It may in fact be helpful if the dog was maltreated in his previous home. A new name will trigger newer, more pleasant expectations. But many things depend upon the dog’s own personality. My childhood GSD had several names and just always seemed to know when a word meant her.
CeltDog, OTOH, was about 3 years old when we adopted him. He definitely began as a pet (knew about grooming, and sledding, and was comfortable in a house etc.) but had clearly been feral in the back alleys of Baltimore for quite some time when my friend took him in.
We had no idea what his original name had been, obvs. My friend named him “CeltDog” and had him for about six weeks until it became clear that her dog was not going to accept him. When we brought him home Celtling tried to change his name to “CuteName” but it just never took. He wouldn’t answer to it, and was very obviously thrilled when we started using “CeltDog” again.
Sure, they know their names. Most dogs do, and a recent study where researchers stopped expecting cats to react to being called like dogs do shows that most cats do too.
But do they think “Linden, that’s me!” or “she said Linden, that’s the word she uses to make me pay attention and not Poe”? They’re not the same thing.
There might be no functional difference in most situations. But the point is that different mental models for the significance of a name are relevant to how a dog might react to a new human calling it something different.
Humans certainly assign the name label to ourselves, it’s a firm and significant part of our identity that’s a big deal to change. It’s not clear that dogs necessarily think that way.
Dunno about wolves, but my dogs know the other dog’s names. Old dog Bear is getting barmy and a bit deaf and sometimes doesn’t pay attention when I call the doggos in so I tell Kosh to “go get Bear” and while he won’t actually try to hustle Bear inside (on account of, old or no, Bear is both large and authoritative) he will run to where Bear is or at least point him out to me so I can make a clearer call for the old fart. Kosh also often wants to go outside but I know he won’t actually GO out unless accompanied by at least one of the other dogs so I tell him he has to get Shoga and/or Bear on board and as I name them he’ll run over to see if he can amp them up into an excursion outside. And Shoga knows who Bear, Kosh and The Captain (a cat) all are and if she’s feeling cooperative will go point them out when asked to. So I get the feeling that dogs do know names are unique identifiers. I’ve also been able to train dogs to fetch balls or toys back to specific people by name–comes in handy when I’m tired of throwing things for them and want to get someone else to be tagged in.
This meshes with my experience. Ted will go fetch Doxie, who is now hard of hearing, or just obstinante and wont come when called. But Teddy will run off and lead me right to him when I say, “Where’s Doxie?”
In my laziness, I just hook them up together now, so Ted can drag him back to the Jeep. Ted comes when you call him.
Of course dogs know their names. I think what Riemann was asking if if, to a dog, a name is the same as it is to a human - an abstract, verbal representation of the person, as opposed to a word that means “Pay attention, you.”
I suspect dogs CAN conceptualize names to at least some extent; I know they can be made to associate names with other dogs, cats, and humans.
