We are about to take ownership of an 11 month old dog who has already been named by the original owner.

We are wondering if would be o.k. to change the name of the dog at this stage of the dogs life to a name that we have chosen ourselves, or should we just stick with the name that has been assigned to the dog already.

We got murphy at the age of 10 -11months, he came to us called henry, but didn't really respond to it so we just started calling him murphy, giving him a treat every time he responded to his name, jsut like you would a pup . He's 15months now and is very responsive to his new name and looks completely blanjk if you call him henry, so i think its perfectly ok to change a dog's name at this stage. More often than not they respond to the tone of your voice rather than the actually word anyway.

Dogs adapt quite easily to a name changes. My own answer to a variety of names including "Oi" :D If you think of the thousands of dogs that pass through rescue homes every year, many arrive without names and only get one when their new owners adopt them.

Hi

A name is just another word to a dog.  I acquired a 3 year old rescue and renamed him.  YOu have to remember that sometimes if the dog has had a bad experience in the past, that the name is often the last thing they hear before getting walloped.  A lot of people who take rescue dogs rename them.  It may take a little while for you and the dog to get used to the new name but you both will.  Good luck.

No problem at all - I renamed a year old chow I got years back. We changed the name to something totally different sounding and with a bit of bribery and corruption he responded to it within a few hours. He actually didn't respond to his old name at all after a day or two.

I dont even think they recognise their name only the tone of your voice when you say it :D

Mine get called allsorts rarely their proper name and they respond quite readily ;)
My husband speaks welsh to the dogs and can get them to sit/down/come in both English and Welsh its the tone of his voice stays the same and possibly the actions too!

IMHO I dont think changing a name is neccesary , it's there identity and should be kept the way it is. I mean i don't like my name , Manny , pshh but it was given to me so changing it would just feel awkward. No name is bad , unless its something like killer or murderer!

I wouldn't change his name if he's had it since young puppy hood , only if it was recently decided or an unwanted giveaway rescue then it's okay to be changed

Glazby came to us as Bruce when we got him at 18 months and we changed him to Glazby.  Did it the same was as described in the posts above - lots of treats when he responded to it.  Didn't take long at all and I think it might have been his 3rd name as on his microchip papers it had him down as Scratch - I think something to do with the scar he has on his head bless him.

Ditto to the rest. I got Beano at 2 years old. He was called Peter. Changed it to Beano, near enough straight away and he was responding to it within hours. There is no problems changing their names at all.
HTH
Lea :)

I had a 2 year old rescue, we changed his name as he wouldn't respond to his old one (bad memories ;) ) He actually didn't respond to us very well until we changed his name, as if he knew then he was staying :D
As for dogs not recognising their names...  my present dogs respond to their own names and general calls, but they don't respond to each other's names (I often get them mixed up)  ;) they just look at me as if I'm daft :) :)  - they're probably right :D

HI Manny

Dogs don't think like we do!!!  They don't see their name as their identity - just another word.  To change a dog's name when it goes to a new home is actually quite a good thing because you are starting from scratch.  It is best to try and not anthromorphosise when dealing with dogs - they don't know how to be human and that is where a lot of the behaviour problems start - when people treat them like humans or expect them to think like us.  Changing a dog's name will do it no harm whatsoever whether it comes from an abused home or not.

Kind regards
Annie

Our GSD bitch came to us named Turner(as in Turner & Hooch)she never responded to it & now happily has a female name that she does respond to

When I got Barnie, he was 4 and I could not come with another name, so it stayed with him. However, we call our staffie all kind of names, Sam and stinky are his main ones and he responds to whatever we call him, think it may be the tone that we use.

I agree - all my chow thought was "If she says that word, I get a treat... whoopee!" I think if you called most dogs sh*thead in a nice tone of voice, they'd respond positively. Though some dogs learn more words than others - I used to have a collie cross who if I asked her to fetch one of her toys, she reliably knew by name about 15 different ones. It was her party piece.

Years ago we had a Yorkie bitch who came to us at about 2 years old, she was called Charlie, but my mum thought it was too much of a boy's name, so replaced the "Ch" with a "Sh" to become Sharley, she took to it really well because it was just a subtle change.

No problem with re-naming a dog.  I rehomed a 10 month old dog who was called Max, well after standing in the middle of a field calling out 'Maxie' at the top of my voice and realising that it sounded like I was calling out for a sanitary towel (sorry about that if you're eating !) I decided to change his name pretty quick - he actually took to his new name and responded within a week which was a relief :D

Kids named our dog Paris (after Paris Hilton I think - make of that what you will!) but they also call her Pooky, pup and Pal and she answers willingly to all as well as when I say "where's that daft dog?"

lol @ boxer mum

Mine answer to each others names quite happily, also Oi you, Dogs, Pesky Puppy, Puddles, and so on....! :-D

Our dog and three cats also respond to their names and several nicknames.  The only problem, if you can even call it a problem, is that some people wonder just what the heck the animal's name is.

With several stray cats and dogs we have assigned names and it usually didn't even take a treat for them to know we were addressing them, just a friendly tone of voice.  So I think name changing will not confuse your dog.

My dogs are all called Dogs, Puppies, and Plonker (and each Plonker has a number, starting with 1 for Dandy and ending with 9 for Rambo the youngest). They all listen to that as well as their own names. :D :D Having said that, there is no doubt that they each know exactly who is who when the correct name is used -for instance I can open the back door, have 7 big dogs outside wanting to come in, speak one name and the right dog only will come inside, even though all the others are wanting to come as well. But I agree it is the tone of voice and also the fact that it is YOUR vocie, the one they know so well, that matters most. One of my dogs had her photo taken for a newspaper the other week, and the photograher was trying to get her attention (to get her ears up) by calling her name. She didn't take a blind bit of notice.

<<I can open the back door, have 7 big dogs outside wanting to come in, speak one name and the right dog only will come inside>>

I have visions of you standing at the back door shouting "Come in Plonker number 5, your time is up" he-he!

>I have visions of you standing at the back door shouting "Come in Plonker number 5, your time is up" he-he!

LOL!! :D Well I have been known to do silly things like calling out "Plonker one to base!" at dog training instead of "Dandy come"......

>>Well I have been known to do silly things like calling out "Plonker one to base!" at dog training instead of "Dandy come"......

ROFL!!!! :-D

We changed our staffies name when we got him from the rescue centre at two years old. He was called Kai but didn't respond to it at all, if you called Kai he would run away and hide so we renamed him Rambo. He responded really well to his new name, it didn't take him very long to adjust. He also responds to all the nick names that have been thrown in during the past 3 years.

We kept Toby's name when we got him, just cos we thought it suited him!  We sometimes call him 'Toby Tiddles' as in 'Toby tiddles all over the kitchen floor' which he did frequently when we first got him :p

I've got a Rambo as well! :D

Hi Goldmali,

What breed is Rambo? I've got to ask you what made you choose the name Rambo? I still haven't figured out how we picked that name! everybody that we meets comments on his name but he seems to like it especially when they start fussing over him!

He's a Malinois. :) It was hubby who picked his name, to go alongside his other  family with names from films, LOL. Mother is Ripley (from the Alien films), half brother is Arnie (as in Schwarzenegger) and so he was Rambo as in the Stallone character, LOL! It all started when I got Ripley and needed a name for a tough bitch (one of the reasons for why I got into the breed was that I wanted a dog that would guard the house) and somebody said well Ripley in Alien was a tough bitch, ROFL. :D