# Changing names?



## LDMomma (Mar 28, 2009)

Do you think it's too late to change Riley's name?

She came to us in September and we named her Riley then. Before that, her name was Emmy Lou but she did not know that as her name so it doesn't really count.

Anyways, I really wish we would have named her Ruby instead of Riley. Do you think it's be okay to change her name? (She knows her name is Riley now).


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## TillyHeart (Jan 1, 2011)

I loveee riley, how funny i was just telling my husband that i wish we named our cat riley instead of sadie. Of course she is now 6 years old so that would be too late for sure. September isn't that long but if she's used to it she might get confused?


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## Chiboymom (Jul 8, 2009)

You could change it gradually, like call her Riley Ru and Ruby Ri and then just go to Ruby...Draco has so many nicknames, he responds to all of them. I'm sure they react to the tone of voice as well to the actual name.


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## Amandarose531 (Aug 9, 2010)

I agree, my two respond to quite a few things.

Gretel has tons of nicknames but primarily Gee is her nickname and we call Godric G but they both respond individually.

Just takes time.


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## Dragonfly (Jun 6, 2010)

It's funny because I got my first dog when I was 11ish and wanted a boy because I saw Turner and Hooch and I wanted to name the dog Hooch. We picked out a dog and he went to get fixed before bringing him home. Well they made a mistake (the pound) and they told us it was girl they had Male written down...so we took her anyways and I named her Pooch instead of Hooch. Well over the years she had nicknames and without ever discussing it her name being changed it just became Pooey. (Which isn't any better than Pooch Lmao) but because Pooch was so boring she had a ton of nicknames and Pooey just stuck on her. So I agree if you're going to change it, I would give her a nickname of it first.....like Riley Ru Ru, then start calling her Ruby from there after a bit. I think it can get confusing but at the same time my girls each have a million nicknames and when I say "May" Kizzie knows I'm talking about Shayley (Shay's middle name is May) so they are pretty smart to know their different nicknames too. Good luck! 

Maybe you can keep Riley as her first name and her middle name Ruby..... Riley Ruby. lol Or Ruby Riley.... because Shayley & Kizzie are Shayley May and Kizzie Fae and I say "FAE" or "MAY" all the time lol Sorry if I'm getting confusing or silly! Just a thought!


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## Adrienne (Apr 3, 2009)

when we got Quark his name was Tux. I hated it. so Gradually we switched it to Quark. he was about 4 years old at the time


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## KittyD (Apr 2, 2010)

Well slightly unrelated but my daughter is named Ruby 
And we have always called her Roo as a pet name, and it's just funny because we have a Roo here, Paula's Chi! ha ha

Goodluck! Ruby is an awesome name, I love it! so retro.


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## foggy (Oct 12, 2009)

I think you can change is easily really, as others have said, just incorporate it as a nickname with her name for awhile.  I have SO many nicknames I call mine and they know them all, hehe. 



KittyD said:


> Well slightly unrelated but my daughter is named Ruby
> And we have always called her Roo as a pet name, and it's just funny because we have a Roo here, Paula's Chi! ha ha
> 
> Goodluck! Ruby is an awesome name, I love it! so retro.


Ha, this gets even more funny as my nickname for Roo is Ruby! :lol:


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## huskyluv (Oct 24, 2008)

Definitely can change the name at any age. We changed our husky's name when we adopted him at the age of two (we didn't know his name since we adopted him from a shelter where he was picked up as a stray). At the age of 5 I started using his nickname almost all the time and now he responds to both his name and his nickname which are two totally different words. lol Never too late!


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

May I ask how long it takes for them to learn their name?


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## TillyHeart (Jan 1, 2011)

I noticed tilly coming to her name like the second week I had her. I think it depends on how much u say it. I tried to say it to her alot and call her using it, and when I taught her to fetch and stuff I used it alot. Anytime I praise her I used her name. I don't know how it goes typically because I'm new at this. She was named Jazz by the breeder though and took to tilly right away.


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## foggy (Oct 12, 2009)

jesuschick said:


> May I ask how long it takes for them to learn their name?


