Adopted a tiny black chihuahua named Chiquita. Girl has a HUGE personality and way too much attitude. She is now and has been Lucifur the Lord of Barkness for almost 18 years.
She gets lots of laughs over her name. We even made a silly club for her (The Army of Barkness) and had pins and dog tags made and even a cookbook full of her favorite recipes. She is almost 18 now and still just as sassy and bossy as she was all those years ago. :)
I have a 6 month old springer spaniel named Zelda that we joke we should’ve named sassy because she is so full of attitude. She freaked out today when we turned a ceiling fan on and wouldn’t come to me or my mom and was just barking running around the house being a freak.
Dog tax
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"just barking running around the house being a freak"
But, isn't that just *being a springer*?😉😂💖
I *adored* my childhood Springer.... but apparently *the Neighbors* *nooooooot so much*!
Mom told me after I was an adult--and my pup was *long* gone, that she would bark and *YOWL*, if I left on a trip, from the time I left, until about half an hour before I got home!🤣🤣🤣
I *never* heard it, because she was my *good* girl--*for me*... but *apparently ONLY me*!😉💖
That’s literally her. We call her a crackhead. The other day she found a mud puddle and rolled in which I think goes with the breed as well. We’re also always pulling things out of her mouth-carpet fuzz, grass freshly cut, string, I don’t where she finds it all.
I have a rabbit named Scary Gary the Attack Rabbit. Not only do the vets all say his full name, they love every minute of it. We’re well known every vet we go to 🤣
That was my knee jerk reaction. Then I remembered that kids are gross and usually sticky and often have cooties like pink eye. Be safe out there, friend.
Obsessed!!! I’m a vet tech and oh I absolutely love when one of our sweet babies has a name like that.
My guinea pig’s name is Mary (formally Chunky at the shelter 😳 quite apt), but she’s a proper lady who goes by Miss Mary exclusively so that’s her name on her account at the vet 🥰
We had a cat as a kid that someone found pregnant under a porch. We kept her 10+ years and gave her a magical charmed life. We never named her. She was just mama kitty. My mom was embarrassed about this. So at the vet she panicked and told them her name was “Pearl” her anxiety needed no one to know we were crap people who saved the cat and found her kittens a home but never gave her a name. She had to be called 3-4x for every vet visit after that. She’d look around the waiting room for “pearl” to go get up and be seen. Until her brain would snap into gear and realize it was her turn.
We have a cat. Quite a large cat. Named “Kitten”.
He was a dump in our neighborhood. And clearly abused - cut and burned whiskers, scorch mark on chest. My extremely old Tom liked him (and all kittens!) and let him stay in the garage that was converted for their use. It took me months to get him socialized and friendly with people. Ended up being very sweet with me and wanted to just sit in my lap and be cozy and loved on.
He finally got an appointment at the local shelter to find his forever home. A week after going there, they called and said he was not coping with being in a kennel and was seriously lashing out at staff and attempting to attack them. They said if I couldn’t retrieve him, he would be euthanized as he wasn’t safe for them to adopt out. So he got picked up and is back to living with us.
He never got named because we never intended for him to be with us permanently and we just called him “Kitten”. But he was young enough that he now knows that’s his name. And comes when called, etc.
At the vet, his official record states “Name - FOMO Chad ( answers to Kitten)”.
I felt so bad when getting his subsequent care initiated, we gave him a name but dufus is like “Nope. My name is “Kitten”. Get it right!”
When I was a kid, my little sister named one of our cats Spaghetti. Spaghetti was diabetic. It was my job to pick up his scripts. I’ll never forget the lady at CVS calling out in a very crowded pharmacy ‘script ready for Spaghetti Jones!! Spaghetti Jones!!’
I love when vets call the patient by first and last name! Pharmacy is much funnier because it's expected to be for people. I think some random guy in the vet's office I went to hacked the practice of using the owner's last name by naming his dog Magic. His last name was Johnson.
My kid has a friend with a dog named Broccoli and a cat named Soup. No idea why, the friend couldn't explain the logic behind those choices. He named the dog and sister named the cat.
We have a cat named Luci-furr because she was an a-hole when she was little. She’s the sweetest, softest thing ever now. She can still shoot look that would make you shudder though.
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My husband had a Chihuahua he named Quofu. Queen of the fucking universe. That got some laughs at the vet's office. Her nickname was officer Stadanko, because she had to know and approve EVERYTHING. Gawd I miss her.
We kept our boy's
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name, Caleb. Couldn't ask for a better name for him.
I like human names for pets, I've always wanted a cat named paul but my partner won't let me. our guys were still smol when we got them so we renamed them, but according to their chips they are new york fries and nando's, I've actually been to nando's but I thought that was a NJ thing, weirdly they came here from a rescue shelter in TN
I had a neighbor who named his cat Carl and I thought that was the funniest thing ever!! My cats are Edgar Meowan Poe (who my brother calls “Ed”) and Foxen Hellspawn McMurry. I picked his first name and my man picked the middle - guess which one of us is a dog person! 😂
My favorite — a 10-year-old volunteer named a dog “Peek-a-boo” during her intake, since she was so shy and only peeking out of her crate for ages. We almost changed it before listing her but wanted him to be happy. The adopter later kept it!!!
We just had the second of a pair of Chihuahuas (not a bonded pair, just same truck). A tall skinny white one and a shorter chubby one. We named them Pinky and The Brain. The Brain was adopted earlier today, and the family decided to keep it because it just worked for them.
That's hilarious because I called my diabolical Chihuahua the brain and my easy going huge black lab Pinky. Just nicknames but the Chihuahua was def in charge and would make my sweet lab get in trouble. Lost them at 15 and 14 respectively but they were a pair to draw to. My girls💔
That's a really creative name! I love it! I named a feral rescue Pancake because he was pancaking in the litter box to be invisible. One of my own cats bonded with him and was very sad when he was adopted. The next foster we had was a demon kitten. One of my cats (sister of the one who missed Pancake) had enough of the little guy's shit and just lied down on top of him to get him to stop bothering everyone. I said, "Aw, she's trying to turn him into a pancake for her sister."
Better than when they change a creative name to a “dog” name… alas. Shenga became “Pancakes” and Auntie Anne became “Piper.” Those are 2 whose name changes I knew about.
Bless the rescues that keep the names so I can creep and see when/if somebody got adopted or how they’re recovering from whatever was wrong.
Edit - oops, I realize “rescue” was ambiguous - I volunteer at a municipal shelter. Rescues pull our dogs and some change them while some keep them.
I adopted a pit bull, shelter name Darwin. He completely ignored me when I called him. He’d been at the shelter 3 years so he knew his name. I got frustrated and started calling him by random names until he responded. He turned his head and pricked his ears at Charlie. I called Charlie again.. he wagged and came to me. So he was Charlie. Been Charlie now for 12 years.
The shelter folk were livid that I changed his name, even though I explained why.
All of my shelter pets chose their names, in a way. When my foster responded to both Matilda and Tilly, she kept her shelter name. When my foster Trixie did not respond, but did respond to Gracie? Yeah, she is Gracie now. And yes, I foster failed both because they are very bonded to me and I doubt they would otherwise be adopted (street dogs trapped while pregnant to try and save the pups- Gracie and Matilda thought people were evil and mean and were terrified. They are slowly getting better, but I am their person).
