I needed a distraction this week from, well, you know, so I started thinking about the nicknames we give to our dogs, and why we use them. We all grow up with nicknames for ourselves,our friends, and family, which can be supportive and fun (Star, Champ), or demeaning (Four Eyes, Fatso). I found this article by Marlene Ritchie to be an interesting summary of all the ways that nicknames can reflect intimacy, belonging (or not), affection, and bullying. As such, they can have a big effect on a child so labeled by their peers–either for good or for bad.
What then, about the nicknames that we give our dogs? I thought it’d be fun to play the nickname game, and think about the names we give to our dogs.
Here are our nicknames for our two Border Collies:
MAGGIE: Maggie/Maggie, Maggie Mae, Magdeline, Miss Maggie, Miss Magdeline, Princess Maggie, and The Divine Miss M.
Can’t miss the trend, can you? First, that we adore Maggie, second, that we spoil her, and third, that she appears to consider it her due. Maggie is oh so very sensitive, a la The Princess and the Pea, (thus “Princess Maggie”). She also seems to assume that endless belly rubs are part and parcel of being royalty. (Thus, yet again, “Princess Maggie.)
I’m not holding her up here, she gets in this position herself. I’m just rubbing her belly.
SKIP: Skip/Skip, Skipperkee, Skipperdoodle, Skipperdeedoodah, Mr. Skip, and, when he first played like a jerk with Maggie, D___Head.
These nicknames, especially the second, third, and fourth, perfectly reflect Skip’s exuberant, joyful, and sometimes goofy nature. His very name actually is a nickname–he came as Ace but we renamed him Skip because I like the name Skip better for a dog, and, wait for it . . . he actually skips. I’ve never seen a dog do the equivalent of skipping and/or clicking his heels, but Skip does it when he’s overwhelmed with happiness, usually when he’s about to go do something fun. He’s also a charming idiot, being the dog who has created, single-handedly, the phrase “suicide by fence”.
That last nickname, with my apologies, comes from his habit early on of slamming into Maggie full bore, face radiating with joy and exuberance, then waiting for Maggie to move forward again. He always looked so confused at why she didn’t want to keep playing. I’m happy to say Prince Maggie is as smart as she his playful, so eventually she taught him to play more politely.
Good luck to me getting a photo of Skip skipping. This is the closest I could come, of Skip leaping toward the barn when I said okay.
Since I couldn’t get a good photo of Skip doing this thing, I thought I’d just add in this one of him looking handsome. I should probably add “Prince” to his set of nicknames.
Okay, your Turn! I’d love it if you told us not your dog’s or dogs’ nicknames, but why they have them. What does it say about them? About your relationship? By the way, it’s fun to keep of record of these. Here’s a post on nicknames that I did 2.5 years ago, before we got Skip, and when we still had Tootsie. Made me all gooey.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Easter Sunday gifted us with a beautiful sunny day, although a tad nippy in the morning. (About 10 degrees F below freezing.) But there is some color outside, though you have to look closely. Mostly it’s brown and grey except for greening grass, but some of my small bulbs are blooming.
This photo of Scilla required lying down on the ground and using my close up lens:
Here are a few of the crocus that the rabbits didn’t eat:
There’s not much springier around here than new lambs! Here’s from BYB Stockdogs outside of Portage where we often go to practice on bigger fields (mine is tiny, tiny compared to even a small trial field). These three lambs were sunning in a soft, comfy bed of straw, and are pretty much the definition of cute.
We have an Easter tradition with friends David and Julie of dying and hunting for eggs (boys against girls). We had a great time, as usual, I highly recommend letting yourself be a kid again when you can. Here are our eggs:
And here is the best hiding place ever: (If I do say so myself.) I didn’t get a photo of the entire room (darn), but this egg was “hidden” in full view on the living room rug. It was in the middle of the room, in complete and utter plain sight. But who looks there for a hidden egg? The boys searched and searched, practically stepping on it over and over again. They couldn’t find it until we gave them a clue. Which was hard, because we were laughing so hard we could barely talk. 
So, it’s to you! Nicknames, and why. [And . . . how do you channel being a kid again?]
[One last thing I feel compelled to say: I do indeed need distractions from the events of the world, but spend some of my time and resources doing what I can to try to help. We all have to navigate what’s happening around us the best we can; I’ve just found that I have to do something every day/week to help others, but also to help myself; otherwise you’d find me licking my paws in a corner somewhere.]
Jackie D says
Lucy: Norty Lucy, Bog Spaniel, Cloth Ears, Deaf Dog (not polite but at least it tells people why we are shouting so loudly!)
Twix (RIP): Mad Dog, Fang, Dr Twix, Twixie, Daft Dog,
Falco: his long nickname is Marcus Didius Falco – but that’s just in writing, strangely I can’t think of any nicknames we use day to day.
