When his family adopted him, they had no idea what his name was. At present it's Pedey.
Photograph by Phil Monahan

Renaming your domestic dog is easy and you tin do it at any age, immature or old. She does not really care what you call her, whether a classic name or a more outdoorsy dog proper name —every bit long every bit she understands you are the source of all adept things and that she belongs to you. And in some situations giving your pooch a new moniker is not only okay, but actually skillful for her.

Renaming Your Canis familiaris is Advised…

  • When y'all adopt a shelter dog . Chances are she came to y'all with a name. But find out if the shelter assigned her a proper name to give her more appeal or to "market" her to an adoptive family. In this example she'south probably unused to her new name if she fifty-fifty knows it at all, and changing information technology will be of little consequence to her. If she was an owner surrender, her name may be familiar to her and keeping it can be a source of stability and security while she settles in. You tin still modify her name when you feel the fourth dimension is correct, fifty-fifty after a full year or more than. Whether you should rename your rescue dog or not is up to you lot. If you like her rescue name, so by all ways, keep it.
  • When your new canis familiaris was removed from an abusive home. Changing her name is an act of kindness; she may, in fact, continue to associate her former name with abuse. Your dog needs a new lease on life and giving her a new name tin can actually help her make a clean offset.
  • When your canis familiaris has learned to ignore her name. It'due south time for a new one. The master reason to proper noun her in the first place is safety: calling out your dog's name is the all-time tool you've got to grab her attention, which makes her more likely to execute the control that follows. If over the course of years yous've tirelessly repeated her proper name when y'all want her to come up but she stubbornly continues doing whatsoever she wants instead, information technology's time for a new proper noun, paired with rewards-based dog training .

How to Rename Your Dog

  • Take your time. You don't need a new proper noun set the instant you cross the threshold with your new dog. It's okay to hang out for a couple of days and get to know her, find her personality, discover her quirks, study the markings on her coat, and meet whether some distinguishing trait emerges—perhaps she'south affectionate, playful, agile—something that might influence what y'all choose to call her. For now, a friendly "Here, girl!" volition suffice, followed past praise and dog treats ; this is how you outset bonding with her. She is just getting to know you, and for the time being will respond to your upbeat vocalization and body language.
  • Reward her response to her new name with treats. For the get-go few days yous're using your dog's new proper name, conduct treats in your pocket. When you desire her attention, phone call out her new name. Then immediately smile, praise her liberally, and treat her; practise this even if she is unresponsive—she will soon learn the new give-and-take means practiced things are coming and will brainstorm to acknowledge it every fourth dimension she hears it.
  • Combine the old canis familiaris name with the new one. If her old name is long-established, smoosh information technology together with her new name and call her past both for a while. For example, if Emerge is to be Maddie, phone call her SallyMaddie until she recognizes it, and then drib the Sally.

Helpful Dog Proper name Changing Tips

  • Your canis familiaris's new name should mean only good things to her. Practise any yous tin can to reinforce this; if you can, treat her every fourth dimension you say her new proper noun in the beginning.
  • Try to avoid using your dog's new proper name when you scold her. Or give her a middle name and use it together with her first name only for scolding, just similar your mom did when you were a kid. She'll acquire hearing the 2 names together means she's in trouble.
  • Avoid naming your dog anything that sounds like "No." Ditto names that audio similar anything else you say to correct an undesirable behavior; examples include Bo and JoJo.
  • Option a new name that starts with the same letter every bit the one-time one. Or that includes similar sounds or vowels, but still holds more appeal for you. This is an excellent strategy for renaming a shelter dog. For example, Molly can become Maddie, Muffy, or even Polly.

Potential Issues with Renaming Your Dog

As mentioned above, there aren't many downsides to renaming your domestic dog every bit long as you take a thoughtful, planned approach to the change. Besides informing friends and family, updating tags or personalized items like collars and dog beds with your dog's proper name, information technology should be a smooth, easy process.

Information technology's never as well late to change a canis familiaris's proper noun, merely the time it takes for your canis familiaris's new proper noun to "stick" varies from a couple of training sessions to a few weeks, depending on the dog; the process will go faster if you avoid using the proper noun aimlessly or associating information technology with anything negative. But dogs don't process identity similar nosotros do—your canis familiaris will learn her new name. And while frequent proper noun changes might be confusing, nigh people routinely phone call their dogs by various nicknames, and the dog somehow "gets" it and responds to all of them. Importantly, utilize your dog's new name with affection and consistency, and she'll soon recognize it as her own.

Have you e'er changed a dog's name? Nosotros'd love to hear your story in the comments. Looking for the perfect name for your canis familiaris? Yous tin can notice some great dog names in our 10 Almost Popular Dog Names web log postal service.