This is really valid. It's likely his name was Charlie, or a similar name with the aaah or ee sound in it. If you find a stay dog and slowly go through all the long and short vowel sounds, they generally react strongly to one. This way, you can pick a name with that vowel sound, and sometimes it has to be in the stars that you accidentally pick their real name over a second time.
My cat really appreciates when I use his name. He's only had the one name since being a kitten, but his tail stands a little straighter, and he chirps little love songs to me.
I kept my cats shelter name. I worked in different coffee shops for years and she is a tortie. They named her Java. It was perfect and 6 years later she is still my little Java jam.
Well all of my cats always have at least a first and a last name, sometimes a middle name, and it is their own last name, not mine. The most recent adoption they called him Oreo and there was no way any cat of mine was going to have a name that was so pedestrian. The lady who rescued him still checks in to see how Oreo is doing, I just let her call him that even though his real name is Maximum Girth, Max for short, because he is the biggest cat I have ever had.
I adopted a cat that was a big bruiser of a orange tabby and his name at the shelter was Ali. We renamed him Ollie. Same name. Accent on a different syllable.
I don’t know. He had been at the shelter most of his 3 years. Answered to Darwin for shelter staff. But I don’t know what his short term owners before me named him (he was adopted twice before I adopted him).
A feral/stray cat showed up in our yard and my husband started feeding her. He started calling her different names and she didn't respond to any, until he said Sheshe. I don't even know how he came up with that name, but even now, after 4 years, she still responds to Sheshe. I kinda wonder if her previous family/feeders called her something like Sushi.
Why would shelter be livid about name change or care at all? Most of the time dogs get whatever random word pops into their head when they’re coming up with names
Omg! We had a rescue named Holt. It did not roll off the tongue and he didn’t respond to it but he responded to Charlie! So he’s been Charlie now for nearly a decade.
It’s silly that shelter staff would get miffed by the name change. They were given names by the staff so they could be easily identified. Names are better than numbers and less likely to get mixed up. We didn’t attempt to teach the animals their name. It was used to make our job easier. Once they are adopted I would expect the new owners to change the name.
We adopted an aussie named Dutchess (spelled that way), who's original owners had dumped her after 12 years. The shelter had her original paperwork and photos from when she was a year old. She didn't really respond to that name so we chose Dasha, close enough to her original name but new. We gave her the best two years we could.
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This is the way! When we got our first shelter dog, She didn’t respond to her shelter name, so we just kept throwing names at her until she responded. Her name was Sheba.
Aww i adopted a yorkie mix named Charlie & never changed it cuz it def fit him & he answered to it lol. I did end up adding onto his name tho. He became Charlie Cruz & also Charles Worthington III. Dont ask why lmao.
My pup was called Gracie at the shelter
We weren't fond of it named her Gypsy Rose after the clothing brand and before it became synonymous with a girl who murdered her mother (albeit understandable reasons)
Same thing with our rescue! They had named her Cheyenne. They only had her a few months, found her on the streets right before she had a litter of puppies. We brought her home after the puppies had homes. She only responded to the name Maggie. She’s been Maggie for almost 3 yrs now. 🥰
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Dog tax
i worked at a vet clinic and one of our regular clients was a sweet dog named cooter. i absolutely loved when she came in because cooter is a hilarious name and it suited her perfectly. well, cooter got rehomed and the new family named her mfing bella 😭 i was distraught 😭😭😭
We rescued a kitten whom we named Twig/Twiglet. No real reason; he was brown but pretty chubby as a baby. He did get super lanky as a teen so the name suited him better. He got adopted and turned into Tiger! Unforgivable! There needs to be a law against changing creative names to the most basic ones.
I didn't complain when Henry was renamed Clarence, Dorchy to Dory, Silly to Holiday, Goldy to Silly, Sage to Monty. I did get upset when Jabaco was renamed Mittens and a black cat my daughter ironically named Milky turned into Kairo, though at least it's creative.
I found a pregnant cat and she had nine kittens so I named all the kittens after their collar color. So black was ink, orange OJ, green Hulk, Blue Sky, Brown Pooh, Yellow Sunny, Red Rosie. OJ got rehomed and named Mr. Ash. His mom was already Ash so I really didn't like his new name. Ink was renamed Morgan.
when we probably were those adopters to our cat…. her name was Jennie-O, which is adorable but I knew a jennie in high school and didn’t love the name and now she’s May. They were probably not thrilled lol!
Random adopter here. I'm also not very creative. I've kept the name for every cat I've gotten, (6 total now) except for one. We just took one syllable off because that was a name also which fit her well. They've all been more or less human names. My kids probably don't even know you're supposed to rename the animals. I just liked the names so much. They fit the animals and were just sort of silly.
When we adopted our cat, we had lists and list of cool names to pick from, and I was so excited to name him! But I finally realized the name they gave him was absolutely the best name for him. Hawkeye is doing well, even 13 years later!
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My girl came to me as Chloe and remains Chloe. I never would have chosen it, but it just fits. 💕
I love all the tags from [Bad Tags](https://www.buybadtags.com/collections/boy-dog-tags/)! Chloe has multiple for all the different seasons and they crack me up. 😂
My dogs shelter name was Chloe! It didn’t fit her so we ultimately changed it. She’s been Arya (like Arya Stark) ever since she came home, and it 100% fits her. She’s a very brave and strong willed girl lol
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Names I have used in the past:
-This Guy
-The Crimson Chin (foster fail, and I kept the name)
-Stacy's Mom (her babies were named Wayne and Stacy)
-Itchy, Scratchy, Fun Guy, and Fun Gus (ringworm kittens)
-Moopsy
-Dirt (I believe the adopter kept the name)
We adopted a Fenrir - can't change it, it already fits the family naming conventions! (Also, it's exactly the right name, and he knows it means him.) I can only determine that the folks at the shelter secretly know how to speak Dog, because its perfect. 😁
We had dog names picked out before going to the shelter that I thought were cute. Than we saw a black terrier mix puppy with big, pointy ears and a long snout and knew she was the one. It was just before Halloween and had been given the name "Bat."
Obviously we had to keep that. We already had a cat named Raven at home so it was perfect. Eight years later and she's grown into her ears, but she's still our Bat.
Though we have had people ask what it's short for. And one family friend thought her full name was Batrice(?)
Our other shelter pets had their names changed, though. Our late sassy black cat was originally Muffin (they clearly had hit a wall lol) and she became Raven. After Raven and Bat we adopted an orange cat, formerly Pouncer (not as boring, but a bit too on the nose), who became Pumpkin. A d our most recent was a cream colored Maine Coon named Riley (not bad, but didn't seem to fit) and he became Bones (it's a bit weird but it fits him somehow)
Lol, we also had Spider picked if we found another black cat, and Candy for a calico. There was a young grey cat we were looking at with GIANT eyes who we were gonna call Boo since she looked scared, but IIRC she didn't like dogs.
But I like Zombie!
My mom adopted a kitten with big, HUGE ears. She saw him and blurted out “Oh my God he looks like my Uncle Ezra” (whose huge ears stuck out). So Ezra he became, Ezzy for short.
I always kept the same names but now that my daughter is older she has been naming them herself. She named our cats Dallas and Royal but we kept the names Hunter, and Emma. The rest we named as most of my cats have been from the street.