Margaret says
Kate is Kittykate, the Walking Hairball, Puffball, Furball (bet no one could guess she’s a Keeshond), Puff the Magic Dragon, babygirl, and a couple I’m not prepared to admit to in a public forum.
I actually use Kittykate as her Recall cue in Obedience. It gives me two more syllables to get her attention before I give the actual, scorable, cue. And it has such a strong reinforcement history that she comes like a bullet, since it hasn’t been diluted or turned into white noise.
Nina’s long, elegant Flat-Coat head earned her the name of Needlenose. I saved Ninanoodles for her mushier moments. God, I miss her.
Alex says
Our first dog / heart dog Pip:
Mr Pips
Pip Rock
Notorious P.I.P.
Pipster
Michelle says
Poppy is Pop, Pop-Pop, Popsicle, Pop-si-daisy, Pop-aroni
Shawna H. says
Sonny: Sonny Boy; Sun Dog: Sunshine; Sonny Spanokapita; Sonny Mo Money
Rosa: Rosalita; Rammy Rosa; Rosa Mimosa
And I also call them “my darlings!”
Teresa Assenzo says
Molly is an English Setter, 18 months. Her nickname is Mollykins. Mollykinder, or sweet pea. I had her sister who died at 5 months, nicknamed Angel. Former owner said, you might call this one devil dog, because she likes to steal stuff! lol but, I never call her devil dog, because mostly she’s a sweet pea and like a child/kins and kinder.
Megan says
Our sleek little Border Collie Eve’s breeder nicknamed her Porkchop 🙂
Lainy says
McGee, McGee Aloysius, his full name, McGeezer, he’s getting on in years, Bubba, Bubba dog, Silly boy, when he gets the zoomies, Einstein cuz he’s smarter than any dog I’ve ever known! Mommies boy.
Sadie, Sadie Scarlet, Silly Girl, Sadie Bug, Mommies Girl, cuz she is, Sanders, Sade, Funny Face, she’s a Merle,
Barbara says
My German Shepherd Dogs:
Miley (recently deceased – sad, sad, sad) – Miles, The Love Sponge, The Sponge, Thumper Dog (she positioned herself so her tail would bang against something when she wagged it), Little One, Miley Mud Butt, Miley Mutt.
Casey – The Short Dog, Shorty, Mr. C., Little Man, (obviously given when Case was a puppy, now he is 26″ tall, weighing 96 pounds, but the names stuck), Petty Dog (can NEVER get enough petting).
Colleen says
Vesper: She has no nicknames that actually derive from her name, but from her personality. Honey Bear, Girlie, Cray Cray, My Nut. She has two sides, the sweet and loving side, then there’s the goofball, to downright naughty side 😂.
Marcia Schlehr says
My Golden Retriever Treyva (her dad is Trey, and she is a re-treeva) is Tribble, Treebee, Treeviska, Pretty Girl, Chunky. Yes, she makes good use of her food.
Cheryl says
Georgie: Gigi. Just a shorter, easier name to say when she’s running 90 mph toward something worrisome.
Chasen: Chase and Happy Pants because he’s uncommonly happy for a Cattle Dog.
Gus: Short Pants, Shorty, Short Man, Curly, Goozeman, Goozie, Mr. Grumpus. He’s a 22lb Rat Terrier and shorter then our other dogs, hence the short names. He has a short, straight coat, hence the curly name. Goozeman and Goozie are just a silly take on Gus, though his REAL name is Augustus (McCrae) from Lonesome Dove. All my dogs have a lot of personality, but his mercurial temperament means he gets a few unmentionable nicknames, too.
I won’t go into the nicknames of the horses or previous dogs or horses. Far too many.
K Jeong says
Montgomery is Monty, Montoush, Monto, Monty Mont, Mo Mo and my favorite Poopky Doopky. Monty is a standard poodle and has the cutest wiggly butt. One day I needed him to poop in the rain, so I started talking to him about poop, which became poopie and later poopky. Doopky was added later randomly. Not sure if this makes any sense, but to me poopky doopky describes Monty to a t, as it’s funny and child like, just like him.
sometimes we also play game where Monty is called stinky butt, but in a funny way. like I’m going to get you, stinky butt etc.
Regina R. Allen DVM says
My darling Hunter (3-yr-old Toy Manchester Terrier) was a hand-raised singleton that I was so insanely attached to that I couldn’t place, and he’s a little … quirky. He’s insanely jealous of my husband and frequently barks at him, I guess telling him to go away so he can have my full attention. So since he’s a bit of a prick, he got an appropriate nickname – Weenus. He answers to it quite well, but I make sure never to call him that in public, LOL!
Allison says
We have two dobermans, sisters but not in same litter.
Bellatrix is Bella Belle, Bella Belle Bell (our last name is Bell, lol), Goofball, Goofy Girl, Bellatrix Lestrange, and sometimes S___head.
