What’s in a name?

“That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”, William Shakespeare.

The whole idea of a puppy learning it’s name and hence learning to come to it’s name, Max, Clyde, Fido,  is one of the most interesting examples of how dogs learn and what dogs learn.  Most puppy owners have been schooled to use the puppy’s name frequently, with great repetition, to teach the puppy its name. The premise is that by repeating the sounds that make up the name, the dog will come to know that the name means itself.

“Romeo, Romeo? Hey that’s me!”

This presupposes that dogs have a sense of self, separate from other things, which I don’t think they do.  To me, dogs and especially puppies, are totally connected to the entire web of life;  there is no way they can feel separate from anything.  They can’t step outside themselves like we can and understand themselves relative to other beings.  Therefore, they can’t know their names like we do.

Don’t we all remember as kids learning the alphabet and times tables through repetition? What tedious work, especially for those who didn’t have Sesame Street.

What was it like when you were out playing with your friends and your mother called you? Was anyone ever excited by that?  When I was in real trouble, my mother would attach my middle name to the “recall”, Yikes, I knew something very unpleasant was about to happen.  I wonder if this is how most dogs feel when they hear their name.

What I have heard over and over is that puppies that for months “knew” or “had” the recall down, suddenly reach a point where they no longer come when called.   Where as before they would eagerly run to the owner, now they “balk”.  This is often called “adolescence”, which is a way of explaining the phenomenon without explaining it. After all, when we turn 13,  do we  forget the times tables or rebel against them? If dogs learn through repetition how do they suddenly unlearn something so crucial and important as their name? Hmmm, very interesting.

Since I’m raising Hero the Natural Dog Training way, I never use her name. Never.   Instead, I go goofball.  She’s been called;  Little stink pot, Little tank, My little bear, Pumpkin, Ms. Mighty Bite, Ms. Shark,  Piranha Puppy, Poopsy, Tootsie roll, Puppsy Wuppsy, so and and so forth. I don’t use her name. I didn’t with her brother either (he still has a million names but I won’t affront his dignity by printing any), and his name, Athos, is the most riveting word to him in the universe.  It’s because his name means; “Come to the most exciting thing in the universe and all your deepest desires will  be satisfied”. ( Usually it’s a bite toy).

So instead of teaching Hero her name, I concentrate on being the most exciting thing in the universe. Right now, it’s a real ego boost because I don’t have to do anything. Sooner or later though, her attraction will begin to drift from me, and then I will have to work to keep it. That’s what happens when dogs who have known their names all along suddenly forget it. They don’t forget it, they just think it means,” Go to the most exciting thing in the world!” and guess what? It’s no longer the owner.

I will reserve Hero’s name for the time when she has totally committed all her energy to me and it will be a trigger to come and get it! She’ll feel her name as a release to fulfillment, not as a interruption to her fun. It will feel good; it will energize her; it will make her feel like a rocket ship taking off and zooming home.

Of course not teaching a puppy her name right away can be scary. We’ve all been told that we must be consistent and that we must imprint all these millions of things onto our puppies asap or they’ll grow up to be raving maniacs.  I know that not to be true.  That’s part of what this blog is all about. To raise a dog naturally, in accordance with a dog’s nature, and to document it.  The most important thing for me in raising Hero is to imprint her with the feeling I can be trusted.  In order to do that, I must trust the goodness in her; I have to trust her nature. And I do.

So think up all the ridiculous names you can think of and use them liberely. It’s fun. The puppy smells just as sweet.