Why should you bother to name your dog? Well, everybody does, and its cute to be able to choose a suitable name you can use to call your puppy. It just seems right. But dog trainers will tell you there is much more to naming your dog than that. Above all, you use your dog's name to start every communication you have with your dog. It's how he knows to pay attention to what you have to say. Amid everything else that may be going on around you and your dog, its how you make contact. And yes, it just seems right because its how people naturally talk to each other as well. Listen to how your children almost always start their conversations with you by getting your attention first. They will say "Mom" or "Dad" first. That way they make contact with you, and just you, out of all the other people in the room, and you will stop and pay attention to what they have to say - well, most of the time, anyway!

Naming your puppy is more than just fun, then, it's vital to your future communication with your puppy. Right from the start, you should get your puppy used to his name, and make a firm habit of starting every conversation with him by using his name. You want him to learn to "listen up and pay attention" whenever he hears his name. You are going to be giving your commands with his name first, like: Buddy - Fetch, Blue - Sit, Fido - Come, or Lassie - Stay. That way if you are having a family conversation about going for a walk, your dog will not be alerted that you are talking to him and have reason to get excited. That is until you call his name and send him off to fetch his walking lead. Mind you, your dog is smart, and if you have a similar conversation before every time you give him that command and take him for a walk he will soon figure out the association! Now we have a purpose for a name, what sort of name should we choose? First off, eliminate all the commands you might use: stay, sit, stand, walk, come, fetch, and so on. And avoid any duplication or similarity with other names being used in your family circle. Avoid Red if you already have a Fred, for example. Other common words that often enter your family's every day conversation are also best avoided. The name has to be distinctive, and just for getting the attention of that one puppy. Confusion will follow if your puppy hears his name when its not being used to call him to attention.

Next, you should choose a short name that can't be abbreviated. Calling him Macgregor one minute and Mac the next is another path to confusion. Its best to limit the name to three syllables at most, preferably only one or two. If your puppy has a formal pedigree he may have a very long name given to him by his breeder. Leave that on his papers and for the show ring, and start afresh for his day-to-day name. Remember you will have to call him from afar at times. A short sharp name that will carry will make that a lot easier for you. And a name you will not be embarrassed to have your neighbors hear you yelling out may be wise as well. Perhaps you should think carefully before choosing a name like Dumbo, or anything a little on the rude or politically incorrect side! That is why short and sharp names like Pal, King, Queen, Ace, Prince, Red, Spot, Mutt, Spike, Jess and Joe have been popular over the years.

Some families like their dog to inherit a name from an earlier family dog. You may instead want to choose a name that reflects your puppy's own unique character. Often a puppy's behavior or appearance will suggest a name: Dash, Digger, Patch, Snow, Rolly or Bossy are examples. The breed and the country it came from may suggest a name: perhaps the classic Fifi for a poodle, or Danny for an Irish setter. Also keep in mind that cute little ball-of-fluff puppy will grow up. A huge and proud Great Dane hardly fits a cute puppy name like Fluffy anymore! Your choice of name should last your dog's lifetime. Especially if you have a young family, popular movie, music, book or cartoon characters and stars will come to the fore in your name discussions. And news headlines, villains, heroes and fashions come and go. These sources of ideas keep refreshing your choices of names beyond the traditional well-used range. By all means be different!

What if you are adopting a stray dog? Try as many commonly used dog names as you can think of and see if one of them makes your dog immediately pay attention to you. You may just get lucky and find he was well trained to respond to his old name. It's worth the effort. It could save you a lot of training work. But you will almost certainly have to retrain your dog to the commands you want to use anyway. Teaching him to respond to a new name is just one of the steps. Take your time over your choice of name for your dog. You will use it a lot over your dog's lifetime. If it seems to fit your dog comfortably, and is distinctive and practical to use, your dog and his name will soon become inseparably identified with each other.