Ginny Ria is Ginny Gin, Ria, Ria Ria, The baby (she’s the oldest), Baby Girl, Queen Ria, The B___ (she was a born guard dog and serious even as a pup)
And we got our 13 year old daughter a beagle….no matter how we try he is hateful, hates other people and dogs except for family. He came from a not so good background to here where he is spoiled shamelessly.
Brownie is Brownie Brown, The Prince, Grandson, Good Boy, Scaredy Cat, S____head, A___hole, and a bunch of other not so nice nicknames. He is the terror of the house, but we love him anyways.
Susan says
First dog as an adult (I waited till I had bought a house) – Colin, Col, Colly, Col Bols, Handsome Col, Big Nose, Colin Smith, Fluffy Pantaloons. A big handsome fearful GSD x Mastiff x schnauzer – “I worry”.
My last dog – Dot, Dottie, Dottie Dianne, Her Royal Dotness, Dotensity, Dorothy. A queenly super smart opinionated ACD x – “I suffer no fools”.
Current dog – Abel, Abel Baby, Abe, Mabel, Abel Norman, The Prince, Bluedle, Fluffy, Fluffypants, La, Lala. A smart goofy demanding and unusually sweet ACD – “More”.
Diane says
EmmieLou: Emmie, Em, Emmieloonie, baby Emmie
Banjo: jo, jojo, jojo bean, bubba, banjo wanjo
Fly: Flyzer, wigglebutt
Christiane Benecke says
Bobby (RIP): Mäusekönig (Mouse King, he was a really great mouse catcher!)
Mímir: Schmusebacke (cuddle cheek), my precious, clown, Goofy and (adapted from Bobby) Mäusekönig. And although he’s a little boy: Mími🙈. This nickname ist great for recall!
Lisa says
We’re only 3 weeks in with our new girl, Kasha (3 days, 3 weeks, give me patience) and I’m sure there will be many more names to come, but so far we’ve got Kasha Knish, Kasha Varnishkes, Kasha Girl and Wigglebutt.
I wanted a name that paid homage to what’s going on in Ukraine (my ancestry) and kasha is one of my favorite Ukrainia/Russian/Jewish foods. Plus she’s a shepherd mix, so her coloring kind of looks like kasha. It seems to fit.
LisaW says
Yes, yes, and yes. Great distraction albeit brief. A group of us that have been close friends for 40+ years (yikes) all had nicknames when we met each other. Causation, correlation, pure happenstance, the era? Who knows. But as we’ve, ahem, aged, many of us have gone back to our more formal first names and now it’s like carbon dating — who knows whom by what name tells you how long you’ve known each other and from what epoch. But, I digress.
Olive: Walter (when she’s being very serious), Wally (trying to lighten up the mood), Wee Willy Wally (when we’re just being goofy, and I love alliterations), Monkey head (her cuteness is a ruse for her cleverness), Miss Olive (when we’re being serious), and Owl (when Olive comes out fast).
It’s hard to imagine what is happening to hundreds of thousands of people every day. But this corner brings some solace [with or without the paw licking]. Thanks for that.
Jan Z says
Your dogs are the best. As to those Spring lambs, I’ve never seen a spotted one!
One of my greyhounds was named Paddy (ALVIN!) Mayhem, and your post about Skip made think that we should have also included D*Head as one of Paddy’s nicknames. He did outgrow it but early in his retirement he did the same full bore slamming to another of his roommates and then wonder why no one wanted to play! I lost him at seven and miss that boy, he had the biggest heart and so much try.
Wendy S. Katz says
Mystery had the most nicknames. I have no idea where the “bean” suffix came from but they reflected his goofy, playful and affectionate nature: Beastiebean, Monsterbean, Sillybean, Jollybean, Pokeybean. Also Snuggleicious and Monsterlicious, from his extravagant fluffiness and spunkiness.
Juni became Junibee right from the start, and was the one I used as much as her proper name. It just sounded right. Sweet thing and Sweet Feet were the other nicknames I used frequently. I think there were others but I choke up when I try to think further on her. I lost her the most recently and it’s still raw.
My lovely little Aussie Molly and I celebrate our first anniversary in 2 days. She probably thinks “you’re so pretty” is her second name because I say it so much. Her others so far are PrettyPaws and Fluffalicious. She has lovely, big strong paws that she keeps blazing white, and loves to present her fluffy white tummy for rubs and snuggles.
Jennifer says
I love this question. We have an English Labrador named Turkey. His nicknames are varied and wide ranging.
Turkey-Too, Floof Booty, Wiggle Butt, Turkey Lurkey, and occasionally because he’s just 7 months old… Poor Choice Puppy
Frances Smith says
Lucy, our Catahoula Lab mix is on occasion Loosey Goosey or when she was young LUCIFER….
