants. Her call name has nothing to do with her Registered name but we dont show, she's just a pet. Mind you the queen part in her registered name suits her, she thinks she's royalty! :p

[Gilypoo]

My Great Danes, pedigree prefix and name is Manningdanes Belladonna...

We knew we wanted to call her Bella from the start so my breeder suggested Belladonna..

Works well I think

[greytdog]

If you go look at racing greyhounds, you will find even more creative names.

I'm not really the right person to reply to this b/c I don't know a lot about it, but to my knowledge, racing greys don't have prefixes. Also, not all racing bred greys are given a racing name. Bianca's name was Brodie Malone, but she never raced. Her owner called her Bianca and I kept it b/c I don't believe in changing an adult dog's name (there are different opinions on that tho).

When we got our daccie puppy (many many years ago) we had the opportunity to name her ourselves so OH called her Chapparelle, after the mountains in the USA. So her pedigree name was Liebenstern Chapparelle, and we called her Chappa for short (pronounced Shappa).

ETA: Of course, racing grey naming is a completely different thing, with different registering bodies. Show greys have prefixes and are named like other pedigreed dogs.

Actually, here's a question for the show grey people - can you register your grey with both bodies, and do they have the same name?

Edited July 15, 2010 by greytdog

[Lowenhart]

I'm not really the right person to reply to this b/c I don't know a lot about it, but to my knowledge, racing greys don't have prefixes. Also, not all racing bred greys are given a racing name. Bianca's name was Brodie Malone, but she never raced. Her owner called her Bianca and I kept it b/c I don't believe in changing an adult dog's name (there are different opinions on that tho).

ETA: Of course, racing grey naming is a completely different thing, with different registering bodies. Show greys have prefixes and are named like other pedigreed dogs.

Actually, here's a question for the show grey people - can you register your grey with both bodies, and do they have the same name?

The original poster said

All the pedigrees I see have, what some might consider, to be odd names as opposed to singular names like Fido etc.

which made me remember some of the interesting names given to the racing greys.

When you register a racing grey with the ANKC it keeps it's racing name. The vast majority are retired dogs and I haven't heard of a show bred dog being registered for racing... But in short, it's Greyhound board name is the same as it's show name.

[D & D]

Actually, here's a question for the show grey people - can you register your grey with both bodies, and do they have the same name?

When you register a racing grey with the ANKC it keeps it's racing name. The vast majority are retired dogs and I haven't heard of a show bred dog being registered for racing... But in short, it's Greyhound board name is the same as it's show name.

I saw my first ex-racing grey at a show on the weekend, and asked the owner about her name (single name), so I only learnt this recently.