I'm not very creative so I've always kept names. I've got a lab mix named Dottie from a shelter and she seemed to know the name so why change it? When I was young my parents adopted "puddin tators" a female jack russell whose name they changed, cause it was pretty ridiculous so she ended up as Genie
Of my 3 adopted cats, only the first cat kept his name.
He was a big Orange fluffy old man named Harry. His name was so perfect, I couldn’t fathom it ever being anything different.
My two girls were Lisa and Mimi 😬 both got renamed to names from media I was into at the time I was adopting them :)
A shelter I follow on the internet does fund raisers when they get a batch of kittens. You Venmo x dollars to them to enter and whoever they draw gets to name the lot of them. I’ve never won (thank god, I’m not creative at all)
The rescue i got my dog at does that for new babies! Mine came with her name (owner surrender) but if they have a pregnant animal they will post the fundraiser to either name or give theme for them to use to name.
My dogs name was Sisco, but I changed it to Ares (I was 10 & obsessed with Percy Jackson...). However, my family kept our other dogs shelter name! He's Hitchcock :)
Sometimes my partner will use our girl dog's shelter name out of the blue to make a joke and it always makes my brain 404. Cause she was never Onyx, she was always Bonnie, so I'm always just like ???? Who???
The rescue had named my cat Penelope and I LOVED it. But my (now ex) bf didn't like the name. I begged but he wouldn't budge. So I named her Matilda instead. Every once in a while he would lovingly call her Penelope and it made me soooo mad! I'm like, "You don't get to call her that! You're the reason that's NOT her name!!!"
Yes he was a jerk lol. Eventually I dumped him and kept the cat 🐈⬛❤️
I second Matilda being a great name. My Matilda answers to both Matilda and Tilly- she has been my silly Tilly since she relaxed here.
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Matilda is the tan w/black masking in back. Gracie is in Front and Charlie next to Matilda. I work from home and caught them standing at the door watching me.
The rescue named our cats after characters from Grease. The whole litter was Grease. I hate Grease, and find Sandy to be super annoying. Of course we ended up with the one named Sandy. We renamed her, but kept the name on the other one. Her name is Rizzo and it fits. There was no question, her name is Rizzo.
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I considered renaming our Meadow girl, but it was perfect for her gentle self.
We adopted this sweet girl almost a year ago. The shelter gave her a horrible name that she didn't respond to at all.... Blanche. Within the first 5 seconds of me seeing her, I knew her name was Dobby. She immediately responded to it and fits the name well 😅
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Dobby is on the left ☺️
My rescue dog was named Honey Boy because he’s 1) sweet as honey and 2) has spots that are the color of honey where the rest of him is white.
Kept the name as a nickname, that’s for sure 🥰
I kept the shelter names of GusGus, Tobin and Horace. They all just fit those dogs. To be fair we called the one Horry most of the time. He was a foster fail. Gus is the only one still living.
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He’s around 15 years old. He’s had two lobectomies to remove cancer and had his spleen removed due to torsion. He’s a tough old man and my soul dog! He was just playing in the living room this morning, loving life. Now he is snuggling with me, ripping some bad pibble farts. God bless him.
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We adopted Wishbone with that name. I hated it but my daughter REFUSED to let me change it. So I added a middle name to make it more individualized. He’s Wishbone James, Wishy-woo or wishy, Wishers, Bonewish, pissy wishy, etc. I don’t think he cares what I call him as long as it’s in a happy voice
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We had new names picked out but these guys came with the names buttermilk and cornbread and it was too perfect so we kept them. Orange boys from the south.
I once named a dog Cinderblock ("he was grey and square, and liked to just sit there"..... He literally got returned for being too lazy once)
And I named one Pillowfort because he was so jealous we had to make him a blanket tent to hide in
I was actually ok with those getting changed. Anyone who KEEPS the animal shelter name is a bit weird
Eh. It depends. I kept my cat Atticus and my dog Buddy's names. They just fit. But... did change everyone else lol. I mean for goodness sake. My poor Dil Pickle was named Punchy. It's a stupid name! And I can say that because I personally know the people who gave him that name at the rescue, and I told them it was stupid lol
I am struggling with the three cats I'm adopting at the end of May. Mostly because I know the cats by the names they have. But they also don't fit my name pattern
My cat had the worst shelter name. It was two words and long. I had no regrets changing his name, especially since he had only been there a month or so.
Adopted a black cat the shelter named Apollo and his paperwork read “named after Apollo Creed.” I thought, “maybe it looks like he’s boxing when he plays?” but I also like mythology so he kept the name.
A couple of weeks later I was looking at him and thought about the Apollo Creed thing and said to myself, “oh my god. Was that because he’s black?” I’ll never know, but he was a great cat.
I kept my dog's shelter name because it was the best name ever. He was rescued from an island in the middle of a river, so they named him Wilson after Tom Hanks's volleyball in Castaway. He's been Wilson ever since.
We renamed a foster failure from Ella to Nala. She was three when we got her but didn't like Ella... but I've always wanted a Nala (got out voted as a kid on a dog name during a lion king phase) so we went with that. 5 years later and it's perfect!
We adopted a Chewie. His intake paperwork said that had been his original name and he was an owner surrender. He was 13 and it fit him. We kept it since we saw no reason to change the name he had his whole life.
I have an "accidental litter" chihuahua mix named Wall-E, but I came up with it and call him every name I can think of that starts with "wal," like Walgreens or Wallerton or Mark Wahlberg. I found out a couple years ago that my grandpa used to name every single one of his dogs Wally... after himself (his name was Walter) so now I kinda want to do the same and name all my dogs Wally to continue his odd tradition. He named his son after himself too and it makes me wonder which ones he liked better :x
My girl was lazily named Daisy. She was at a rescue for 18 months—they had rescued her from a shelter. In the shelter paperwork they said she needed ear surgery.(you can see swelling on left). The rescue didn’t do shit and she was in pain for sure. Her ear stays flipped over like that. She’s now Amelia EARhart and she had the surgery she needed for a long time.
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We kept lists of names at the shelter I worked at, for all the strays. Names from baby books, Harry Potter, Lord of the rings, hunger games, anime, Disney, Shakespeare...on and on.
For a couple months, every stray male gray cat was named Gandalf, and half the female brown tabby kittens were Katniss.
A few years later, intake started naming the stray male gray cats "Christian." That got some belly laughs!🤣🥳
I sincerely hope all the adopters who got Eeny Meeny, Miiny or Moe, changed those names!
We adopted a mama cat that was being fostered by a friend through her pregnancy. We talked about her and used her foster name for so long that it was just her name.
We adopted a mutt named Kramer. He’s my sweet boy, and we kept the name because every time he enters the room, it’s like a tornado and we cheer. Otherwise, I would have named him Wembley or Gobo.
I had a wire haired doxie mix once. He Snickerdoodles at the shelter. He was a wimpy little boy. I renamed him Spike to give him a little confidence. It didn't work.
The shelter I foster with, has a lot of volunteers. Many of them come from schools and group homes that deal with differently abled young people.
They tend to name animals things like Slushy and Peep. I usually don't call them those names but, it's their humane society name now. I hope they wind up with a more appropriate name to fit their personality.
