How terrible is it to rename your dog? *BT ref*

I know cats are different but when we got moby (at 7) we said his name an he didn't know it at all. We decided to keep it and kept using it and now he flicks his tail and comes over when we say it. Although nowadays we mostly call him "sausage" and he responds to that too!

When I was small we had a lot of rescue dogs in and my dad trained them and they went to new homes. They never had names or he didn't know them so they were all given different names which they learned and soon reacted to.

I really disagree that a puppy at 5 months will have mental problems because its names been changed.

Dogs are really clever- Our dog is called Molly, and she was 3 years old when our son came along.
Obviously they were kept apart from the beginning but as soon as he was crawling / walking etc they were always together supervised, til this day they're best friends and it's the sweetest thing ever....ANYWAY getting to my point haha, he could never pronounce her name and could only manage "oddle" til he was old enough to learn to say Molly..she responded to it everytime.
If your dog is loved and in a really good and happy environment I don't see the problem.

I didn't realise puppy was so young, if you already call her puppy 75% of the time like you say and she has 5 months to get used to being called Poppy it before a potential 'Rose' is introduced then I think she should be ok. If she was older and was used to just the one name I think it would be different.

The suggestion to trial the new name for a week and see how she responds is a good one, hopefully it will be positive. Also when the baby arrives I highly doubt you will be shouting 'Rose' with the same inflection you would for a dog (at least not until she can toddle!) so hopefully she would have well and truly gotten used to Poppy by then.

I am not a dog expert but personally I don't see the problem if you already call her Puppy most of the time. I'm sure she would respond to Poppy said in the same tone of voice, and she's young enough that I'm sure she'll have been deconditioned from responding to Rosie by the time the baby comes.

Personally I disagree that a child's name is more important than a pet's, my cat is my baby and she still will be even if/when I have a human baby. But to answer your original question, I don't think it would be so terrible.

The more I think about it the more I think don't change it. It's totally different to a re-homed dog, there's no other choice if a stray has been re-homed unless they suddenly develop the ability to talk and in most circumstances, a change of name is probably the least distressing thing a re-homed dog will have been through.

Can't you keep the name Rosie and just carry on as you are if you're calling her puppy anyway? It's easy to say a dog will come to any noise made in the right pitch but if I need to get Bubba's attention quickly i.e. if he's somewhere he shouldn't, the only way to do it is to call his name.

We have a cat called Mollie and that didn't stop us calling O Ollie even if I do look like a weirdo.

I think essentially she will get used to it but I totally disagree that a child's name is more important than a dogs. It's smacks of just having a dog until something better came along which is hugely unfair and cruel on the dog. Although I doubt (and hope) that's not what you meant that is how it has come across.

^^ This.

My oh's cousin had a dog called ted and then they had a baby boy and named the baby teddy .. it raised a few eyebrows in the family.. personally I would keep her as rosie.. but I do like the 'poppy' if she's responding to puppy.

Isn't it a bit like moving house when you have a cat? eg they are unsettled and bit anxious for a couple of weeks, and you have to keep them in the house, and then they are ok....

I think the very fact that you are asking for people's opinions shows you care about your dog OB.

Ha!

I think we all know that OB doesn't feel that the dog is just something to look at until a baby arrives.

With regards to whether you should change her name - personally I wouldn't. Not because I think it will mentally damage the dog but because I know that I really couldn't be arsed with all the questions and subsequent explanations. The admin of it (pictures of her on FB with her old name etc) would just annoy me if I was you.

Haha K, agreed!

I really don't see how any of this equals not wanting or think the dog is not important.

I’m really glad that at least some of you know I’m not a shallow cow.

Of course you aren't! She's a dog, she'll get over it. Despite what anyone says, your baby will be the most important thing in the world to you and you shouldn't feel guilty for putting her (or him) first.

I've always wanted a dog called Bond. Way before baby names were even on my radar. When time came to get a dog, we ended up with a girl so she's named after Miss Moneypenny anyway, but if it we had got a boy I had to put the idea of calling him Bond out of my mind, as now if I had a son I'd call him James. I couldn't be shouting on both of them at the same time! My personal situation is such that I am 99% sure I won't have children but there was always that small part of uncertainty in me, and I held back. It's my late father's name, so I also know that my brother may choose to use it, so again I didn't want to be shouting on my nephew and dog at the same time. I waited 30 years on a dog, so it's name was something that I thought through a lot. It makes me really sad that you didn't expect there was a possibility that you would have a daughter in the next 15 or so years of the dogs life, and gave away the only girl's name you say you will consider for a daugther.

I think you should either keep the dog's name and find another name you like for a daugther, should you have one. I don't think the dog should have to give up her name because you didn't think about it rationally. If you won't consider this, you could also 'unofficially' change the dog's name by just calling her Pups etc. the up until the baby is born, and see where you are then. Don't actively set out to change the dog's name so you won't have to change it on FB etc or cause confusion. If anybody asks you in the future say "Oh we never called her Rosie anyway, only Pups, so we thought it was fine to name the baby Rose" I may be totally wrong though, and this isn't acceptable, because I'm not a dog trainer as others appear to be.

"JAMES!"

"BOND!!!"

?

Are you finding out the sex at your next scan? Surely it can't be too far off now? Unless you are one of those people that refer to the baby in utero by its name, I wouldn't stress too much. With #1 and#2 we picked names we loved, then changed our mind the week/3 weeks before. And we had backups. Some babies come out looking like a specific name.

Our dog was renamed, not due to baby, but because her original owners called her Princess Tallulah, which was awful! He responded well. She will answer to all sorts. Even loolie girl, which is nothing like her name.