Pat says
Yoli (mixed), RIP: Yoli Cola, Cola Corzee Co, Solar Co, Solar. My sister gave her the Cola moniker because it pleasingly followed Yoli, the others are riffs off that and she loved the sun.
Bishop, RIP: Boo Boo. He was a disturbed Dalmatian that you once treated Patricia.
Lindsey, RIP: (small cattle dog mix): Lu, LuLu.
Rowley, RIP (pittie mix):Rowley Roo (she talked and roo-d), Roo, Rooster, it just followed.
Cayo, RIP (English setter mix): pronounced Ki-O, Ki, Ki Ko, Bug, Buggy, derived from “you little bugger drop that” as a puppy. Hubby’s English, hence the term. Camel Boy because he would down a bowl of water in one go.
Charlie Dickens (English setter): Charlie or Dickens (on the rare occasions he’s naughty), Sir Charles because he’s very regal, Hoover because he likes to lick the floor after we make meals, Camel Boy (see above).
Titch (all American mix): Titchling, ShushTitch (can you say VOCAL)
Zoli (English setter/English cocker mix, she came with the name): Princess Zo, Zoli Cola, see above, Her Royal Highness, Goddess (her requested name), Peanut, Pumpkin (she’s 25#).
Ruth Ann says
Maggie is: Maggie, Maggimae, MY girl, MY girlie girl and my beauty..She’s a golden mix.
Harry is a mini golden doodle..young and exuberant still wild and loud.: Harry, baby boy, wild guy, and little SOB..( he still steals everything he can for attention..no longer chews)
Annie is a rescued little terrier of some sort..previously abused..Annie fannie, Meatloaf (her shape) and MY girlie girl
Julie H. says
Pi: PuppyPi, PuppyGirl, Twitchy (because her muzzle twitches when she’s waiting for a ball to be thrown), Weiner (when she’s being a D*head)
Emma: Puppitee, Little Emma
Jack: BudgieWudge (started out as Buddy+Poochie, morphed into Budgie)
All dogs when we don’t want them to know we’re talking about them: P-Girl, E-Girl, J-Boy
Carole says
Brody (gentle giant Rottie/Saint mix) is Brodster, Bromeister, Bubba, and (most often) My Best Boy
Jackson (born feral Husky/Amstaff/Beagle and true mutt miz) is Jax, Killer, Singer, and Good Pupper
Dusty (Rottie/Amstaff/GSD/Chow mix) is THE Bitch, A_hole, S_head… she hates other dogs except those she lives with (and pushes around).
Baxter (senior blind Shih Tzu) is Little Man, Blind Boy Bax, and he also responds very well to: “Dude, where are you going?”
lak says
noel: Sweet Baby Girl (65 # of pure muscle)
Big party girl
Tony Soll says
Bonnie- 10 months old Havapoo. She also Bonbon, Bonster, Bonobo, Bonita, Puppup and every term of affection that humans have.
Melinda Williams says
Our Sunshine: Shiney, Shiney girl, Mooch or Moochie, Pooh Bear and little Toot.
Cheryl says
Mini Aussie Given name Curtis: Curti-mo, Curtissimo, Sweetie potatoe pie, Sugar plum pie and the most apt Crazy and Whackadoodle.
JMM says
Wiki, my black greyhound’s alter ego is The Black Bandit. She’s also Bean because when she curls up she looks just like a black bean.
Hi Jan! 😉
BARB STANEK says
My girl’s call name is Starshine. Her nicknames are not too many! Starry, Starryshine, Missy. All reflect her lovely personality and goodness.
My boy is 4 months today. His litter name was Flash, and I wanted to keep it. But it lacks any hard consonants that get his attention. So I added Gordon to his call name. He is Flash Gordon. Not much time yet for nick names. He seems to be fitting right in to his “bigger than life” name! We’ll see.
Having a 4 month old puppy indeed awakes the joy and kid-like qualities in me!
Shivani says
Auggie (August): auggie doggie, augster, fluff butt, fancy pants (he has the cutest little pantaloons), wiggle butt, cookie dough, cutie patootie pie, peanut, boo-boo, action jackson, little dude (he’s 21 pounds), little stinker (because he really is one sometimes)
Bill says
our former dog, Darbi was a St. Bernard/Lab mix. She looked St Barnard and was around 120lbs
So…her size certainly influenced her nicknames
DarBUS
…and the neighbor kids called her “The Darbinator”
Barb says
Stewie: Stoodle, Bubba, Bubs, Bubby-Stew, Mister Bubs, Mitter Bubs
Sophie: Sophie Mae, Soph, Soph Soph, the baby, sweet baby angel
Jessi: Jessi Pop, Pop Pop, Poppy, Sweetpea, Merry Sunshine, and sweet baby angel princess (as the oldest, she gets the princess designation)
all affection-based and some start out as one thing and just kind of evolve over time form-wise or thru deliberate mispronunciations, which is kind of fun
Michelle says
I can’t believe my comment posted; I haven’t been able to leave a comment in years! I realized this morning that I left out a couple of Poppy’s nicknames: Baby Girl and Bright Eyes. The first because she was the first girl dog we’ve had in 15 years, and the second because she IS a bright-eyed, in-tune, energetic Decker rat terrier. Love her dearly, think she’s stunning, and am enjoying my first foray into agility with this girl!
