What’s in a name?

There is a variable in a dog’s behavior that I feel a need to discuss: the influence of the dog’s name.

When I taught a master class in France, I learned that in Europe human names are not popular.

Whereas, here in the US, it is common to name our dogs Bob.

2014 may go down in history as the year that the line between people and puppy names blurred into oblivion. In 2014, 18 of the 20 most popular names are human names. According to Rover.com the most popular boy dog name was Max. For female pups? Bella. http://barkpost.com/hot-dog-names-2015/

The top male names are Max, Buddy, Charlie, Jack, Cooper, Rocky, Toby, Tucker, Jake and Bear. The top female names are Bella, Lucy, Daisy, Molly, Lola, Sophie, Sadie, Maggie, Chloe and Bailey. https://www.rover.com/blog/2014-popular-dog-names/ breaks the names down into categories. There are names from Food and Drink, like Coconut and Whiskey. There are names from the Great Outdoors, such as Lightning and Clover. There are names of other animals, like Moose and Panda. There are names from Pop Culture, like Chewbacca, Yoda and Vader. Tech names include Siri, Tesla, Pixel and Google. There are Royal Family names like Duke, Lady, Duchess and now, Charlotte.

The name you choose for your dog or your clients choose for theirs can have a powerful effect on canine behavior. The names we choose are rife with meanings. Whether you realize it or not, when you speak the word, you are processing the emotion that is embodied in it. Here is a short list of dogs that I have PetMassaged in the last year or so. Consider the intentionality with each name: Angel, Pedro (St. Peter), Jack (St. John), Diamond, Ruby, Gemmy, Goldie, Laddie, Pepper (spice), Dingo (wild dog), Brownie, Cookie, Sugar (confections), Rover (wanderer) and Toby (Toby Tyler was a popular children’s book character in the 1880’s and made into a Disney film in the 1960’s). What these all have in common are that each carries an underlying meaning; an intention.

When we adopted Lola, we added her “show biz” name, so we refer to her as Lola Ginabrigida after the beautiful Italian actress. We named our affectionate long-legged boxer Camille, after the beautiful and talented French sculptress who worked with Rodin. Cami, her nickname, is most appropriate since she blends in, chameleon-like, with the trees in our back yard.

Marty Becker, DVM tells the story of a dog whose name was Eleven Thirty. This dog was completely black with just a tiny spot of white on his chest. His owners wanted to call him Midnight but he wasn’t dark enough, so… I love that story. Thanks, Marty.

Think about the implications that someone projects whenever he calls, speaks, or thinks his dog name. If it is Killer, Trigger, Trouble, Dynamite, Thunder, Stormy, or Devil, he is sending the command to be, or behave like the definition. You want Trouble? I’ll show you trouble!

Linda Tellington-Jones, founder of T-Touch, describes how changing a horse’s name changed his behavior. A horse called Diablo (Devil) was obstinate, contrary, and hard to work with on the ground and very difficult to ride. His moniker was changed to Snowflake (or possibly Cloudy or Powder –I forget) and within a few weeks, he was easier to groom, walk, and ride. He was responding, Linda suggests, to the intentionality of the meaning of the word that his owner projected when she intoned it. I love that story. Thanks, Linda.

Wayne Dwyer contends that we manifest what we think about. Thanks, Wayne. That’s what Anastasia’s “Arf-irmations” are all about. Her affirmations are much more than pleasant phrases that you read once, smile, and forget. Affirmations work using repetition. By repeating them over and over their intentions eventually become part of your natural pattern of thinking about yourself.

We know that during each PetMassage_TM session our thoughts influence our dogs’ behaviors. We can be present with the dogs. We can abandon them, detaching our energy from the dog with wandering minds. We can define a dog by its symptom or disease. We can depress the dog’s immune system with negative thoughts. We can raise up the dog’s energy with our positivity.

Our dogs want to please us. They want us to be happy; and like any children, want us to approve of them. They strive to be what they think we want them to be. Think about how powerful a message the repetitive intoning of a meaningful name sends. –, here. –, sit. –, stay. –, want to go outside? –, want a treat? –, no! –, leave it. —-, where’s your toy? –, get your leash. –, let’s go for a walk. –, car. Notice that the name always precedes the command. Our dogs listen to us ramble all the time. They don’t understand or care about most of what they hear. We are the grownups in the Peanuts cartoon. When they recognize the familiar sound of their name, attention focuses, and they listen more intently.

You want Trouble? I’ll show you Trouble! That’s Trouble with a capital T, which rhymes with P, and stands for pool. On, my little – is such a Drama Queen. You want Drama Queen? Turn down the house lights, open the curtain and stand back!

Oh, my little – had such a hard life before we rescued him. Probably true; however, he’s moved on. Eckhart Tolle writes about how essential it is to be present in the Now. Your dog already knows this. He lives in the present moment. Thanks, Eckhart.

Your dog knows he has shelter, plenty of food, and a caring pet parent. Now, he no longer has to be obsessed with all the anti-social behaviors that he had needed to maintain for his self preservation. He can, living in his Now, show his pet parents how to let go of their past stories and with PetMassage_TM, live in the safe and delightful present.