# Call names...



## Jason Caldwell (Dec 11, 2008)

Call names came up in a conversation I had today...reasons for...practicality...origin...and situations where this is practiced.

Essentially I am talking about the soundness/reasoning for a dog being named "Ajax" but having a call name of "Damon" or what have you.

Would be interested to read some stories, opinions, sugguestions on this as call names relate to civilian and LEO ownership. 

As always, thanks.


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## Laney Rein (Feb 9, 2011)

All I can say, is it is suggested to use a two syllable name as most commands are one - so you would say A..... Jax, Come or Sitz or whatever. Personally I like solid names but not people names, especially for large breeds - had a SAR dobe named Sabre, always loved that name!


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

It's my dog to call whatever I want, the breeder can give them the registered name and I'm fine with that... I like a name that has a nice distinct sound and is easy to say, whether whispered or shouted. Two syllables, usually. I also like to give mine a little bit "edgy" names - thinking it works in reverse for me, since all the nastiest little shits I know have sickeningly sweet names, something like Cuddles or Lovey. :lol:


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

I like something short . Named mine Bingo because I like saying" Bingo !" when I hear my dog barking because he has found a badguy or when I hear the badguy screaming because he has found the badguy  . It was between that and Bullseye for the same reason. My kids chose Bingo and sung that damn song to him every day for a couple of years . 

He does however answer to other names like Dumba** , F***head , Dipsh** , Sh** for brains and A**hole .


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## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

I have a dog whose registered name is "Ernny." The name was given to him by his previous owners, and meets the breeder's request of his name starting with the letter E. The name doesn't suit him, and I think it's dumb, so I use the call name of "Juice" instead.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

I don't know why but sometimes dumb names just become funny and eventually suit the dog/cat in a really odd way. I had a cat named Tweeter once. Gorgeous cat too.


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Roscoe was given the name "Kokso" by the Czech's I believe. Obviously that had to change.:razz:


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

not sure what you mean, but sometimes people put big fancy names on paper, or dog comes already named on paper, and they call the dog something simple and easy to say, or change the "call" name to something they like.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Grim's given name worked out pretty well for a cadaver dog but I usually wind up calling him Buddy Bear - it just fits.


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## Terry Devine (Mar 11, 2008)

My female GSD is named Absolutely Devine, but her call name is Abby


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Jim Nash said:


> I like something short . Named mine Bingo because I like saying" Bingo !" when I hear my dog barking because he has found a badguy or when I hear the badguy screaming because he has found the badguy  . It was between that and Bullseye for the same reason. My kids chose Bingo and sung that damn song to him every day for a couple of years .
> 
> He does however answer to other names like Dumba** , F***head , Dipsh** , Sh** for brains and A**hole .


 LOL :-o


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Jim Nash said:


> He does however answer to other names like Dumba** , F***head , Dipsh** , Sh** for brains and A**hole .


Are you saying that not all dogs come to every obscenity in the book? Mine both do


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

We typically use short sharp names with no more than two syllables. Call name is usually a name used outside the registered name which can sometimes be huge.


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

When I got my Mal, Ronan, he was from the breeder's R litter. I had a choice in naming him, and I didn't have to give him a name starting with R, but that was the breeder's preference. If I had named him something else, like Buddy, on his papers, he would have been R'Buddy de Lescaut.

The breeder my friend got her Golden from had a theme litter. Owners' choice in registered names, but within a Flight theme. Registered name is Breeder name's Wing Commander, call name is Frank. 

All my dogs have formal names - the ones I tell people when they ask, and 'good dog' names - which is what they get called a lot of the time. Sometimes they change, sometimes they stick. The Lab has been formally Baker, but mostly Binky for years. Ronan is Bunny. The DS, nothing that's really stuck, yet.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Most in our club have the belief that the call name should be stellar or strong any thing less pussifies the dog.
A new member called there dog "chewy" and couldn't be budged when talking with them I referred to it as dog, a very nice dog that never got titled least to my knolidge


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## Kara Fitzpatrick (Dec 2, 2009)

Howard Knauf said:


> Roscoe was given the name "Kokso" by the Czech's I believe. Obviously that had to change.:razz:


LOL. 

mine is Faline vom Landgraf- originally called "Fuega" by her other owner. 
and now her name is Elsa!!!


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

I'm not sure I get this thread.

You have a dog which has a formally registered name on paper required for registration purposes ? :smile:. But would like to know if folks give the dog a name of their own and reasons for why ??

I have one dog called Ajax  and another called Luc, but Bongo for short.


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## Adam Rawlings (Feb 27, 2009)

I imported a dog named Marge, kida makes me think of a large women with a mullet that drives rigs. I couldn't be bothered to change her name.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Oh reminds me, my adult dog's name is Lacey. It is part of her registered name she came with and I just stuck with it. Grim is part of Grim's registered name but we call him "Reaper" around the house or Satan when he's really bad.


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Mike Scheiber said:


> Most in our club have the belief that the call name should be stellar or strong any thing less pussifies the dog.


At the club, they think my Mal is nuts. He comes in to the club for training already spun up. No need for drive building with him. I think it's funny calling him Bunny. I suspect they just think I'm strange.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I have to be kind of careful calling my dog's call name loudly in public in a terse way. Fawkes can kind of sound a bit wrong... :mrgreen:


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Just saying "fawkes" in general sounds crude to me...like naming a dog Schlitz.


