Renaming a 1 year old dog

BlackEdelweiss

We want to get a dog from the local pound and have seen one we really like but the only problem is her name, it is the same name as a friend of ours baby who died several years ago. It is the same name as my wife's mother so it is not that we hate the name but think it might be a bit strange for our friend, not that we see much of her these days. Would a dog this age respond to a new name or do they just go with one name for life?

Vinz Mesrine

Just pick the name you want to give the dog.

I.E current name is Ruby, you want to call her delilah.

Just call her ruby delilah for a while whenever you are calling her, eventually drop the ruby and she will respond to just delilah.

TimmyTank

Absolutely, we got a dog a number of years back from someone who decided that they didn't want her anymore, hated the name so just started calling her by her new name, didn't take her long to realise she had a new name....

e.r

You could try a name that sound similar to her existing name .
As I doubt dogs fully understand the name , more likely the sound associated .

hollytrees

Yes definitely go with a different name but try to stick with similar sound. Eg if name ends in ee go with something along those lines.

angeldaisy

we rehomed a 3yr old terrier about 18 months ago. She was found straying before we rehomed her so her name wasn't known. she was renamed by the finders and we now call her various variations of her name and she comes to all of them, unless of course we are out in the fields when only the promise of food will bring her back:D

ZiabR

You should have no problems renaming a 1 year old dog. Go for it.

borderlinemeath

I've named a couple of fosters that I looked after for the local rescue after they were found straying. It only took a couple of days for them to respond to the new name. It's more about the tone and the association that the dog makes with the sound.

ShaShaBear

My dog is 9 amd I told my partner I had wanted to name him Patrick instead of Shadow when we got him. OH called him Patrick for a whole week and Shadow responded almost straight away

Dingle_berry

We got my guy when he was 3 or 4. He had a silly name that he didn't respond to. If I called him he would look away. So we were sitting with him, talking about him and we commented on his hairy bum and how he might get dingleberries. When he heard "dingleberry" he reacted as if we had said his name so...! He loves his new name and still has never responded to his old name.

Stella Virgo

Dingle_berry wrote: »

We got my guy when he was 3 or 4. He had a silly name that he didn't respond to. If I called him he would look away. So we were sitting with him, talking about him and we commented on his hairy bum and how he might get dingleberries. When he heard "dingleberry" he reacted as if we had said his name so...! He loves his new name and still has never responded to his old name.

aww now,now,.........yer at it again;)

spur

We renamed our 2nd rescue and it wasn't a problem. We never used his rescue name from the day we got him - but I think it was a name just chosen for him at the rescue centre. He learnt his new name very quickly.

If he does know his current name, then the advice of saying both together for a while and in time dropping the first name should work for you.

Good luck with it!

spur

Actually I should have added we didn't rename our 1st rescue as we assumed he'd know his name - his history was known and it was his "always" name - he was 18 months old. He actually didn't know his name at all and while I'm happy out with his name now, I wouldn't have chosen it. He was an unwanted dog by different members of same family and for all that he seemed very loyal to them and even escaped and went back to them, I'm guessing he saw very little love or affection from them - if an 18 month old dog didn't even recognise his own name.

My sister has had a number of rescues and she's always named them when she gets them. It's worked out fine for her each time.

maggiepip

Theres absolutely no problem changing a dogs name. Most strays names are unknown - they are re-named by the pound/rescue centre and then a lot of the time re-named again by new adoptive owners. We have had 2 dogs whos names we have changed after we adopted them and they learn the new name within a few days. They learn by association so just use the new name a lot for awhile.

Tranceypoo

maggiepip wrote: »

Theres absolutely no problem changing a dogs name. Most strays names are unknown - they are re-named by the pound/rescue centre and then a lot of the time re-named again by new adoptive owners. We have had 2 dogs whos names we have changed after we adopted them and they learn the new name within a few days. They learn by association so just use the new name a lot for awhile.

Exactly what happened with our oldest, presumably he had a name orginally, then was picked up by the rescue and got a second name (after one of Santa's reindeers!) then I gave him his current name, he also responds to 2 or 3 nicknames that we call him a lot as well, our other dog is on at least her 2nd name as she's also a rescue but she also responds to her nicknames.

In summary OP, the dog will be fine with you changing his/her name, very best of luck with it all and pictures please as and when the new addition arrives!

metaoblivia

We renamed our 1.5 year old dog with no problems. His original name was Paco, which we didn't think suited him very well (they thought he might be a chihuahua mix, but he's not). The shelter we got him from told us to just use the new name and old name together and to try to choose a new name with similar sounds, both suggestions other posters have mentioned. We settled on Gelato because he is part Italian greyhound, so we called him Paco Gelato for a few weeks and he quickly transitioned to just Gelato.

Pretzill

I would imagine he'd respond to any name you choose - I don't know if I'm alone in this but our dogs have many names mostly based on a shortened or ryhmed or silly version of their own name and then there's a cutesy name when they're getting groomed - I get more confused then them when my partner calls out my name instead of one of theirs!!