Choosing dog names is a lot of fun, and something to play around with. After all, we call them out many times a day!

I would never use “Killer” or “Stupid” things of that sort, because I don’t want to thinking of my dog in that way all day long. Sure, you don’t think of the meaning of the name every time you use it, but there it is.

Two-syllable dog names are nice, as they roll off your tongue most easily. Whatever you choose, let it reflect the dog and be easy to say!

Then there are the nicknames that dogs acquire too.

I love looking through books on pet names, and we named our cat Nia from one of them.

I don’t generally favor names that are also human’s names but Martha and Dorrie came to us like that. Martha was a large German Shepherd/Malamute so we called her Martha Moose or just Moose as well. She was also timid despite her intimidating looks, so that led to Martha Mouse on occasion. So did Lola and Nicky.

Dorrie barked at everything, so since she was our doorbell, we often called her Dorrie Belle.

Larry came to us as Spike. That didn’t suit him and wasn’t our preferred two syllables so he eventually became Larry and that gradually changed to LarryDog.

Cider was the color of cider. We also called her Dorfums, for no good reason.

Teddy Bear was a bundle of fluff like a teddy bear. That led to Ted, Teddums, and Mr. Bear.

Sunbeam crowed like a rooster rather than barked — like all Basenjis. That got her the nickname of “the roo.” She was also Sunbeamer.

Here’s a good pet name book: