Dogs are vocal, not verbal. How words sound is important to



them, so consider that then choosing names and commands. To

your dog, the words "No," "Know," "Beau" and "Joe" are the

same sound; the dog will have trouble knowing which you mean.

If you name him "Beau" and use "No!" as a reprimand, saying,

"Beau, you know what I want!" reprimands him twice although

you didn't intend a single one!

You always want your dog to come to you when you call him, so

how much sense does it make to name your dog "Beau" and use

"NO!" as your reprimand? He'll have trouble knowing whether

you called him or yelled at him.

I like to have a dog choose his name. There are two ways to

do this. First, spend enough time with the dog to really get

to know his personality and select a suitable name. For

example, when new to us my Husky-mix not only jumped on me,

he pinned me to the wall and took stuff out of my shirt pocket!

I said to my wife: "Look at this! I'm getting mugged!

" Naturally, he became Mugger! A client had a very

rambunctious Great Dane pup and I love the name she

chose: Chaos! Let the dog earn his name!

Another way is to make a list of your favorite names and--in

a playful and animated voice--try them on the dog. The one to

which the dog reacts best is IT! And he WILL react differently

to different names! Try it!

Contrary to popular belief, a dog's name should change with

every new owner. The old thought was that once a dog

recognized hits name, you couldn't or shouldn't change it.

Wrong! Since many owners make the mistake of using the name

with a reprimand, or even AS the reprimand, if you keep the

old name you tell the dog you're one of THEM--the former crew.

If the dog is now yours, you can't presume former owners did

everything right. If they did, you probably wouldn't have him.

And you're trying to tell the dog this is a new start in a new

home, right? Then why use the old name--especially when it was

likely used negatively in the past?

Be sure to teach the dog his new name by using it only with

things the dog likes such as treats, praise, meals and love

and affection. And don't choose a new name that sounds a lot

like the old one, like "Bo" and "Noah".

Use the new name consistently and positively ONLY with things

the dog likes and within a week or two he should respond nicely.

We changed the names of two of our dogs and now they ignore the

old names.

Article written by Dennis Fetko, Ph.D., "Dr. Dog".