Why You Should Let Your Dog Choose Their Own Name

A friend of mine recently adopted a dog from a local shelter. The dog was brought in from LA during the fires and the people at the shelter named him Mr. Forsythe, which, if you ask me, is a fabulous dog name. Shelters often give animals strange names to get the attention of prospective adopters, and in this case, it definitely worked. My friend loves the name. Unfortunately, her dog does not appear to share her enthusiasm. At least, he doesn’t really respond when she uses it. Which could be because he had another name before he made his way into the shelter system. Or it could simply be that he doesn’t like it. In either case, my friend is loath to change it because she says she doesn’t want to confuse him. But I’m not so sure. If your dog isn’t responding to their name, why not change it?

“I think it’s a great idea,” says dog behavior expert and celebrity dog trainer Jessica Jacobson of Dapper Dog Training in New York City. “Why stick with a name your dog doesn’t like? It’s just going to make getting their attention and training them that much harder.” 

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How to let your dog choose their own name

FIrst, you want to come up with a list of names you find acceptable. “Choose names you want to say out loud,” says Jacobson, “names you wouldn’t mind yelling in public.” After all, if you’re at the dog park and you have to get your dog’s attention or they run away and you have to go looking for them, you might not want to shout “Love” or “Kisses” or “Satan” from the top of your lungs. Or maybe you would. I don’t know. You do you. I’m not here to yuck your yum.

That said, Jacobson does advise that you avoid names that sound like commands the dog might learn over the course of their training — “Flip,” for instance, sounds like “sit,” especially to a dog, while “May” sounds like “stay” and “Rover,” honestly, sounds a lot like “roll over.” Can your dog learn the difference between “Rover” and “roll over?” Probably, but why make training any harder or more confusing than it needs to be?

Jacobson also advises staying away from food names like “Chicken,” since you are likely to say it within earshot of your dog even when not actually referring to them and that could make them less likely to respond to it when you are. Also, if your dog is food-motivated, like many dogs, “chicken” might be too stimulating and mention of it might make it harder for them to focus during training. 

Once you’ve made your list, try saying the names to your dog and see which ones they respond to. Do this when the dog is at rest, perhaps when they are turned away from you, not really paying attention or particularly concerned about what you’re doing. Then go through your list and try each name a few times. If your dog is unmoved by a certain name, cross it off the list. If they get up and leave the room, really cross it off the list and then give them a break and pick up the name game again a little later. 

You want to try to find a name that makes your dog perk up and take notice. Ideally, it should be a name that makes them actually turn around and look at you, or even approach you when they hear it. 

What about nicknames?

Of course, just because you name your dog one thing, doesn’t mean that’s the only thing you’ll call them. Nicknames are one of the ways we express affection for our pets. And sometimes we end up using those nicknames even more than their real names, especially if their real names are long or we don’t really like saying them. Even if their names are short. I mean, I had a cat named Yoshi that I called “Bunny” at least half the time. I also called him “Bunny Whistle,” “Bun Bun,” “Yooshi,” and “Little Conductor.” And my other cat, Pumpkin, was just as likely to be called “Pumpy” or “Pumpers” as he was “Pumpkin.”

Then again, I didn’t choose either of those cats’ names. Those were the names they came with from the shelter. Maybe if I had chosen their names, I would have been less likely to rely so heavily on nicknames. And who knows, maybe if I just called them one thing, they would have been more responsive to it. Then again, they were cats. And cats are generally not as responsive to their names as dogs. But maybe they would have been if I’d let them choose. I’ll have to try that next time I adopt and get back to you. 

“In terms of responsiveness, I don’t think it helps to have too many nicknames,” says Jacobson. After all, if you have a million different names for your dog, they might not realize when you are actually talking to them or need their attention. “That said,” she adds, “I do think dogs are capable of learning these names and determining your mood based on which name you use.” 

The danger there is that you don’t want to get to a place where you only use your dog’s full government name when you are upset with them or need them to do something they don’t want to do. Because if your dog starts to associate their own name with negative experiences or outcomes, they will likely become less responsive to it overall. And the whole point of letting them choose their own name in the first place is that you want them to be more responsive to it, not less. You want your dog to hear their name and come running. So make it easy for them by calling them something they like.