do any of use nicknames for your dogs or do you stick to your named ones? I’ve been trying to use nicknames for different situations to help with the community really so that people can’t distract my assistance dog by calling his name, but I’m struggling with selecting suitable nicknames. I have spent hours on end searching for inspiration online. Any advice please? Thank you, and sorry to post yet again.
Hi there! I have all sorts of nicknames for my dog, mainly various forms of his name, which is Simba. So I call him Timba, Timber, or other names like Pupster. I’m not exactly sure why you need a nickname, though? It’s a bit unclear from your post.
Yes I call my puppy Red, Pup Pup or Poppet or Pipplesqueak or Pipkin or Lovely. Don’t ask me why - they are just terms of endearment ‘cos I love her .
I just call my dog whatever comes to my head. The main ones are Stanners (his names Stanley), boo and devil dog. He always seems to know I want him and responds though
Hi I picked up my little baby only 2 days ago after having lost my last lab after 14 years her name is Ella so at the mo its ell hell puppy crocopup or stop hanging of the curtains you little bat but she is getting the hang of the toilet training already and went 7 hours last night without a peep the other lab we have is a chocy called beth so its choca or chocy girl
I also call Coco Hokey-Cokey, Mr C, Mr D, Mr Dog. Huggy-pup.....anything else that pops into my head. tee hee
I use various names, and use them in a very happy sing-song way..." this way! Bramblelina Bambalina!" A sort of play on her name really
I think tone of voice and Who's voice it is is important rather than the name. You might not have a problem. I wouldn't "force" a nickname. You don' want to confuse him either.
Rourke is know as Porkie (but he isn't fat!!!) and one I had years ago called Inga was Ingy, Bingy Bots. Why not just Mr or Mrs and the first letter of their name?
Cassie's nickname is Tootsie, it's a welsh word for sweet little darling type thing, but I don't know how they spell it, she knows it for sure but it's only me that says it to her.
Everyday affectionate Brogan nicknames: Handsome Pants Sweet Pea Big Man Brogie Bear Buddy When he'd done something naughty, silly or involving bodily gases: Oh...duuuuuude!?!
Willow is The Duchess, Monkey Moo, Willowitz, Beautiful Laaayyyyydee... Shadow is Señor Cuddlebum, Nibbly Noo, Handsome Man, Shadowitz, Snugglebum... Luna is Squidge, Squidgebit, PigDog, Hippo, Fatty Fatty Bum Bum and Ohmigodwhathaveyougotnow.
We have tons of nicknames and they all started randomly from her name, which is Quinn. The most popular are Quindle, Quinston, Splin, Splick, Splicky, Mini, Moo, Boo. I mostly call her “Mini”(from Quinny Mini Moo). My OH calls her Splick and I can’t even remember how that started. She answers to anything if we use the same tone, but we use her actual name for recall/training.
It's pretty fun seeing everyone's nicknames and you'll organically come up with some of your own, but I agree with @drjs@5 that using nicknames to keep your dog from getting distracted is probably a little out there...though creative! Usually with an assistance dog, you have a physical signal (such as cape or special leash) that tells the dog he's on duty and pretty reliably puts a trained dog in work mode. If I saw Brogan start to get sidetracked by something he shouldn't, I used to make a clicking noise with my mouth or simply touch him on the side of his face to redirect his attention. He was a very soft boy, so that was usually enough to have his attention back on me. I don't know how you like to 'work a crowd' with Baloo, but another thing I found helpful was teaching 'don't touch', 'say hi' and 'go play' in the context of working. 'Don't touch' = keep walking at a tight heel at my side and don't even think about looking at that dog/kid/cow. 'Say hi' = stay onleash and calm but approach the person calling you and let them pet you. 'Go play' = I'm taking you off leash now so go nuts and act like a dog. Early in my training, I had the idea that an assistance dog always had to be fully focused on duty and didn't know what to do if people wanted to pet Brogan while wearing his vest. I was really relieved when my trainer said he wasn't like a guide dog who needed to be 100% "on" or risk endangering his handler. The trainer could see how much Brogan LOVED his admirers when we were out and felt it would hurt his spirit if he was constantly kept from being social. She recommended that I could choose to let Brogan have contact with the public in a controlled way - so the 'go play'/don't touch system was born. I'm not saying you should do that as it may not work with how Baloo supports you, but just to say there's lots of options. Maybe even the nickname thing, who knows?
When I’m walking my GD pup and someone makes to stroke/pat/distract the pup I say “leave it” in a clear voice to the pup. This usually sorts the human out too!
Wow thanks for all replies, a lot of inspiration there. Emily_BabbelHund you speak well about how we work too. Sounds very similar actually. I notice you don’t have dog at current?
No, my boy Brogan (in my avatar) passed away nearly two years ago. He was a mobility assistance dog and my best buddy. I'm making my way towards my next dog at a snail's pace thus my tagline of "longest on the forum without an actual dog'. Someday I'll find my boy and join everyone here in the crocopup craziness.
