My parents have had a litter of puppies and I will be adopting one this summer I’m very excited. Both my SO and I are dog people and we have just moved into our own place, so the timing could not be better.
Surprisingly, I’ve really been struggling to find a good name for the furry little girl. It doesn’t help that my SO turned down 90% of the names on the list I had made. We have very different taste in names. In the end, I really clicked on a name from one of my favourite books: Lirael. SO is ok with it, so that’s nice.
The problem is the following: I have read a lot of advice columns and research that say that dogs respond best to [b]short (2-syllable) names with hard consonants[/b]. That means Lirael is far from ideal: it’s a little long and much too soft. It would also not be the easiest thing to call out in the park, I think. Basically, I like the name in theory, but I’m not convinced it would work in practice.
So I have several questions for you:
Have you had dogs with soft names? Did they respond well to them, and come when you called? Basically, am I overthinking this and would Lirael be fine?
I could by-pass the issue by having her official name be Lirael but by using a shorter, catchier nickname as her calling name in every-day life. Could you help me find a good nickname for Lirael? I haven’t found anything I really liked. I have listed Liri, [name_f]Lina[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f], but they’re just as soft-sounding as the full name, so they don’t help much. ([name_f]Lyra[/name_f] is out because my sister has called dibs on it for a future daughter.)
I could (should?) just keep searching and settle on a different name altogether. All of your suggestions are most welcome. To give you an idea of our taste, here are the names that were left after my SO looked at my list:
Naira
Sayen
Sayuri
[name_f]Erin[/name_f]
Lirael
The puppy is an adorable border collie x shetland mix (so black and white, medium size, fluffy). We’ll be getting the quietest girl from the litter.
We have a border collie/sheltie mix too! (she might also have some aussie in her). I remember reading that dogs respond better to names with -ee endings (I think it’s because it’s a high pitch, exciting sound, she gets excited when I call her puppy too), so Liri and [name_f]Lily[/name_f] would work.
I originally intended on calling my girl [name_u]Lennox[/name_u] and [name_u]Lexie[/name_u] for short, well, now we only ever call her [name_u]Lexie[/name_u]. She responded better to it and my husband preferred [name_u]Lexie[/name_u]. Plus the only time I would use [name_u]Lennox[/name_u] is talking about her, but well at that point, I was used to calling her [name_u]Lexie[/name_u] so never have I used [name_u]Lennox[/name_u] since the first month we got her. So from my experience, I would pick a name and stick with it, you can try multiple ones at first and see which one your puppy responds best too and choose that one.
Thanks for your input moondreams! Very interesting. It’s true that when we call them “puppies! come here puppies!”, they react more than to anything else and come running.
I’m still trying to think of something better, it’s not easy…
[name_u]Lexie[/name_u] is a sweet name, it sounds like it really fits And how coincidental that you have a border-sheltie mix! [name_m]How[/name_m] old is she? I’d love to see a picture.
I’ve heard that dog have an easier time with one or two syllable names. Plus, it’s easier to yell when you’re trying to get their attention and calling commands. I like the nicknames Liri, [name_f]Lina[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f]. I agree with moondreams about the -ee sound.
Our Smooth [name_f]Collie[/name_f]/Lab mix was [name_f]Reba[/name_f] (didn’t fit at all) at the shelter, and we renamed her [name_u]Rylee[/name_u]. She responded to it immediately.
You can name your dog whatever you like and she will know it is her name regardless of how many syllables, but I can almost guarantee that you will be calling her by a nickname most often lol. My dog is named [name_m]Fedor[/name_m] but quite quickly after I got him it I was calling him [name_f]Feo[/name_f], and my other dog [name_m]Rufus[/name_m] ended up with Roo. They both know their “full names” but they respond to their nicknames as well. I also have a friend who named her dog [name_f]Sabina[/name_f] because she loved the name, and she responds to both [name_f]Sabina[/name_f] and Sabby.
I love [name_m]Garth[/name_m] [name_f]Nix[/name_f] and I think Lirael is a great puppy name.
I agree with PP that you will end up using a NN for her when calling her to you - my sister has a dog called [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f] whose name was very quickly shortened to [name_f]Tiffy[/name_f] or [name_f]Tiff[/name_f], and she’s always answered to either. Liri would work fine.
In the end, after much deliberation, we chose to call our little one [name_f]Tamsin[/name_f]. Lirael just didn’t feel right when I met her. She’s a spunky, intelligent little puppy, and [name_f]Tamsin[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Tammy[/name_f] or Tamsy) just fit.
In my experience dogs react well to names where the last syllable can be drawn out (it’s also easier to yell)
My dogs are Amigo and [name_f]Cashmere[/name_f] and it works well to yell Amigoooooo and Cashmeeeeeere ([name_f]Cashmere[/name_f] pronounced with a “british” r). Also, if you have multiple dogs it’s super nice to have names that end in different sounds, because that makes it easier for the dog only to react to its own name and not the other dog’s name, but that’s probably an issue for another time.
I think the nicknames you’ve listed (Liri, [name_f]Lina[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f]) would work just fine! I know lots of dogs with similar names (two syllables, ending in either -a or -ee sound) and they all react well to their names
I think that the two-syllable soft names are definitely more effective - my dog’s called [name_f]Copper[/name_f] and he responds to that but also Puppy, [name_m]Tiger[/name_m] and [name_u]Hero[/name_u] - I think it’s largely about the tone of your voice when you’re calling them.
My grandparents had dogs called Sigma, [name_f]Pippa[/name_f], [name_m]Monty[/name_m], [name_f]Petra[/name_f] and [name_f]Cleo[/name_f]. [name_f]Pippa[/name_f] and [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] were originally [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] and [name_f]Cleopatra[/name_f] but neither responded well so the names were shortened.
I’m very excited. Both my SO and I are dog people and we have just moved into our own place, so the timing could not be better.
And how coincidental that you have a border-sheltie mix! [name_m]How[/name_m] old is she? I’d love to see a picture.