Avoid Command Words
Names that sound like “sit,” “stay,” “heel,” “no,” and “come” could be easily confused by your pup. Imagine how tough it would be to get your dog to stay if they are named “Fay” or how difficult it would be to get them to sit if their name was “Mitt”.
Multi-syllabic names are usually shortened to nicknames, so that's not a problem: “Footloose and Fancy Free” becomes “Lucy,” and “Bonnie Wee Lass” is just Bonnie. Even nicknames are fine – a dog has no problem with happy associations with many different name-sounds.
They hear names with two syllables and initial letters such as “CH, S, SCH, SH or K” better than long dog names. Dog names ending with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) are also recommended. Put simply, dogs hear names like Charley, Sugar, Colly much better than Knecht-Ruprecht or Jeremy-Pascal.
Start by getting your dog's full attention by cheerfully calling their name. Once your dog is focused on you, use the call command. As soon as your dog starts walking in your direction, shower them with praise. You can do that by cheering, jumping with joy, or talking in a breezy, high-pitched voice.
They won't respond to their name when you call them and likely won't even acknowledge the sound of their name. However, as time goes on, they begin to learn and eventually start responding to their name all the time.
It's no surprise that 'walkies' scooped the top spot, with a dog's heart rate increasing by a whopping 36% every time they hear the phrase. Other words that make our four-legged friends the happiest include 'treat', 'get it', 'fetch' and 'get your toy'.
If your dog has a calm demeanor and tends to be always at peace, you can either choose a name that directly means “calm” or one that means “serene” or “peaceful.” Great examples of such names are “Milo” and “Tully” for male dogs or “Irene” and “Olive” for female dogs.
Even if a pet has had a name for years, if you don't like “Keller”, “Gin,” or “Juice”, the Motley Zoo staff and volunteers tell adopters it's okay to come up with a new name for your new pet. “I feel like 99 percent of the time it's completely okay to rename your pet,” says Thomas.
Dogs also have difficulty distinguishing like-sounding words from each other, so if any of your nicknames sound similar to their original name, your dog likely thinks that they are the same word.
Yes, your dog knows how much you love him! Dogs and humans have a very special relationship, where dogs have hijacked the human oxytocin bonding pathway normally reserved for our babies. When you stare at your dog, both your oxytocin levels go up, the same as when you pet them and play with them.
Your dog might jump on you, lick your face, and they'll definitely wag their tail. Being excited and happy to see you is one way you can be assured they love and miss you. They seek physical contact. This can come in the form of a quick nuzzle, a cuddle, or the famous lean.
Dogs have a unique way of saying 'thank you' to their humans from licking, sniffing to cuddling. "Dogs are often called man's best friend for a good reason.
Dogs don't shake hands like people do, they use their nose to say hello. So, hold your hand in a fist so they can approach and sniff if they choose.
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
Although the bases of this ability remain to be established, our observations suggest that dogs can categorize human gender in both visual/olfactory and auditory modalities.
One-syllable names are a win-win: they're easy for your puppy to comprehend—and for you to say! These types of names, such as "Rex" or "Bear," have short and choppy sounds, which make dogs respond quickly, according to Rover. Names with two syllables are ideal as well.