I think it really depends on the dog. Some will pick it up very quickly, others will take longer. My Roo learns words very fast, faster than any dog I've had. They even remarked to me about it when I got her. She picks up what words are associated with very quickly, whereas Pip takes a little longer to catch on. When I got Pip his name was Squeak, which I didn't like. I changed it to Pip and Roo knew his name before he did. :lol: I would say Pip and Roo would look at him while Pip was like huh? hehe.


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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

Yes you can no one in my house calls ninja by his name we all call him "sonny" totally diff from ninja and he responds to both! I also call him Son all the time


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## catz4m8z (Aug 28, 2008)

I think most dogs have more then one name dont they??
You could try and practice recall arond the house with treats and incorporate the new name.
Hannahs has morphed over time and now she responds to her name and several variations including Banana Boots!


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## LDMomma (Mar 28, 2009)

I was more worried about her vet records/insurance.

We currently call her Rabbi. For a while I was calling her Riley Roo but stopped because I have a niece that's nicknamed Roo.

I think it took 2-3 days for her to realize she was "Riley."

However, DH is now against changing her name so I think she's gonna stay Riley.


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## FurKidMommy (Nov 13, 2010)

I like both names. Like many others here, ours have different nicknames. Chassie, Turbo, and Bella came with their names, but I changed Wizard's from Bones (not cool when he was super skinny) and Willow's from Julie.


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## LadyJ (Aug 20, 2010)

Sure you can change a dog's name. Just call her Riley Ruby or Ruby Riley for a while until she gets used to the sound of it and then gradually drop the Riley. If a dog gets lost or something like that and winds up with people who don't know it's name, it has to learn a new name and they do without any problem. My dogs have always had nicknames that they know and respond to just like their names. I'm sure Cosmo thinks one of his names is "good dog" because that's what the kids say to him all the time. I called Lacy "Pretty Girl" as much as I called her Lacy and she knew it was her name. Lavender responds to "Lav" and "Baby Girl." They pick up on a name pretty quickly.


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## LadyJ (Aug 20, 2010)

foggy said:


> I think it really depends on the dog. Some will pick it up very quickly, others will take longer. My Roo learns words very fast, faster than any dog I've had. They even remarked to me about it when I got her. She picks up what words are associated with very quickly, whereas Pip takes a little longer to catch on. When I got Pip his name was Squeak, which I didn't like. I changed it to Pip and Roo knew his name before he did. :lol: I would say Pip and Roo would look at him while Pip was like huh? hehe.


hahaha ... yes, they know who is who ... my dogs always knew everyone's name, they knew Cali Rose was the ferret and Max was the guinea pig. If I said those names the dogs went to the animal or it's cage. Cosmo and Lavender know each other's names and if I call one of them, the other will look at the one called. They also know who Brianna is (my granddaughter) and sons, Trent and Darin. They get excited if I say Brianna, Trent, or Darin and run to the door expecting the person to be coming in. They are smart!


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## kimr (Nov 14, 2010)

Poor little Gracie rarely ever gets called by her real name. I pulled back the covers to the bed to dig her out one day, and she looked just like a Twinkie laying there, and for some reason, that has really stuck. Her name was Lolly Pop before we rescued her, but she never seemed to recognize that name. We changed it to Gracie in an effort to give her a fresh start...New name, new life...And somewhere along the line, she became a Twinkie!

I wish I had changed Pedro's name, but he had actually been through so much in his little life that I didn't want to stress him out by changing it.


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## Lou_lou (Jul 23, 2009)

When I first got baby she was a year old and her name was blackie! There was no way I was going to shout blackie when I took her out haha so it had to be changed, and baby was the only thing she responded too, she doesn't recognise the name blackie now. She has some pretty strange nicknames too. boobie sue and dobbie (she has the same ears as dobbie the house elf from harry potter) 
My husband has a lot of nickname for perry that don't match his name, champ, sport and kid. He doesn't respond to anything other the russle of a food bag tho lol


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## Chimom4 (Sep 26, 2010)

I have one dog ( another rescue) who was picked up as a cruelty case and we have no idea what her name was before she was picked up. Her foster from the SPCA named her Reese, but when we got her we named her Chloe. It just felt right. She picked up on it right away and never had any issues learning her new name. It was so easy in fact that I sometimes wonder if that was actually her name before! Or at least maybe something similar. She was approximately 4 or 5 years old when we got her according to our vet, although we have no way of knowing for sure.


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