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## Maureen A Osborn (Feb 12, 2010)

I can't even pronounce my dog's kennel name...Tigidas Endure(its Finnish).....we call him Toro much easier.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I've had to change the name of a few dogs over the years. They just weren't appropriate. I was just starting a new class. All the handlers were sitting in the class room waiting for their dog assignment. Among the administrative functions of starting a new class is filling out the Service Record we keep on every dog. I addressed each of the new handlers in turn and told them the name of the dog, whelp date and other data about the dog they would be working. They in turn entered that information on the Service Record. I really didn't pay too much attention to the handlers as I assigned dogs because new handler really have very little input as to what dog they are assigned. This class was all new handlers and all green dogs. During the next break, one of the handler's approached me. He asked me why he dog was named what it was. I just kind of looked at him and thought, "complaining about a dog's name, this ain't gonna work." I asked him why it bothered him. He said, he didn't think Anus was a suitable name for a working dog. I started laughing. He did too, when he realized I had said his dog's name was AMOS. 

DFrost


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!





Good one.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Was his name Andy ?


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Was his name Andy ?


That would have made the story funnier, but no. 

DFrost


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Many yrs back I bought an 11 month old St. Bernard named.....8-[.....hold on...... :-&"Fluffy"! #-o
I changed it to Sam before I got her in my car.


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## Sarah Atlas (Dec 15, 2008)

My dogs registered name is Back Policia Slovakia His call name is Buscar or BO


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Ashley Campbell said:


> Just saying "fawkes" in general sounds crude to me...like naming a dog Schlitz.


Being a rather large Harry Potter fan and getting him just about a month before the final book came out in 2007, his registered name being from an O litter is Ordre du Phenix du Dantero. I thought about Phoenix as a call name, but Fawkes (Dumbledore's phoenix) fits him better.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Being a nerdy gamer, I was thinking "Fawkes" the friendly super-mutant from Fallout 3.  Still sounds like "f*cks" when I say it though.


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## Terry Devine (Mar 11, 2008)

One of my male GSD's came out of the "S" litter so I named him after my college football team mascot: Seminole von Windmill. His call name is Coach. 

Terry


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

I don’t think you guys are answering the OPs question, but I don’t know how to better explain what I think he means anyway. I think?


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

Chris McDonald said:


> I don’t think you guys are answering the OPs question, but I don’t know how to better explain what I think he means anyway. I think?


I think you're right! :-k there was reference to LEO in the op..... I was wondering why I couldn't make sense of this thread. I was beginning to think it was normal for dogs to be called by their registered names over there. :-s


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

Im gona guess the name of the dog is what you tell people but the dog doesn’t respond to that name. Basically to shut someone up from asking the dogs name. And the call name is the name you say before the command to get that dog to listen. Especially helpful if you are working more than one dog. Just my guess


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

Chris McDonald said:


> Im gona guess the name of the dog is what you tell people but the dog doesn’t respond to that name. Basically to shut someone up from asking the dogs name.


Probably off topic, although I'm not sure what the topic is, but I teach the call name as a recall word. To me, the call name is very important. For instance, I see others praising their dog saying, good Fido, or whatever. I don't do that. I want them to look at me when I say their name. So it's kind of a pet peeve when somebody asks my dog's name and then uses it over and over again. Hi, Bernie. How ya doing, Bernie. I'm not really a control freak but it's something that's evolved with me and my dogs over time and that's the way I do it and it works for me.

On the topic of naming dogs, when I got Bernie, I didn't know his name. His registered name is Bert but he didn't respond. So someone told me to try "Bertie." He kinda responded to that but it sounded like "Birdy" to me. So I tried Bernie out on him and he really liked it and it suits him.

Laura


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

Chris McDonald said:


> Im gona guess the name of the dog is what you tell people but the dog doesn’t respond to that name. Basically to shut someone up from asking the dogs name. And the call name is the name you say before the command to get that dog to listen. Especially helpful if you are working more than one dog. Just my guess


What's the purpose for doing that ? I have always had 1 name for my dogs and I don't care who knows it . 

I understood the OP's question just never knew anyone who used 2 different names for their dogs . 

If there's some "tactical" reason like I've heard people want their Out command to be a secret or in another language so the suspect can't give the order to out , I say you are approaching the problem all wrong . If the dog is listening to the suspect in any way shape or form that's the problem not the dog's name or what language the command is in .


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

Jim Nash said:


> What's the purpose for doing that ? I have always had 1 name for my dogs and I don't care who knows it .


See my above post. We were probably posting at the same time. I don't want his name/command diluted. That might seem silly but it's the way I think. I fully admit to being odd and prone to sweating the small stuff. 

Laura


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## Dave Colborn (Mar 25, 2009)

My dog's registered name is Liberty's One Four the Money. Call name is Uno.

He came named both cool names.


He wiggles some when I say Uno. I like that.


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

The example I am thinking of is if you send two or three dogs on a decoy and only want one to out and recall or attack another decoy you use its call name. But now that I am talking about working more than one dog how does someone doing herding work more than one dog? I would think they should be able to send one dog left and one right or something like that.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Interesting question, Chris. Haven't progressed that far yet in herding, but I did have my Rottweiler teamed up with a little female Aussie once. My Rottie can be pushy with other females (and the Aussie's owner said her dog is sometimes scared of larger dogs), but they both did well together in the few short minutes both of them worked at the same time. Like one would honor the other in pushing the stock out of the pen, that sort of thing. We actually didn't have to use many commands at all and I was impressed it wasn't one big free for all. The dogs probably appreciated that we (the handlers) mostly stayed out of it. :wink:


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Interesting thread. I find that some of the more show dogs have off the wall registered names and then a different call name.

My female is "High Velocity" call is Indi. Our new male we're getting is from De Las Flores' "V"- Litter so his registered will be "Veni Vidi Vici" (Latin for I came, I saw, I conquered) but his call name will be Mako as he's going to be a bit of a land shark (I hope).

Our police dogs used to get named by a school kids through a draw, then the handler would just rename them.


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