Randal Breaux

How can you look the dog in the eyes ever again? Every time you
call his name, he wallows in shame. You've banished him to the
lowest level of dog name hell - you've named your Lab "Blackey."



Any four-year-old can explain that a dog's name should reflect
something about him - the way he looks, the way he acts, what he
likes to eat... something. So most four-year-olds will take the
next most obvious step - naming a black dog Blackey... or
Smokey... or something equally inane.



The thought that so many grown adults were not able to muster
more creativity could undermine our society's basic faith in
democracy. So let's hope that the over-abundance of such
uninspiring monikers is the work of children - parents' having
left the honor of naming the family pet to junior or sissy.
While common, this type of delegation is rarely a good idea.
Remember: Dogs can last half a generation; your little tyke will
be mighty embarrassed in college to own up to a dog named
Blackey.



So to help inspire you - or your little one - here are some more
unique names - and naming ideas - that might help you side-step
the pit of pet name remorse:



1. Dirty Stuff: Grunge, Pitch, Soot (or Sooty), Spade



2. Darkness: Dusky, Midnight, Shade (or Shady), Twilight



3. Black / Dark Clothing: Patch, Sable, Suede, Tux (or Tuxedo),
Velvet



4. Black Food: Gumbo, Goulash, Meatball, Meatloaf, Molasses,
Mushroom, Plum, Rib-eye, Roux (Avoid Pepper)



5. Coffee Derivatives: Chicory, Latte, Mocha



6. Dark Beers: Guinness, Porter, Stout, Xingu



7. Small Black Dogs: (Also cute for very large dogs.) Scrap,
Smudge, Smidgeon, Speck, Splotch, Wisp



8. Black as Evil: (These can be particularly cute for very large
or very small dogs.) Cujo, Darth, Jezebel, Katrina, Lilith,
Mordor, Reaper, Smut, Snitch, Sorrow, Vader, Vice, Wicked



9. Traditional or Famous Black First Names: (Most appropriate
for African-American families.) Tanika, Aisha, Oprah, Bionce,
Latifa, Snoop



10. African Geography: Congo, Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda



About the author:


Randal Breaux runs the Internet Pug Club, a community of pug
lovers, featuring special screen savers, browser start pages,
electronic greeting cards, and more - all featuring the almighty
pug. Free Sign-Up: http://www.go-pugs.com





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