Deborah Mason says
Our current dogs, both “pound puppies” are Rasta Jake Marley (call name Marley). He got the long name because people kept asking if we were naming him for Bob Marley (Rasta) and Marley made my husband think of Jacob Marley from Dickens’ Christmas Carol, then that made him think of my dad Jacob – Jake. We actually were naming after “the” Marley of Marley & Me book & movie fame. We also re-watched the movie right after we got him. He was 6 weeks old when he came home with us. We sometimes call him Bonehead (as we have called all our dogs when they act like that), and in the last couple of years Mr. Grumpy Pants when other dogs want to play with him and he doesn’t want to, and even more so when we are done with Agility Practice & he won’t sit by the fire for the after-Agility craft brew tasting, and he won’t stay quietly in the car (he wants to just go home).
Our other dog Hickory Huckleberry Hound (call name Hickory) came to us from the same shelter (transferred from Kansas to Montana) at 4 months old. He & 2 brothers were Hickory, Dickory & Doc. He was the last of the 3 available. We added Huckleberry Hound when we registered him with AKC for Rally competition because our dog training club started as the Huckleberry Hounds (now Sanders County Dog Training Club, with Huckleberry Hounds Agility Team). We also call him poop-head & s**t-head (because he eats it despite our best efforts), Hickey-poo, Hickey-poo-poo, Hickster, stinky boy (either dog at times), and Screaming Dog – unfortunately for us, his happy cry sounds the same to us as his unhappy one. And it’s like a scream. On days we go to Rally or Agility practice he “screams” from the driveway to our destination. Drives us nuts.
Kat says
D’Artagnan: D’Art, Floof, Beautiful (I don’t often call him that but he hears it so much when he’s working as a Therapy Dog that he’s started to respond to it), Huge (again, not one I call him but he hears it repeatedly pretty much everyone he meets says it so he knows it means him), Floofy, Full-size (I described him as the full-size, luxury edition Pyr and Full-size stuck)
Falkor: Mid-size (as in mid-size, sport, utility version of a Pyr), The Dragon Falkor, Little one (only in comparison to D’Artagnan since Falkor’s about 85 lbs now), and Demon Dog or just Demon. There’s a two hour period every evening when he can’t/won’t settle and keeps dragging books off the shelves to chew on them. He’s like an over tired toddler but nothing I’ve found or tried settles him enough for him to chill out. There are days I’ve resorted to over-feeding him just to put him into a food coma so he’ll stop being a demon. He’s been ours almost 10 weeks now and has come a long long way so I’m sure in time we’ll get past this but in the meantime he’s definitely a Demon Dog for those two hours.
Cristina says
Luci’s very name is a nickname. We adopted him from the local humane society, and they had called our little angel Lucifer ! So, since we couldn’t have that, he’s Luci.
Also known as the Floofer, the Shnoofer (when he sniffs around) , the Sapper (when he digs), Woolly Mah-mutt (he’s a mutt — so what?!), and Muttley-Piggetay (when he rolls over and over on his back while making piggy sounds).
And, on his daintiest day, Sir Poop-a-Lot from Camel-Rot.
Darin says
Dex (labrador and first dog to the household) – Dexter, Dex-a-million, Are you my good boy, puparoni, Dex-a-million is a momma’s boy, Why you gotta be such a D___?
Gunner (18 month old, intact, great dane): Welcome to the Gun Show, gun-master grey, Guns and 160 lbs of dumb…hopefully he’ll outgrow that one :).
Shirley says
Thomas was Mr. T, T-bag
Coree was Coree-pie, Coreopsis (her real name) or Lil Bit
Together they were known as Hoover and Dyson
Marisue says
I love this! This is a very short list because nicknames for my dogs are endless, and fun. Our current pups (Labs) all have airplane/aviation themed call names, but the nicknames go on and on. Here are a few:
Aero – Ado, Ado Potato, Black Bean, Aero Bero, Habanero.
Piper – Pipeskin, Pippa, Pippa Sharona, Brown Bean.
Astro – Rastro, Astrolabe, Astronaut, Astronomical.
