Hi! My Name Is...

Had a really fun conversation with a client recently.  They had just picked up their new puppy from the breeder and were trying to decide what the pup's name should be.  They were hoping to make the decision democratically, letting each family member have input, but as of this writing, they still hadn't settled on a name!  She even asked for my input, so here is what I told her:

Pick a name that doesn't have any negative/scary/weird connotations.  Meaning don't name your dog Killer, Cujo, Bane, Trouble, or Psycho. Likewise, don't pick a name that has emotional baggage for you.  That is, don't name your new pup, Buddy, if that was the name of your last/favorite/childhood dog.  Those are big shoes to fill and that's a lot of pressure for your new pup.

She also asked if I'd ever made a mistake naming a pet.  Sigh.  Yes, I have.  In college, my roommate and I adopted an adorable orange Tabby kitten.  He was so precious!  He had really cute, white markings on his face, so we named him Gizmo after the cute Mogwai in the movie "Gremlins."  You guessed it.  Gizmo matured into his name and became nothing short of the crazy gremlin that Gizmo turned into when exposed to bright light, water, or fed after midnight. Our Gizmo became our nightmare. He stalked us and attacked us in our sleep, leaving deep bite marks and scratches.  He grew enormous and those stripes on his face became quite bright making him look even more like the crazy Mogwai alter-ego, Stripe. No amount of behavior modification worked on Gizmo and we finally had to re-home him out at the horse barns where my roommate rode everyday.  He ended up being the best mouser that barn ever had. And he ruled; no other males allowed. 

Now I know darn well that Gizmo's personality was in no small part due to the fact that he was a kitten born to a feral mom. However, I can't help but feel that naming him Gizmo certainly didn't do him any favors!

Have you ever named a pet something and had them live up to that name in a bad way? A good way?  Do you think what you name a pet is important at all with respect to their behavior?

Gizmo as a 6 week old kitten. Before we added water after dark ;)