What Should We Name Our New Puppy

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The variety of opinions about dog names can create quite a discussion; This is what happened in our family as we tried to pick a dog name prior to getting a new puppy. Should we pick a traditional dog name like Boots or Sheba? Maybe we should opt for a human name like Harvey or Jenny.

The "traditional" camp claims that a dog is not a human being and should never be given a human name. The question then arises: After what should our dog be named? I thought we could name our dog after some piece of food. After all, eating would be one of our dog's primary functions. Biscuit didn't seem like a bad name. Strawberry was another suggestion. Or we could combine those thoughts and name our dog, Shortcake. Since we are considering a larger dog, that idea was abandoned.The "human" supporters will argue that the dog is "one of the family" and should be given a name like any other family member. It is true that we often treat our pets just like human beings--sometimes maybe even better. However, while names like Maynard and Merlin are used for dogs, I have a hard time imagining that we would still give one of those names to a human being!I suppose we could say that "human" dog names have a certain flare about them. If we are inclined towards historical figures, we might name our dog Caesar or Napoleon. We might want to consider, however, if the name is a reflection of our dog's personality. Maybe Napoleon would be fitting for a miniature dog breed, but then the historical Napoleon might not have the kind of personality we are looking for in a family dog.If we are patriotic, we might find dogs named after American presidents to our liking. We could name our dog Lincoln or Jefferson. (This assumes a high intelligence or moral character in our dog. Yeah, right!) How do the names Nixon and Hoover sound? We will want to be careful that we do not pick a name that is confusing to our family members. If mom says, "Take Hoover outside," we might have the only child in the city walking the vacuum cleaner.The same problem might exist if we give our dog a very common human name, like Mike, for example. Some people might confuse Mike with one of our children. Or the neighbor's kid--also named Mike-- may never want to come over to our house if "mom" is always telling Mike to stop whining and behave. Then there is the hassle of getting junk mail and credit card applications in Mike's name. Hmm- I wonder what his credit score would be!
Finally, after all the discussions and agonizing, I thought we finally had a solution. Our daughter suggested that we name the new puppy after a cartoon character, like Snoopy or Goofy. "No," my wife said, "those are your father's nicknames.""At last!" I suggested, "We could get two dogs and name them "Harry" and "Potter". Oops, I just opened another can of worms! http://blackdognames.blogspot.com