Michelle says
Kira (Rottweiler/Collie mix) RIP:
Kir, Kira girl, Kir Kir, Kira Ann, Sweet Kira Girl, Hound Dog, My Love
Zinka (Rottweiler/Shephard mix) RIP:
Z, Z Dog, Baby Dog, Baby Girl Dog, Zinka Mabel, Sweet Girl, Sweet Baby Girl Dog, Hound dog, My Love
For both Kira and Zinka when we were a pack together: K&Z, Hound Dogs, My Girls, My Chariot Hounds. Sweet Things, My Loves, My Pack.
I also realized that by saying “Hey, come here” Hey, let’s go this way” etc that K&Z thought their name was Hey and responded to it 😂
Kundra (German Shephard mix): Ra, Little Momma, Sweet Dog, Little Wolf. Kundra is one year old and I’ve had her a week. More nicknames are in her future!
Elizabeth P says
Pippin – mostly we call her Pips but then there’s Pipsqueak (more when she was a puppy), Pipper, Skipper, Pipperdoodle (which she actually is). For some reason I also seem to call my dogs Bean and Peanut. She may actually think her name is Leavethecatalone, though. She’s only a year old, I expect her names will multiply.
Elizabeth P. says
P.S. my husband calls our cat Cricket either Beequats or Quodiness of Beekswoddy. the other cat, Scout, just gets Scouty. No idea why
Kari says
Nicknames are the best! All of my dogs have nicknames and usually get called them more than their given names (My dogs also all have a theme song)! Pete’s first nickname was fluff butt because he had the fluffiest butt ever as a pup and all through his life. I also called him sweet Pea because he was also a very sweet and lovable boy. Jill is Jilly-Bean, Jilly-billy, queenie (she is the queen of the household) or beauty (because she is). Ben is Benny, Benny-Butt (yes I have a thing for butts), Skinny-butt, or Benny and the jets. Devi is Wee- bit (she is the smallest of all the dogs), Devilish (she is the instigator of all wild play with all the dogs, even my 14 year old), Miss Devine/Devi Devine, or girlie-girl (because she is not a girlie-girl). Spot is Spotter-ramma, the Spottster, sweet spot, or Spots. And Joe is Jo-jo the dog faced boy, Wild-thang, or goofy or goofy-butt (There is that butt thing again – because he is the happiest, goofy dog ever).
Linda Freeman says
Yukon: Dude, Lil Dude, Funny Monkey, Monkey-Face Scamper-Head, Tumbo, Lil Man, Gorgeous Boy
Oobie: Miss Moo, Miss Mooberry, Oobie Lettuce, Moobie-Oobie, Oobs, Oobletta Coretta, The Great Poopetta
All of Yukon’s nicknames reflect on our attachment to his adorable, clownish, playful loving nature, He’s a little goofball and 18lbs of pure pug love.
All of Oobie’s nicknames reflect on her delicate, sweet nature, her love of lettuce and her overall wee little pug diva attitude.
I think we bestow nicknames because, like people, we give dogs names not knowing “who” they will become. As their personalities evolve, along come the nicknames.
Finally our deceased Rottie Pepper: largely know as Potts or Grumpy Boots. Largely self-explanatory.
Karie in NH says
My new dog Misty, formerly Sugar: Misty Moo Moo (maybe because she has an “udder” from having 3 litters?)
My recently dearly departed Dixie: Dixie Mae, Dixie cup, Baby Doll, Dixie Doodler
My long ago rabbits: Abby: Abbarab, Gertie: Gertsami, Desiree: Desrina, Calvin: Callyman, Peter: Petesy Weatsy, Pumpkin: Mrs. Battle-ax
Bobbi Salmon says
My Sealyham Terrier Leah is: Leah-Beah, Little Bit (cause she was a really tiny puppy), Princess and Peanut.
My SCWT Tinkerbell is: Tinker, Bella or Sweet Girl because she is the sweetest dog imaginable.
Trisha says
I wish I could comment on every single one of these! Just know that you are delighting my day, over and over and over again. Such funny, creative, poignant, silly, and ridiculous nicknames! And how could I not adore Ruth Ann’s Maggie also being Maggie Mae! Thanks again you all, and keep it up. You are absolutely the best.
Becky says
Keegan (BC) Key (to my heart), Bestie, Mister, Sweetest
Trim (BC) Trimmy, Trimster, Weasel, Punk
They are half brothers (same dam) but different as can be hence the
Bestie/Weasel
Love them both!
Dee McLaughlin says
Kai: Kymie, Baby-Puppy-Boy, Pumpkin, Kai-Kai, Kai-Kai-Kai
Wilson: Willy, Wilfred, Willy-Willy-Willy, Baby-Puppy-Boy
Donna Bainter says
Rose..Rose bud..Rosie girl…Miss Rose
Lilly..sweet Lilly …little Lilly….button nose.. cuteness
Andy ..Andy man…Big Andy.. block head.. handsome man
Rose is a golden mix rescue
Lily was a stray little something breed
Andy is a Newfi
Ingrid says
Lady Eleganza: Lady (of course), Ladybug, Bug, Lady Butt, Miss Roo, Roo Roo Girl, Fuzzy Toes
She is a talker, and she both greets people and announces her arrival places with a hearty “Roo, roo, roo!”
