dog nicknames
A week or so ago, my dad sent me a link to a USA Today article about giving dogs nicknames. The author of the article believes that a dog can learn to understand his name and the various nicknames given to him by his owner.
Each of my pets, I confess with … well, maybe some mortification, has an assortment of nicknames. Jasper the mutt who looks to be mostly Australian shepherd (but he is not, and in fact is so many generations removed from pure blood even geneticists can find only hints of whence he came) has five nicknames.
The little neighbor kids couldn’t say “Jasper” when they met him years ago, so their version, “Dass-Paw,” spawned three variations that stuck: Dasspoo, Dasspy and Dass. Then, at some point, I also began calling him “Buddy” sometimes, and Buddy became, in ways I can’t recall and probably shouldn’t, “ButterButt.” He responds cheerfully and unfailingly to each and every one of them. Really.
My other dog, a wise old 80-pound malamute/German shepherd mix named Rufus, has the predictable “Rufe” nickname. Rufe morphed into “Boof” which, over time, enlarged to “Diggity-Boof,” which got abbreviated to “D-B.” Yeah. Well. These things happen. They make sense to Rufie-Doof, and he responds to all of them.
Briscoe has a couple of nicknames of his own. His full name is Briscoe Hopper (because when he runs fast he looks like a rabbit), so we sometimes just call him “Hopper.” He’s also “Briscoe Bear,” “Mr. Bear” and “Briscoe Boy.” And once I thought I heard J call him “Brisket,” but he swears he didn’t.
Does your dog have a nickname? If so, does he or she respond when called by it?
(image source)
Name: Hank
Nicknames:
Hankazoid
Zoid
Hanki-doodle-dandy
Buddy Boo
Boo
Big Bear
Butter bean (don’t ask me why..)
Bean
Hank the Tank
Stinky bear
Love bug
Fluffy pup
puppy love
I rarely call him Hank…
Lucy will respond to any of the following:
Lu
Lulu
Luce
Lucy-Bear (she looks/feels like a teddy bear)
Lucy-Boo
Lucy-Girl
Lulu-Girl
Lucy-Dog
Big Ears (she’s a cocker spaniel…)
Chewy (as in Chewbacca, who she also resembles)
Fraggle
I forgot to add “Menace to Society”. I use that one a lot.
My dog: Ebbitt
Nicknames: Eb, Ebby, E-Machine, E, bunny bear (don’t ask), moo-shoo, bun, little E, and little man.
Sheriff responds to the following:
1. Sheriff (obviously)
2. Nugget
3. buster
4. little one
5. Chicken
Bella responds to the following:
1. Bella
2. Sheriff
3. Sweetie/sweetheart
4. big one
We have pretty unusual nicknames! I never realized that we actually call Sheriff NAMES as nicknames. Poor kid.
Really, if you say anything in the right tone of voice, they seem to get it!
Vader has a few…
Va-doo, Boo, Boolie, Vadoodie, Ba-boo…
And yes….he answers to all these names! What a smarty pants!
Dogs Names: Bailey & Brooklyn
Nicknames I use for them:
Nina
Pickle
Bailey Boo
Puddin
Puddin Pop
Brookie
Brooke
Big girl
Name: Chevy
Answers to:
Chev-baby
Mister
Mitter
Mitter-baby (don’t ask)
little man
and of course little turns into
Wittle (like a baby, haha)
Only thing is hes a kitty not a dog! I guess the rule applys to both dogs and cats!