First and foremost, we hope everyone has a fun and safe July 4th. All that noise out there scares the heck out of a lot of animals, so keep an extra watch on your pooches and kitties and make sure they're safe.
Now, on to some fun started by
Frankie Furter! It's the Fourth of July Name Game, in which we tell the story behind our animals' names.
I'm not the most creative when naming my pooches, as a matter of fact, their names change several times before they finally stick. It's probably a good thing that I don't have human kids. If I had to wait until they were old enough to have a personality develop before I had to commit to a name, they'd be taken away from me, I'm sure.
Let's start with Lucy, the mini-Aussie. Lucy is the only dog who isn't a rescue. But I get points for researching her breeder until the cows came home.
Lucy went through about a dozen name changes... She started as Isabel, because she seemed to be a little lady. Yeah, right. Within days, that became Bella, and then her constant antics morphed her name into Lucy, reflecting the crazy personality she has.
Then we have Trouper. He was actually easy to name! We got him from New England Border Collie Rescue when he was about a year old, and his name was Ben. He is so
not a "Ben."
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| The ladies call me Casanova. |
He was found wandering the streets of a suburb of Boston, and he was such a happy and loving dog that "Ben" just didn't reflect that - or anything - in terms of his personality. You see, Trouper is a 55 lb. lap dog. So, on the ride home from Massachussetts, we were throwing out name possibilities when a state trooper passed us. I screamed "Trouper"! Because he's such a trouper - he lived on the streets until he was rescued, and found his way to us. So Trouper stuck. Of course, I also call him Casanova because he's such a lover. :)
Buster... Well, there's a dog who earned his name. And continues to do so to this very day!
Originally, we named him Scooter because he scoots around the house very quickly and quietly. Kind of like a bug... But once we got to know this little bugger, Buster fits oh-so-well. He
is a Buster. He's like an assassin: he waits in the wings, then strikes. A lovable assassin, of course!
Then there's Charlie. Everyone thinks she's a boy because of her name. No, just a tomboy.
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| Charlie, the squirrel-chasing tree-climber. |
Now, she started out as Lilly! HA! That didn't fit at all - this dog, named after a flower?! I had a tough time naming her. I can't remember half of the names that we tried, but then "Charlie" came up and fit perfectly. After all, she thinks she can climb trees and catch squirrels!
Last but not least is our latest addition, Oliver.
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| Oliver: I have the potential for silly ears. |
He started life as Padre, which wasn't going to stick at all.
My brother said he looked like a yam, so I tried "Yam" for a day. Not a good name for a dog. Have you ever stood in your backyard saying "come here, Yam! Time to eat, Yam!"? You definitely get weird looks from the neighbors, and it's not just because you have five dogs.
Years ago, I was taking riding lessons and the stable rescued an abused horse. I fell in love with this guy, and I was "this close" to adopting him. I had him named already - Oliver - but someone else beat me to the adoption.
Then I realized that Oliver fit this pooch perfectly. Oliver, Ollie - crazy Ollie. Perfect!
So there you have it - the stories behind the names for five dogs!