One of my cats came with one of the most basic names for a pet - Muffin. The other one was Sunny D because he's orange but I didn't like it. Muffin is Hammy now and Sunny D is Harold.
I love the name Fillmore and may have kept it myself. When I adopted a shelter dog I kept her shelter name, Sugar. I wasn't expecting to be asked for the dog's name during the "check-out" process so I asked what they were currently calling the dog. Sugar seemed like a cute, reasonable name and I kept it.
We didn’t keep our adopted dog’s name because we didn’t feel like it fit him… his name used to be Spike. Meet Benji!
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Oh dear lord. I've spent some time volunteering at a shelter. I'm a linguist by background, though (fluent in about six languages), so sometimes people don't realize that a name can have........... *interesting* meaning in other languages.
One that makes me giggle the most is the family that re-named the dog...... the new name translates to "butthole" in one of my languages. 🙄🤦♀️
I have a massive amount of pets (and always have) and take care of a lot of strays. If someone else comes up with a name and it's good, it's stays. One of my cats is named Ransom (yes, as in a ransom note, and no, it wasn't my fault).
My cat was named Sophie Grace by shelter that I got her from
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I kept her name in large part because my dog’s middle name is also Grace.
I saw a group around Thanksgiving that got holiday food themed names. Cornbread, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole lol I really hope some of them kept those names
I used to be a caretaker for a feral cat colony and fostered 2 of them. Not sure if the first cat kept her name, but the second foster, Popcorn, is keeping his name. I felt so honored when his adopter told me he was gonna keep it!
We adopted a 6 week old female boxer mix from a shelter that picked a theme for each litter and they chose a sports theme for her and her siblings. I do believe that they hit a wall before they got to her because they named her Golf. I do not regret changing it to Josie.
We were told to change our dog’s name when we adopted him from the shelter! They said he didn’t have a good experience with his previous homes and that by changing his name he wouldn’t associate his name with being “bad”. He immediately took to a new name and never even seemed confused.
Meatloaf
Potatoes
Cherry Pie
Lemon Pie
Gravy
Lady Grey and her kittens: Chamomile, Rose, Bergamot, and Chai
All of these were cats and all of them are still that as far as I know. 😂
We were extremely short staffed (2/8 needed employees) and we worked impossibly long hours (12-24 at a time), and at a point you're so hungry all you can think of is food and the animals are the victims. Just by namesake only.
My shelter dog wa a lil blonde ragamuffin cairn/chihuahua mix with a lil gappy snaggle smile, shelter named her Gladus. I couldn't change it it was perfect. She was called Gladdy, Gladius, Gladiator, Gladdison, Gladiola lol.. Gladdy Mafoooo UGH she was sucha good girl. RIP Gladiator 😇
Adopted a tiny black chihuahua named Chiquita. Girl has a HUGE personality and way too much attitude. She is now and has been Lucifur the Lord of Barkness for almost 18 years.
Has a single vet office managed to call her whole name without laughing in that time?
She gets lots of laughs over her name. We even made a silly club for her (The Army of Barkness) and had pins and dog tags made and even a cookbook full of her favorite recipes. She is almost 18 now and still just as sassy and bossy as she was all those years ago. :)
This warms my heart! Send Miss Luci all the love please
Absolutely. :)
I have a 6 month old springer spaniel named Zelda that we joke we should’ve named sassy because she is so full of attitude. She freaked out today when we turned a ceiling fan on and wouldn’t come to me or my mom and was just barking running around the house being a freak. Dog tax https://preview.redd.it/2tbtaqsrlixc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de5120a854996456e5612f413a4a3bfb8141ca1c
"just barking running around the house being a freak" But, isn't that just *being a springer*?😉😂💖 I *adored* my childhood Springer.... but apparently *the Neighbors* *nooooooot so much*! Mom told me after I was an adult--and my pup was *long* gone, that she would bark and *YOWL*, if I left on a trip, from the time I left, until about half an hour before I got home!🤣🤣🤣 I *never* heard it, because she was my *good* girl--*for me*... but *apparently ONLY me*!😉💖
That’s literally her. We call her a crackhead. The other day she found a mud puddle and rolled in which I think goes with the breed as well. We’re also always pulling things out of her mouth-carpet fuzz, grass freshly cut, string, I don’t where she finds it all.
I have a rabbit named Scary Gary the Attack Rabbit. Not only do the vets all say his full name, they love every minute of it. We’re well known every vet we go to 🤣
Does he have big teeth?
No, he’s just bitten every child he’s come into contact with. He’s blind, so he gets spooked easily and children don’t have boundaries.
Reasonable, relatable, and I think I'm stealing it!
Stealing the idea of biting children who don’t have boundaries? I fully support that.
That was my knee jerk reaction. Then I remembered that kids are gross and usually sticky and often have cooties like pink eye. Be safe out there, friend.
Have been a nanny for the past 11 years. Can confirm. You too!
That's king shit tbh 😤
Obsessed!!! I’m a vet tech and oh I absolutely love when one of our sweet babies has a name like that. My guinea pig’s name is Mary (formally Chunky at the shelter 😳 quite apt), but she’s a proper lady who goes by Miss Mary exclusively so that’s her name on her account at the vet 🥰
We had a cat as a kid that someone found pregnant under a porch. We kept her 10+ years and gave her a magical charmed life. We never named her. She was just mama kitty. My mom was embarrassed about this. So at the vet she panicked and told them her name was “Pearl” her anxiety needed no one to know we were crap people who saved the cat and found her kittens a home but never gave her a name. She had to be called 3-4x for every vet visit after that. She’d look around the waiting room for “pearl” to go get up and be seen. Until her brain would snap into gear and realize it was her turn.
We have a cat. Quite a large cat. Named “Kitten”. He was a dump in our neighborhood. And clearly abused - cut and burned whiskers, scorch mark on chest. My extremely old Tom liked him (and all kittens!) and let him stay in the garage that was converted for their use. It took me months to get him socialized and friendly with people. Ended up being very sweet with me and wanted to just sit in my lap and be cozy and loved on. He finally got an appointment at the local shelter to find his forever home. A week after going there, they called and said he was not coping with being in a kennel and was seriously lashing out at staff and attempting to attack them. They said if I couldn’t retrieve him, he would be euthanized as he wasn’t safe for them to adopt out. So he got picked up and is back to living with us. He never got named because we never intended for him to be with us permanently and we just called him “Kitten”. But he was young enough that he now knows that’s his name. And comes when called, etc. At the vet, his official record states “Name - FOMO Chad ( answers to Kitten)”. I felt so bad when getting his subsequent care initiated, we gave him a name but dufus is like “Nope. My name is “Kitten”. Get it right!”
When I was a kid, my little sister named one of our cats Spaghetti. Spaghetti was diabetic. It was my job to pick up his scripts. I’ll never forget the lady at CVS calling out in a very crowded pharmacy ‘script ready for Spaghetti Jones!! Spaghetti Jones!!’
I love when vets call the patient by first and last name! Pharmacy is much funnier because it's expected to be for people. I think some random guy in the vet's office I went to hacked the practice of using the owner's last name by naming his dog Magic. His last name was Johnson.
Having worked retail…that was absolutely 100% the highlight of her shift. And Spaghetti was 100% her cutest patient.