I also think its a really bad idea to change your dogs name & totally unfair.

I know you are saying you never thought a baby would happen for you so seen no need not to call your dog your favourite name, but now by wanting to change her name incase you have a girl is selfish and sounds as though your dog is no longer as important, whether you mean it in that way or not.

Ahhhh OB! What a situation. If it were me, I wouldn't change it. I don't think it's fair on Rosie in the least, this has no bearing on you as a dog mommie and I know you care and love her like all us dog mommies love our own but this is her identity, she is going to have to adapt to the new baby which is a big enough change for her.

OB, I think I understand what people are trying to say about the importance thing.

Why is it so easy for you to change the name of your dog, but not the name of a child? You say Rose is the only name you could possibly ever give to your potential daughter. But why is it not the same with your dog? If you can easily change Rosie to Poppy, why could you not, just as easily, find a different name for your potential baby girl?

For this reason, it appears that you don't care as much about your dog, as you would your child.

I know that's not the case, but I can see why some people are saying what they're saying.

For what it's worth, I agree with Ducky. Rosie is your dog, and Rose would be your daughter. I know you said that some people might choose to call your daughter Rosie instead of Rose, but I assume those people know that you have a dog already called Rosie. So I would think that, because of this, they wouldn't call your daughter Rosie too.

Personally, I don't understand why people choose to change children's names anyway. If I give my child a name, I'd expect everyone to use that name, not something else that they prefer. But that's just my beef.

I'm not a parent, and not a pet-owenr any more, but surely, surely, surely, you should care more about your child than your dog! Surely, surely, surely?

Nobody's saying that.?

Hi OB,

Congratulations on your pregnancy!! I'm not sure of your background but i imagine you've had a tough 14 months TTC if you didn't think it was going to happen.

Its a tough decision to make in whether to change Rosie's name or not - our dog is called Toby but responds to quite a few names such as Tobes, Puppy, Puppy dog or Buddy - obviously a few variations on his name but similar sounds. Could you keep her name for 'official' reasons (vets, insurance etc) and just call her by a nickname (Puppy, Posey)?

Also, have you thought about what would happen if this baby was a boy and any future babies were boys and you don't get a girl? You can't change the dogs name back and you'll loose the name similar to what you love.

I'm sure you are a fantastic dog mummy and you will do what you feel is best for your pooch AND your baby.

Good luck with this and the rest of your pregnancy. :-)

Ofcourse ultimately a parent will care more about a child than a dog. Getting a pet is often entered into lightly, without proper consideration or for many other reasons, and when children come along thought and consideration for the animal is downgraded, ultimately why many pets end up being rehomed once children arrive. I think what contributers to the thread are trying to say is that regard for shouldn't be significantly downgraded just because children are on the horizon and they need to be kept at a similar level.

I know I asked you all to be honest with me but you've made your point now. Can we just leave it?

To be thought of in the same league as someone who would rehome their pet because a baby arrived is actually really hurtful to me, and you couldn't be more wrong.

And I'm sorry, but humans are more important than animals. But that doesn't mean I love my dog any less than I did. Surely, surely you can all see that I'm struggling with it myself? And that I keep saying I haven't decided and I don't know what to do. Doesn't that tell you that I love her and want what's best for her?

Maybe I'm being over sensitive (I am tired and sick and hormonal), but I've had enough now. Please, please leave it.

Thank you to everyone who has been constructive, even if it wasn't what I was hoping to hear.

My cabbage - Your baby will arrive and you might look at her and think 'She's not a Rose at all'. My sister was adamant that her first was Jude but when he arrived he was named Alfie.

If you really think that the dog will respond well to another name and won't get confused if 'another' Rose joins the household, change it. Plenty of rescue animals have their names changed. Mum's dog was called Brandy and she changed it to Shanie.

Sorry OB, posted before I saw your last post.

I know P, no worries x

You say you want what's best for her, I believe you, but I won't say what's probably easier to hear. Leave her name ob. There's nothing to stop you using rose though x

OB, hope you dont mind me commenting as im more of a lurker than a poster,but i understand why your struggling with this.
would it be possible for you to use rose as a middle name that why you dont need to change the dogs name but you can still use the name you love, something like caitlin rose would sound really pretty

Wow that was like being in a parallel universe!

OB, I do think you're worrying a bit too much about this at the moment. I much prefer animals to people but I can't see a problem with whether you change the dog's name, have a Rose and a Rosie or whatever. Like Kochanski said, you're not about to lock the dog up and never think about it again. Five months is a long time for a pup to get used to change if you decide to change it. Stop worrying for now!

We've had dogs and didn't know their names because they were strays or left behind. Both the dogs I've had (as opposed to childhood family dogs) respond to noise, tone and inflection rather than the actual word.

I think if you want to do it, just do it.

To really mix it up I think you should call the dog 'baby'.... ?

My parents did this, when I was on the way *squirly smile emoticon* He was a ginormous, careless and boisterous dog though, and they thought he might eat me or something.

He went to a farm. I am assured that this is not a euphemism.

Hope that makes you feel better *winky emoticon*

As for renaming Rosie, I don't see how there can be much issue with it. Most rehomed dogs will be successfully renamed. And dogs are pretty savvy, man - they know what they have to do to get fed and watered, to have a place in the pack, to be warm at night. You can train them to smell cancer, I'm sure they can cope with being trianed to a new name. If you call her Puppy a lot, why not just use this? But start using the new name soon - a change of name coupled with a new family member might be a tad unnecessary.