I have a “thing” about naming things, for some reason, it is really important to me. For instance, with my four Border Collies, Piper came named “Blackie”, which not only offended my creative sensibilities but was socially awkward.
One of the first jobs I did with him was rescue four Pekin ducks off Jefferson Lake in Forest Park during the middle of the day and I was running around as the sole white woman yelling her head off to “Blackie way to me! And Blackie come bye, and Blackie LIE DOWN!” … it was beyond awkward.
So after many weeks of pondering, I named him WyndSong’s Pied Piper, as he leads his charges to the water but they can swim and do not die.
When he tragically died at the age of 4 of bone and cartridge cancer, I imported Anna from Nova Scotia, who was named Angelica, so her registered name with me was WyndSong’s Piper’s Angel, I just lost her about a year ago.
Then I got Quill in NC, she already had a cool name, so I kept it, and she is WyndSong’s Feather Brained Quill (she is the dog that I still have, who is my right arm, she is my Village Idiot).
And between her and Anna, I bought “Rock” from New Orleans – he went thru Katrina on a chain on top of his dog house up to his neck in water – and as a result, is completely sound phobic and cannot work. A gun shot, a car back firing, thunder – he is GONE. So I placed him with a duck rescue friend of mine and he is a therapy dog for hospice now and in great demand.
I named him WyndSong’s Mystic Merlyn, because I thought that he needed some magic in his life. I used to call him Merz Goodwill.
I will stop at the Border Collies … I have had so many pets over the years and they all have names. So have my cars, and my canoe (Bella) (non-imaginative, since it is a Bell, but whatever …).
Dorene, slightly deranged
Dorene, TARA Training and Behavior, LLC, www.doreneolson.com 314.956.1310