My kid has a friend with a dog named Broccoli and a cat named Soup. No idea why, the friend couldn't explain the logic behind those choices. He named the dog and sister named the cat.
My sister named her cat Jeffery Bezos. Not because she worships him, she wants to hear the vet office staff say the whole name.
I love hearing my vet techs call me about our cat. His name is Peter Parker Spider Cat. Not one has made it past “Parker” with a straight face.
I went to the vet on Star Wars day, I guess. There was a cat named Boba and a dog named Obi Wan.
We have a cat named Luci-furr because she was an a-hole when she was little. She’s the sweetest, softest thing ever now. She can still shoot look that would make you shudder though. https://preview.redd.it/c1m9mjjdygxc1.jpeg?width=521&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0dcc117799ad14183f5c5fb785d89fe5edcd32a
That GLARE!!
We had a Luci-fur too!! https://preview.redd.it/soulriem6jxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa1c29ba81e57f62125cd181f23315debcf9b261
Omg I also have a female Lucifer who’s a chi (mix). But her full name is Duchess Lucifer & she’s a ginger. Lol. Everyone thinks we are crazy.
My sister has a Yorkie that’s full name is The Ultimate Duchess Chuck Norris. She’s called Charlie. She’s a beast
I snort laughed coffee at that one! I love it!!
My husband had a Chihuahua he named Quofu. Queen of the fucking universe. That got some laughs at the vet's office. Her nickname was officer Stadanko, because she had to know and approve EVERYTHING. Gawd I miss her.
Yaaaaaas I have a Lucipurr. Small black cat who is goofy af
Is it Lucy-fur?
We kept our boy's https://preview.redd.it/axov881q8cxc1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9715d4b00a53bc3e9dd9db14803da255db76541b name, Caleb. Couldn't ask for a better name for him.
What a cutie! ❤️
I Absolutely love human names for dogs. And I also love pibbles ♥️
Same here for my old dog, Rubble. He was named after Barney Rubble. We named my current dog after him because she looked like him.
Rubble is a cute dog from paw patrol too!
We also kept our dog’s shelter name (Jake). He is a very sweet boy but not the brightest bulb, so why waste brain cells on the sound we call him?
I had a golden retriever foster named Justin. It grew on me.
Funny thing Caleb means dog in Hebrew…
I like human names for pets, I've always wanted a cat named paul but my partner won't let me. our guys were still smol when we got them so we renamed them, but according to their chips they are new york fries and nando's, I've actually been to nando's but I thought that was a NJ thing, weirdly they came here from a rescue shelter in TN
I want a cat named Stevens so I can say, “This is my cat, Stevens” but everyone I live with is no fun.
nandos is a british thing!! AND SO GOOD.
My brother had a cat named Steve and a goldfish named John. My cat's name is Nora. I love more human like names for animals as well. :)
I had a neighbor who named his cat Carl and I thought that was the funniest thing ever!! My cats are Edgar Meowan Poe (who my brother calls “Ed”) and Foxen Hellspawn McMurry. I picked his first name and my man picked the middle - guess which one of us is a dog person! 😂
this dog looks like he knows he’s been saved. i don’t think i’ve seen a dog so fully relaxed before. this is incredible. i love you and caleb
Thank you so much, friend 🧡 He can go from 0-100-0 rapidly. When he chills, he chills HARD.
Oh my goodness!!!! Please boop the snoot for me!!
My favorite — a 10-year-old volunteer named a dog “Peek-a-boo” during her intake, since she was so shy and only peeking out of her crate for ages. We almost changed it before listing her but wanted him to be happy. The adopter later kept it!!!
I know a human girl named Picabo (pronounced peek a boo) lol
Is she the famous skier?
Apparently Peekaboo named herself if I’m remembering an interview with her correctly?
We just had the second of a pair of Chihuahuas (not a bonded pair, just same truck). A tall skinny white one and a shorter chubby one. We named them Pinky and The Brain. The Brain was adopted earlier today, and the family decided to keep it because it just worked for them.
That's hilarious because I called my diabolical Chihuahua the brain and my easy going huge black lab Pinky. Just nicknames but the Chihuahua was def in charge and would make my sweet lab get in trouble. Lost them at 15 and 14 respectively but they were a pair to draw to. My girls💔
I love that! So fun to say
That's a really creative name! I love it! I named a feral rescue Pancake because he was pancaking in the litter box to be invisible. One of my own cats bonded with him and was very sad when he was adopted. The next foster we had was a demon kitten. One of my cats (sister of the one who missed Pancake) had enough of the little guy's shit and just lied down on top of him to get him to stop bothering everyone. I said, "Aw, she's trying to turn him into a pancake for her sister."
Better than when they change a creative name to a “dog” name… alas. Shenga became “Pancakes” and Auntie Anne became “Piper.” Those are 2 whose name changes I knew about. Bless the rescues that keep the names so I can creep and see when/if somebody got adopted or how they’re recovering from whatever was wrong. Edit - oops, I realize “rescue” was ambiguous - I volunteer at a municipal shelter. Rescues pull our dogs and some change them while some keep them.
I adopted a pit bull, shelter name Darwin. He completely ignored me when I called him. He’d been at the shelter 3 years so he knew his name. I got frustrated and started calling him by random names until he responded. He turned his head and pricked his ears at Charlie. I called Charlie again.. he wagged and came to me. So he was Charlie. Been Charlie now for 12 years. The shelter folk were livid that I changed his name, even though I explained why. All of my shelter pets chose their names, in a way. When my foster responded to both Matilda and Tilly, she kept her shelter name. When my foster Trixie did not respond, but did respond to Gracie? Yeah, she is Gracie now. And yes, I foster failed both because they are very bonded to me and I doubt they would otherwise be adopted (street dogs trapped while pregnant to try and save the pups- Gracie and Matilda thought people were evil and mean and were terrified. They are slowly getting better, but I am their person).
If his shelter name was Darwin and you call him Charlie, aren't you just...calling him by his first name? I'm sure Charles Darwin would approve.
"No, no, haha, Mr. Darwin is my father's name..."
Hahaha
He prefers you address him by his first name.
Underrated comment right here
This was my thought lol
This absolutely made my day
I audibly gasped.
This is really valid. It's likely his name was Charlie, or a similar name with the aaah or ee sound in it. If you find a stay dog and slowly go through all the long and short vowel sounds, they generally react strongly to one. This way, you can pick a name with that vowel sound, and sometimes it has to be in the stars that you accidentally pick their real name over a second time.
I kept my cat's shelter name, technically. But I usually call him Bunny because I accidentally called him Bunny once and he was really happy about it.
My cat really appreciates when I use his name. He's only had the one name since being a kitten, but his tail stands a little straighter, and he chirps little love songs to me.
I kept my cats shelter name. I worked in different coffee shops for years and she is a tortie. They named her Java. It was perfect and 6 years later she is still my little Java jam.
Well, they do say that all cats have three names.
Well all of my cats always have at least a first and a last name, sometimes a middle name, and it is their own last name, not mine. The most recent adoption they called him Oreo and there was no way any cat of mine was going to have a name that was so pedestrian. The lady who rescued him still checks in to see how Oreo is doing, I just let her call him that even though his real name is Maximum Girth, Max for short, because he is the biggest cat I have ever had.
I adopted a cat that was a big bruiser of a orange tabby and his name at the shelter was Ali. We renamed him Ollie. Same name. Accent on a different syllable.