Sue says
We’ve had several dogs but our 2 most recent ones are/were Lark (RIP): Larky, Baby Girl, Bright Eyes (she did have the brightest eyes, especially when getting her collar on for a walk), and Wiggle Butt (her tail was always on the go!).
Henry is my Buddyroo (a Holden Caulfield term for close friends), Baby Boy, and one of my favorites, compliments of our oldest grand, is Henderson! That has to be said as if one is a demanding boss stepping out of his corner office calling for Henderson.
Aurora says
My spouse and I spent some time with this and found and our main takeaways were that there were a lot of nicknames that only one of us used, and that we had a lot more names for our cat than our dog. The dog is much older, but she’s also a lot more verbal and we use more words with her. Our cat conversations happen in a different mode with less emphasis on words, so I guess it makes sense that Berwyn has aquired less nicknames.
Spring (9 year old samoyed): Springy, Springle, Springle-Ringle, Sproodle, Sproo, Fluff-Pup, Fluff ‘n Puff, Huff ‘n Puff Mademoiselle Barksalot, Demoiselle, Doodle Bug, Kerfluffle, Waggle-Butt, Fluff Head, Pompom-Butt, Barky, Loudy, Fluff Toes, Big Floof
Berwyn (2 year old cat): Berbles, Berble-Fish, Kitten-Cat, Little-Floof, Minou, Owl-Fish Cat
Adrienne Karoly says
I love all these posts but especially Lisa’s post about her Kasha.
Our moyen poodle’s name is Zasu. We named her after the old time actress Zasu Pitts. It suits her perfectly. When we got her we had fully intended to name her Tiffany after the first poodle we had many years ago but that name did not suit her. At appropriate times I call her Zasu-mania or just plain old pup-pup.
muttzrule says
Puppygirl and Princess are nicknames that all my girl dogs have had, ever since my mom gave them to our papillon Mickey. And they are all Divine Miss M worthy (Mickey, Meg and Missy). As to specific names:
Missy (Border Collie/Springer Spaniel): Missy Prissy, Lady Fluffytail, Ladypup, Pupperoo.
Duncan (Golden Retriever/German Shepherd/mystery mutt, RIP): the Duncanator, Demolition Dog, Dunkin Punkin, Cannonball Canine, Velcro Pup, Goodwill Ambassador to the world (not that he was friendly or anything).
Meg (Whippet/Rhodesian Ridgeback, RIP): Meg Muffin, Meggie, Santa’s Little Helper (bestowed by stepson and friends because she looked like the Simpsons’ dog).
Scout (Lab/Golden, RIP): Scoutster, Sir Scoutsalot, Scout Puppy, Zen Puppy, Mr Sweetness. And during his first months with us: Fang, Jaws, The Ferocious House Eating Puppy.
Mickey Mouse (her actual given name because EARS, which she grew into, RIP): Princess, Puppy Girl, Snugglepuppy.
Gayla says
OMG, “Sir-Poop-A Lot from Camel-Rot” !! LOL!
Lisa k says
I love this topic…lots of variations..and the dogs answer to each one
GRETA…G, G dog, GretaGarbo, Gret,Godess of the hunt ( go figure a GSD who thinks she’s a bird dog )
MARGAUX…Go .Gogo, Margitygogo. ……and…..Horrible….I love her but she’s a brat….oh almost forgot Mudpie…loves to be dirty
There are others but these are the top
LunaGrace says
Tula (part of her registered name), Icelandic Sheepdog, became The Chicken Dawg as in “the sky is falling!” because it seemed just about everything was cause for alarm when she was a puppy and growing adolescent. Then it morphed into a term of endearment as in Chicken or Little Chicken and we both get all soft and gooey when I call her that. And because she has retained a great measure of enthusiastic energy, I started to call her Tula-roo, Second Cousin to a Kangaroo! She also has a theme song, a twisted play on an Irish lullaby my grandma used to sing to us but Tula’s song goes, “Toola roola roola, Toola roola lie ….” and she knows I’m singing her “I love you” song.
Yogi the Karelian Beat Dog who passed more than 2 years ago now (and I fully understand when you wrote about all the air being sucked out of the room as he was my Heart Dog and I will miss him the rest of my life), became The Yogurt Dawg. That was also his special treat, yogurt. And then he morphed into a Gangsta Dawg complete with hand signs so he knew I meant him and was talking about him when I flashed both hands in a V for Victory sign, upright then sideways crossing in front of me repeatedly while saying, “yo yo yo yo Yogi!”. His theme song was “You Are My Lucky Star (I saw you from afar)” as he was my hiking buddy, purchased with the intention of alerting me to mountain lions, so I would frequently catch sight of my dog from afar as he flashed through the woods, hunting squirrels and such, while keeping me safe.
