by Travis Webster

Created on: September 11, 2009   Last Updated: September 12, 2009

There is no actual guide to naming your pet. Yeah there may be some dog naming books on the bookshelves but when it comes down to it the decision is all yours. I once heard that a dog will end up naming him/her self after a short period of having him/her home.

Let's take my dogs for example, my wife and I were watching the movie "Eight Below" and when they said the name Maya on tv our female lab mix perked her ears up so we have named her Maya. With our Golden Retriever my wife wanted to name him Miller because he is the color of her favorite beer Miller Lite. So you see names will come over time. You don't have to have one picked out before you go and pick out the dog. I think it is best to just wait and let the dog name him/her self. But if you are the type of person that likes to have the names picked out ahead then that is OK to. It is all personal preference.

As I stated earlier there are books out there that will help you by listing names that you could give to your pet(just like the books to help with baby names). One thing that that I have seen with my experience working at a vet clinic is that people will actually research different meanings for things in a different language. For instance the name Ohashi means chopsticks in Japanese. There is an endless amount of names and ways that you can come up with names out there today. There is no one item, book, or website that is the best for picking out the name for your new pet. Try each and every method that you like and make a list of the potential names that you like and have the whole family do this as well so that you have even more names to choose from. Have each person write down their top 5 or top 10 names then share them with each other once everyone is done.

These were just a few ideas on how to pick out names for a new pet. Don't get discourage if a name doesn't come to you right away. Give it time. Let your mind rest, and your eyes become uncrossed. Your family will come up with the perfect name for your perfect pet.

Learn more about this author, Travis Webster.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.