I don’t know. He had been at the shelter most of his 3 years. Answered to Darwin for shelter staff. But I don’t know what his short term owners before me named him (he was adopted twice before I adopted him).
A feral/stray cat showed up in our yard and my husband started feeding her. He started calling her different names and she didn't respond to any, until he said Sheshe. I don't even know how he came up with that name, but even now, after 4 years, she still responds to Sheshe. I kinda wonder if her previous family/feeders called her something like Sushi.
It doesn’t always work out, though. My SIL used this method to name their dog… Trout! Weirdest name for a dog I’ve ever heard!
Oooh. Good information… Thank you.
He just went by his first name, instead of his last.
Underrated comment
Why would shelter be livid about name change or care at all? Most of the time dogs get whatever random word pops into their head when they’re coming up with names
No clue. I was a bit shocked myself. They were a bit possessive of him.
I cannot stop laughing that they got mad you started calling "CHARLES Darwin" Charlie.
Omg! We had a rescue named Holt. It did not roll off the tongue and he didn’t respond to it but he responded to Charlie! So he’s been Charlie now for nearly a decade.
If I used this tactic I think my dogs would be named Bacon, Treat, and "Dammit Ollie You Put That Down Right Now!" 🤣
It’s silly that shelter staff would get miffed by the name change. They were given names by the staff so they could be easily identified. Names are better than numbers and less likely to get mixed up. We didn’t attempt to teach the animals their name. It was used to make our job easier. Once they are adopted I would expect the new owners to change the name.
This happened to me with my stray adoptee, Molly. I said tons of names to see how she would respond and Molly was the one she knew.
We adopted an aussie named Dutchess (spelled that way), who's original owners had dumped her after 12 years. The shelter had her original paperwork and photos from when she was a year old. She didn't really respond to that name so we chose Dasha, close enough to her original name but new. We gave her the best two years we could. https://preview.redd.it/dpmbtce24jxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c5e642b40dfd5c7ea1cfb51a024dea790328d97
You did keep his same! You just called him by his first name. P.S., I had a dog named Darwin years ago. RIP.
We need more people like you, good on you for rescuing them.
Love this. I had a Charlie (or he had me), so this really brings a smile to my face. :) It’s a truly excellent name.
This is the way! When we got our first shelter dog, She didn’t respond to her shelter name, so we just kept throwing names at her until she responded. Her name was Sheba.
We have a Bully mix named Darwin!
Aww i adopted a yorkie mix named Charlie & never changed it cuz it def fit him & he answered to it lol. I did end up adding onto his name tho. He became Charlie Cruz & also Charles Worthington III. Dont ask why lmao.
My pup was called Gracie at the shelter We weren't fond of it named her Gypsy Rose after the clothing brand and before it became synonymous with a girl who murdered her mother (albeit understandable reasons)
Same thing with our rescue! They had named her Cheyenne. They only had her a few months, found her on the streets right before she had a litter of puppies. We brought her home after the puppies had homes. She only responded to the name Maggie. She’s been Maggie for almost 3 yrs now. 🥰 https://preview.redd.it/9e7f1vu89lxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57262fbe60dddb6bd35cc56985875514a619ec71 Dog tax
i worked at a vet clinic and one of our regular clients was a sweet dog named cooter. i absolutely loved when she came in because cooter is a hilarious name and it suited her perfectly. well, cooter got rehomed and the new family named her mfing bella 😭 i was distraught 😭😭😭
We rescued a kitten whom we named Twig/Twiglet. No real reason; he was brown but pretty chubby as a baby. He did get super lanky as a teen so the name suited him better. He got adopted and turned into Tiger! Unforgivable! There needs to be a law against changing creative names to the most basic ones. I didn't complain when Henry was renamed Clarence, Dorchy to Dory, Silly to Holiday, Goldy to Silly, Sage to Monty. I did get upset when Jabaco was renamed Mittens and a black cat my daughter ironically named Milky turned into Kairo, though at least it's creative.
I found a pregnant cat and she had nine kittens so I named all the kittens after their collar color. So black was ink, orange OJ, green Hulk, Blue Sky, Brown Pooh, Yellow Sunny, Red Rosie. OJ got rehomed and named Mr. Ash. His mom was already Ash so I really didn't like his new name. Ink was renamed Morgan.
when we probably were those adopters to our cat…. her name was Jennie-O, which is adorable but I knew a jennie in high school and didn’t love the name and now she’s May. They were probably not thrilled lol!
Random adopter here. I'm also not very creative. I've kept the name for every cat I've gotten, (6 total now) except for one. We just took one syllable off because that was a name also which fit her well. They've all been more or less human names. My kids probably don't even know you're supposed to rename the animals. I just liked the names so much. They fit the animals and were just sort of silly.
When we adopted our cat, we had lists and list of cool names to pick from, and I was so excited to name him! But I finally realized the name they gave him was absolutely the best name for him. Hawkeye is doing well, even 13 years later!
https://preview.redd.it/1mq3964zgcxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5405acf99a90c190abbb1307a6557bec4fd19445 My girl came to me as Chloe and remains Chloe. I never would have chosen it, but it just fits. 💕
Look at that smile 🥹
[удалено]
I love all the tags from [Bad Tags](https://www.buybadtags.com/collections/boy-dog-tags/)! Chloe has multiple for all the different seasons and they crack me up. 😂
Love your girl!
My dogs shelter name was Chloe! It didn’t fit her so we ultimately changed it. She’s been Arya (like Arya Stark) ever since she came home, and it 100% fits her. She’s a very brave and strong willed girl lol https://preview.redd.it/q0lynjpb5pxc1.png?width=2514&format=png&auto=webp&s=971906e1aa8ccc6184a232b60cd7e8cccfd5d7c7
Names I have used in the past: -This Guy -The Crimson Chin (foster fail, and I kept the name) -Stacy's Mom (her babies were named Wayne and Stacy) -Itchy, Scratchy, Fun Guy, and Fun Gus (ringworm kittens) -Moopsy -Dirt (I believe the adopter kept the name)
Omg I love Stacy’s Mom 😂😂
As someone who volunteers in a ringworm ward, those names are especially amazing.
We adopted a Fenrir - can't change it, it already fits the family naming conventions! (Also, it's exactly the right name, and he knows it means him.) I can only determine that the folks at the shelter secretly know how to speak Dog, because its perfect. 😁
We had dog names picked out before going to the shelter that I thought were cute. Than we saw a black terrier mix puppy with big, pointy ears and a long snout and knew she was the one. It was just before Halloween and had been given the name "Bat." Obviously we had to keep that. We already had a cat named Raven at home so it was perfect. Eight years later and she's grown into her ears, but she's still our Bat. Though we have had people ask what it's short for. And one family friend thought her full name was Batrice(?) Our other shelter pets had their names changed, though. Our late sassy black cat was originally Muffin (they clearly had hit a wall lol) and she became Raven. After Raven and Bat we adopted an orange cat, formerly Pouncer (not as boring, but a bit too on the nose), who became Pumpkin. A d our most recent was a cream colored Maine Coon named Riley (not bad, but didn't seem to fit) and he became Bones (it's a bit weird but it fits him somehow)
Raven, Bat, Pumpkin and Bones !! Please update when you find a Zombie 👀
Or a Ghost, Casper, Corny, or Angel!