Kathy McCormick says
Luna- Luna tuna spoona, Miss spoon, The spoon, now just Spoon! but that is the path it took. Sweetest best dog we ever had!
Lambeau- Mr. Dude. craziest dog we ever had!
Tommy Neblett says
Manya: Sweetness
KIm Grilliot says
Love the blog. It is great to here that people love and treat their dogs just like kids. To me they are just like one of our kids. The nick name idea is really cute. Just like your kids have a nick name. Makes them feel more like part of the family. I had a Ilatian Grayhound minnie and everyone called him our rat dog even thou he was cute he did look at at rat. But, we loved him a lot.
Frances says
Sophy: Sophs, Snowphy
Poppy: Pop Pop, Popkins, Popsicle
Freddy: Frederlick, Freddy Long Legs, Freddykins
Collectively they are Doglets or Small Dogs.
There are also innumerable pet names as well, but I am a little wary of using them in public. Somewhere there is a young man still getting over the shock of hearing the words “Come along, my honey bumpkin!” apparently addressed to him in dulcet tones by a strange grey haired woman…
JW Verona says
Zita. (Cattle dog/terrier mix) RIP. zz, zzpie, bitch goddess, zita conchita
lulu. (Cattle dog/border collie mix)RIP. Lulubelle, lulita, fangworm, numquat.
Sadie (border collie). RIP. Orca
Ike. (Cattle dog) RIP. Iron Ike, five star, Big boy, the Ikester.
Juneau. (Cattle dog). June bug, twinkletoes, Juneau se qua.
lin says
Mr. B has variations of B: Baby B; B Bear; BB Bear; Buddy B; Bubba. When he has panhandled from everyone in the dog park two or three times: Piggie Pie or Pork Pork.
Kris says
Ruby, my beautiful, sweet 1-year-old black lab mix:
Roo, Roo Roo, Roo do, Roo poo, Rooster, Will (as in Danger Will Robinson). Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. Redbuds are blooming here!
Trisha says
Frances: One of my finest hours was signing “I’ll never forget that night in Paris!” when a young man asked me to autograph his copy of Other End of the Leash. Ian Dunbar did that to me once, and I thought it was hysterical.
Dog Names says
A lot of the nicknames we give our pets come in time after we understand their personality. Great content!
BarkFactory.com
Anne says
Daru: Daru-boo-boo
Bob Ross: Bob-o, Himbo (as in male bimbo)
Qwill- Qwillooooo, Puppy (we called her mainly puppy for four years, only occasionally using her real name, until she had puppies).
Tessa: Tessa Messa Mutt
Pepper: Pepsi, BestDogEver
Gingersnap: Snipsnap, Sneepsnap, Sneepersnaps, Fox Person (she looks like a fox with person eyes)
Pat Blocker says
My dogs are Penny Lane, Lovely Rita, and Helen Wheels. (Beatles or McCartney song themed names)
Their nicknames are:
Penny Lane: Penny, PenPen, Penita Bonita, Big Girl (because she’s beautiful and she’s the oldest)
Rita: Rita Pita, Pita, Pete, Rita Fahita (because I like rhyming)
Helen: Helly, Smelly Helly, Hellion (because she’s cute, because she eats poop, because she lives up to her name Helen Wheels)
Sharon says
My dog is Lucy, so I went from Loosey Goosey to Luce the Goose to just Goose! with an exclamation point.
muttzrule says
One more dog who’s a latecomer to the party, a stray naned Foxie my family took in at around 8 months old in full blown puppy adolescence. I knew she had nicknames but couldn’t remember them. She was possibly a mix of shiba inu, German shepherd, maybe a little husky or who knows what else. Mostly tan and black with a fox face, saddle like a shepherd, black and tan striped ringtail, and white socks with tan polka dots on her forelegs.
We ended up fostering for 7 months and rehoming her, because she began to attack Meg (whippet named above). She didn’t signal aggression beforehand, no growls, hackles or hard eye that we could see. Just a sudden launch with intent to kill. We loved her but it became too dangerous to keep her, even though most of the time she hung out peacefully with Meg and Scout.
While unpacking a box, I found a “wanted poster” of her I had done during her earlier months of nonlethal naughtiness. Scout and Meg had them too. I wish I’d found it when this post was new. It didn’t seem right not to include her, so…
Foxie, wanted for random chewing of socks, dish towels, baseball caps and briefcases, also fence busting to go on a daily jog around the block, RIP: Foxie Fuzz (heavy shedder), Foxie Brat, Baby Sis, Foxie Socks (the ones on her paws and the ones stolen from the laundry hamper), Duchess of Destruction, Felonious Foxie.