To celebrate my new job and my first payday, I adopted a dog from the pound. I picked him up today after his neuter. He looks just like an English setter, although he’s a couple inches smaller than the breed standard. He’s white with liver freckles all over his body. He’s very calm and gentle, and I was thinking possibly Darcy, after the English gentleman in Pride and Prejudice, but my family thinks Darcy is too effeminate a name for a male dog. Other possibilities are Ronan or Alastair. Any other suggestions are welcome.
My sister said “Spot”, because of the freckles. When I said I wanted something more dignified, she said “Mr. Spot”. I’m not wedded to literary or British names, (although I’m thinking about Mick, too). I want something easy to call when out in the fields. I don’t need something that is testosterone-filled, but Darcy sounds like a girl’s name.
My suggestion would be a name that is, or reduced to one sylable. For example my dog Foxie is called Fox. The reason is practical. If the dog takes off to chase a squirrel, and the squirrel happens to be on the other side of the street, and there is a car coming, by the time you yell "Winston Molly Siegried stop! " you got a dead dog in the street. FOX SIT! is a lot faster and more efficient. One, maybe two sylables is your best bet. Of course proper obedience training is a given. Around here itcosts about 50 dollars for the basics. And they don’t train the dog, they train you how to handle the dog. I went through it with Helga, and again with Fox. It really is a bonding sort of thing. Beyond that, you are on your own.