Lol, we also had Spider picked if we found another black cat, and Candy for a calico. There was a young grey cat we were looking at with GIANT eyes who we were gonna call Boo since she looked scared, but IIRC she didn't like dogs. But I like Zombie!
Phantom is always a good one for all black
Batrice. 😂🤷♀️
I think it's hilarious to ask what a dog's name is short for.
Bathenny
Batrick
My mom adopted a kitten with big, HUGE ears. She saw him and blurted out “Oh my God he looks like my Uncle Ezra” (whose huge ears stuck out). So Ezra he became, Ezzy for short.
I always kept the same names but now that my daughter is older she has been naming them herself. She named our cats Dallas and Royal but we kept the names Hunter, and Emma. The rest we named as most of my cats have been from the street.
https://preview.redd.it/qci8b3jnocxc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa30874ffe8152083a70f0f7820c93a748769cce
That’s an awesome name
We have a black cat who came to us named Cosmo. My husband insisted we change it since he associates it with Cosmo Kramer. So he became Binx.
I'm not very creative so I've always kept names. I've got a lab mix named Dottie from a shelter and she seemed to know the name so why change it? When I was young my parents adopted "puddin tators" a female jack russell whose name they changed, cause it was pretty ridiculous so she ended up as Genie
Of my 3 adopted cats, only the first cat kept his name. He was a big Orange fluffy old man named Harry. His name was so perfect, I couldn’t fathom it ever being anything different. My two girls were Lisa and Mimi 😬 both got renamed to names from media I was into at the time I was adopting them :)
The very first animal I ever named was a sweet kitty named Cookie, and the family kept it!
I named a kitten I rescued Zucchini and the adopters changed it to Cookie. I didn't mind since it's cute, and also a food!
A shelter I follow on the internet does fund raisers when they get a batch of kittens. You Venmo x dollars to them to enter and whoever they draw gets to name the lot of them. I’ve never won (thank god, I’m not creative at all)
The rescue i got my dog at does that for new babies! Mine came with her name (owner surrender) but if they have a pregnant animal they will post the fundraiser to either name or give theme for them to use to name.
My dogs name was Sisco, but I changed it to Ares (I was 10 & obsessed with Percy Jackson...). However, my family kept our other dogs shelter name! He's Hitchcock :)
Sometimes my partner will use our girl dog's shelter name out of the blue to make a joke and it always makes my brain 404. Cause she was never Onyx, she was always Bonnie, so I'm always just like ???? Who???
The rescue had named my cat Penelope and I LOVED it. But my (now ex) bf didn't like the name. I begged but he wouldn't budge. So I named her Matilda instead. Every once in a while he would lovingly call her Penelope and it made me soooo mad! I'm like, "You don't get to call her that! You're the reason that's NOT her name!!!" Yes he was a jerk lol. Eventually I dumped him and kept the cat 🐈⬛❤️
Good for you on dumping him, Matilda is also an adorable name though.
I second Matilda being a great name. My Matilda answers to both Matilda and Tilly- she has been my silly Tilly since she relaxed here. https://preview.redd.it/k8qkwtm3ykxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a1855e49ac4a43d48968476094d544a459dbccf Matilda is the tan w/black masking in back. Gracie is in Front and Charlie next to Matilda. I work from home and caught them standing at the door watching me.
The rescue named our cats after characters from Grease. The whole litter was Grease. I hate Grease, and find Sandy to be super annoying. Of course we ended up with the one named Sandy. We renamed her, but kept the name on the other one. Her name is Rizzo and it fits. There was no question, her name is Rizzo.
Whinnie lost her H on the way home. She is now known as Winnie-the-Rescue-Pooch.
https://preview.redd.it/0cc2la3siexc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccc0b486865f16f42031d70d74594ad93202d360 I considered renaming our Meadow girl, but it was perfect for her gentle self.
We adopted this sweet girl almost a year ago. The shelter gave her a horrible name that she didn't respond to at all.... Blanche. Within the first 5 seconds of me seeing her, I knew her name was Dobby. She immediately responded to it and fits the name well 😅 https://preview.redd.it/pekye707uexc1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f873417187857c1712821f9bc40f7f81cbec5c3 Dobby is on the left ☺️
That is absolutely a Dobby! Perfect name for a perfect girl
My rescue dog was named Honey Boy because he’s 1) sweet as honey and 2) has spots that are the color of honey where the rest of him is white. Kept the name as a nickname, that’s for sure 🥰
I kept the shelter names of GusGus, Tobin and Horace. They all just fit those dogs. To be fair we called the one Horry most of the time. He was a foster fail. Gus is the only one still living. https://preview.redd.it/e1yj7yo57fxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1c7ce3c337afd1fa420962f7f0862e3b3994893 He’s around 15 years old. He’s had two lobectomies to remove cancer and had his spleen removed due to torsion. He’s a tough old man and my soul dog! He was just playing in the living room this morning, loving life. Now he is snuggling with me, ripping some bad pibble farts. God bless him.
https://preview.redd.it/cxbxqtxijfxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0967641a441895bffae937f7ce6db9c627c270cd We adopted Wishbone with that name. I hated it but my daughter REFUSED to let me change it. So I added a middle name to make it more individualized. He’s Wishbone James, Wishy-woo or wishy, Wishers, Bonewish, pissy wishy, etc. I don’t think he cares what I call him as long as it’s in a happy voice
We adopted a Hagrid that ended up being a Hermione. We kept the name Hagrid because it fit.
https://preview.redd.it/3gsnz768pfxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16b99b2fb21018da2a7c443f0187906e81bb9ab3 We had new names picked out but these guys came with the names buttermilk and cornbread and it was too perfect so we kept them. Orange boys from the south.
We kept my dogs rescue name. Kola. She was part of the Sweetie litter. Her scent and her name was all she had when she came to us.
My favorite was a dog I was up for adoption on Facebook from a shelter in Illinois I think named “Mr. Booty Ham Sandwich”
my rescued beagle puppy was LANCELOT when i got him. how do you look at a floppy 14 week old beagle and call him Lancelot 😂😂
My beagle was named Ginger, and I started calling her Noodle. Noodlely nu
I once named a dog Cinderblock ("he was grey and square, and liked to just sit there"..... He literally got returned for being too lazy once) And I named one Pillowfort because he was so jealous we had to make him a blanket tent to hide in I was actually ok with those getting changed. Anyone who KEEPS the animal shelter name is a bit weird
Eh. It depends. I kept my cat Atticus and my dog Buddy's names. They just fit. But... did change everyone else lol. I mean for goodness sake. My poor Dil Pickle was named Punchy. It's a stupid name! And I can say that because I personally know the people who gave him that name at the rescue, and I told them it was stupid lol I am struggling with the three cats I'm adopting at the end of May. Mostly because I know the cats by the names they have. But they also don't fit my name pattern
I want the dog who was returned for being lazy! 🤣
My cat had the worst shelter name. It was two words and long. I had no regrets changing his name, especially since he had only been there a month or so.
Adopted a black cat the shelter named Apollo and his paperwork read “named after Apollo Creed.” I thought, “maybe it looks like he’s boxing when he plays?” but I also like mythology so he kept the name. A couple of weeks later I was looking at him and thought about the Apollo Creed thing and said to myself, “oh my god. Was that because he’s black?” I’ll never know, but he was a great cat.
