Change her name?

[Miss West Virginia]

I will probably be getting a pug who's almost 3 years old. She's been in the same home since she was 7 weeks old...so she's had the same name for that long. The question I have is: Do I change her name to make it more personal for our family?

[shaynapug]

We have rescues that we give a name...maybe for as long as a year or so....and when adopted...sometimes they change the name.

Why don't you want and see how it is once she's there! Maybe the name fits her and you once you get to know her.

[luluthepug]

Hmmm. We did change Lulu's name to Lulu from Hannah, but that was the rescue's name for her. Baby and Wally came to us with known names. We contemplated changing them (i REALLY, REALLY wanted to), but with everything else that was going on when we got them (he had a Mast Cell tumor after only 2 wks), we decided to stay with them. If your pug was treated badly, and has bad associations with their old name, I might consider renaming them. They can learn a new name - I guess it depends on you and the pug.
Kara

[Miss West Virginia]

That's what I was thinking. I will have to meet her first....I haven't done that yet. Helps to get a "feel". I do know I want to have the name "Belle" in there somewhere...even if I just add it to her name now. Belle is French for beautiful, and that she is.

Thanks, Diane

[luluthepug]

What's her name?

[Miss West Virginia]

Thanks, Kara. Fortunately she has never been treated badly, so that's not a concern. "Hannah" was actually a name I'd considered...."HannahBelle" to be precise.

[Miss West Virginia]

Her name is Chesney.

[MrsGreene]

I find that a dog will respond to about any name you call them, once they get used to it. Our Izabella knows we are talking about her with all the nicknames. She also knows "dog" and "pug." Haha. If you call her ChesneyBelle, I bet she will associate the Belle part soon as meaning her. Who knows how dogs really thing--do they understand the concept of name, or just respond to a word we call them by, associating it with good things like pats and scritches and treats?

[Wally & Crew]

wow, I hope it works out for you with Chesney. We have had to start from scratch on a few that were pound dogs, but we have also gotten a few that had names that we changed. We have had good success naming them something that sounded similar to their original name in length and sound. Like we once got a sweet girl and her name was Piggy. We thought she needed a much prettier name and tried both Penny and by accident Izzy. She responded better to Izzy so that is what she became. If you say it quickly it does resemble her original name.

I once found a dog and had her for almost a week before I found her owners. I played around with names to see how she responded and came up with Mandy. I later found out her real name was Brandy!
I could have also renamed her Sandy or Candy or... with a lot of success I bet.

Hope it works out for you and you are once again snuggling a pug!

I bet she wouldn't even notice the difference to Chessie, or Jessie, or?

[Nilladakilla]

Nilla was Puggy when we got her at 4 years old. She adjusted to her new name very quickly.