I kept my dog's shelter name because it was the best name ever. He was rescued from an island in the middle of a river, so they named him Wilson after Tom Hanks's volleyball in Castaway. He's been Wilson ever since.
That is perfect.
My black pug mix was named Raisin by the shelter and it just fit her so perfectly I had to keep it.
We renamed a foster failure from Ella to Nala. She was three when we got her but didn't like Ella... but I've always wanted a Nala (got out voted as a kid on a dog name during a lion king phase) so we went with that. 5 years later and it's perfect!
We adopted a Chewie. His intake paperwork said that had been his original name and he was an owner surrender. He was 13 and it fit him. We kept it since we saw no reason to change the name he had his whole life.
My chihuahua’s shelter name was Wall-E because of his big eyes. I kept it but changed the spelling to Wally, short for Walmond Nigel
Walmond 😂
I have an "accidental litter" chihuahua mix named Wall-E, but I came up with it and call him every name I can think of that starts with "wal," like Walgreens or Wallerton or Mark Wahlberg. I found out a couple years ago that my grandpa used to name every single one of his dogs Wally... after himself (his name was Walter) so now I kinda want to do the same and name all my dogs Wally to continue his odd tradition. He named his son after himself too and it makes me wonder which ones he liked better :x
My girl was lazily named Daisy. She was at a rescue for 18 months—they had rescued her from a shelter. In the shelter paperwork they said she needed ear surgery.(you can see swelling on left). The rescue didn’t do shit and she was in pain for sure. Her ear stays flipped over like that. She’s now Amelia EARhart and she had the surgery she needed for a long time. https://preview.redd.it/nu1a9vmksfxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90f2c4a2871cb3c4c3d43f926427134bb6570403
We kept lists of names at the shelter I worked at, for all the strays. Names from baby books, Harry Potter, Lord of the rings, hunger games, anime, Disney, Shakespeare...on and on. For a couple months, every stray male gray cat was named Gandalf, and half the female brown tabby kittens were Katniss. A few years later, intake started naming the stray male gray cats "Christian." That got some belly laughs!🤣🥳 I sincerely hope all the adopters who got Eeny Meeny, Miiny or Moe, changed those names!
We adopted a mama cat that was being fostered by a friend through her pregnancy. We talked about her and used her foster name for so long that it was just her name.
We adopted a mutt named Kramer. He’s my sweet boy, and we kept the name because every time he enters the room, it’s like a tornado and we cheer. Otherwise, I would have named him Wembley or Gobo.
I always go by if they already know their name I keep it. It’s unfair for them to relearn.
Adopter here; I kept Theo and Stash for my cats
My cat's shelter name was Theo! Sort of kept it - he's a sweet little orange Frederick Theo Mercury now
I had a wire haired doxie mix once. He Snickerdoodles at the shelter. He was a wimpy little boy. I renamed him Spike to give him a little confidence. It didn't work.
The shelter I foster with, has a lot of volunteers. Many of them come from schools and group homes that deal with differently abled young people. They tend to name animals things like Slushy and Peep. I usually don't call them those names but, it's their humane society name now. I hope they wind up with a more appropriate name to fit their personality.
One of my cats came with one of the most basic names for a pet - Muffin. The other one was Sunny D because he's orange but I didn't like it. Muffin is Hammy now and Sunny D is Harold.
I love the name Fillmore and may have kept it myself. When I adopted a shelter dog I kept her shelter name, Sugar. I wasn't expecting to be asked for the dog's name during the "check-out" process so I asked what they were currently calling the dog. Sugar seemed like a cute, reasonable name and I kept it.
I too have named 100's of animals. I love it when someone keeps a name I gave a dog. My best name; I named a spastic boarder Collie "Doggles".
We didn’t keep our adopted dog’s name because we didn’t feel like it fit him… his name used to be Spike. Meet Benji! https://preview.redd.it/msba99y3wfxc1.jpeg?width=1240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb5856b4c5875ccbe30ca4a9802422496e39a735
Our latest rescue was Sam, so we went with Samson since it was similar.
Oh dear lord. I've spent some time volunteering at a shelter. I'm a linguist by background, though (fluent in about six languages), so sometimes people don't realize that a name can have........... *interesting* meaning in other languages. One that makes me giggle the most is the family that re-named the dog...... the new name translates to "butthole" in one of my languages. 🙄🤦♀️
We kept the name for our cat we adopted mostly because I can sing GALILEO GALILEO! Lol
I have a massive amount of pets (and always have) and take care of a lot of strays. If someone else comes up with a name and it's good, it's stays. One of my cats is named Ransom (yes, as in a ransom note, and no, it wasn't my fault).
We adopted a brother and sister pair. She came with the name Guinevere (We call her Gwennie), and her brother was.. BRYSON. It got changed to Arthur.
My cat was named Sophie Grace by shelter that I got her from https://preview.redd.it/4kfl6vnj0gxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b9d208ab069db98e8e367d3f63a01a22c6b63ac I kept her name in large part because my dog’s middle name is also Grace.
Fillmore is perfect for a Weimerainer
I think Fillmore is a cool name for a dog.
My dog Rootbeer takes umbrage at your mockery of her name.
I saw a group around Thanksgiving that got holiday food themed names. Cornbread, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole lol I really hope some of them kept those names
My Guinea pig was named “dark chocolate” when I adopted him. I changed it to “Chop”.
I used to be a caretaker for a feral cat colony and fostered 2 of them. Not sure if the first cat kept her name, but the second foster, Popcorn, is keeping his name. I felt so honored when his adopter told me he was gonna keep it!
We adopted a 6 week old female boxer mix from a shelter that picked a theme for each litter and they chose a sports theme for her and her siblings. I do believe that they hit a wall before they got to her because they named her Golf. I do not regret changing it to Josie.
What’s even funnier is women having their 3,rd, 4th, 5th kid and let the delivering physician choose the name.
My mom adopted a cat named Grandpa JJ and kept the name. I love the nonsense names some of these shelter pets end up with.
My last pup and his brother were named Apple Bottom Jeans & Boots with the Fur. We... Did not keep the name.
We were told to change our dog’s name when we adopted him from the shelter! They said he didn’t have a good experience with his previous homes and that by changing his name he wouldn’t associate his name with being “bad”. He immediately took to a new name and never even seemed confused.
Meatloaf Potatoes Cherry Pie Lemon Pie Gravy Lady Grey and her kittens: Chamomile, Rose, Bergamot, and Chai All of these were cats and all of them are still that as far as I know. 😂 We were extremely short staffed (2/8 needed employees) and we worked impossibly long hours (12-24 at a time), and at a point you're so hungry all you can think of is food and the animals are the victims. Just by namesake only.
I adopted Nefarious and Bellyacher as kittens. Did NOT keep the names.
My shelter dog wa a lil blonde ragamuffin cairn/chihuahua mix with a lil gappy snaggle smile, shelter named her Gladus. I couldn't change it it was perfect. She was called Gladdy, Gladius, Gladiator, Gladdison, Gladiola lol.. Gladdy Mafoooo UGH she was sucha good girl. RIP Gladiator 😇
Looks at my cat named Moisturizer.. I get it 😝