[kathi127]

We recently lost our beloved 10 yr. old Golden named Rusty to Hemangio and I have been missing him terribly, crying everyday. I just started looking on Petfinder.com to adopt a rescued Golden. I have found several and emailed the various rescues for information. Only one has replied that the dog is available and that sounded promising. He is an adorable 2 year old being fostered close to our home but you guessed it, his name is Rusty! He's a much lighter Golden than our Rusty so they don't look alike. I'm wondering if we get him is he too old to try to change his name? We are thinking we could change it to Dusty so it would sound very similar but not be the same. Our Rusty's name was Fred when we rescued him at 7 mos. so it was fairly easy to change his name.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has adopted a dog with the same name as their former dog and either kept the name or changed it to something else?

 

[mylissyk]

We rename or give a new name to nearly every dog that comes into rescue. They learn them pretty quickly. If you want to change it, it would be fine. I think using the same name would be hard on you, and make it too easy to keep comparing them. Give the new boy his own identity.

 

[spruce]

I'd feel like it was fate to meet another with my loved one's name. But I would want to to change it if possible -- Dusty sounds like a great option

 

[esSJay]

We haven't adopted a dog but when we brought our last family GR home after Skokie passed away, we named him Skoker in honour of Skokie! It was really confusing for us the first few months and could never get the name straight so we end up calling him Skokes most of the time.

I think that Rusty #2 would have no problem adopting to Dusty, or even another name that you chose. He is still pretty young and as mylissyk said in her post, they adapt pretty quickly. New family, new home, new name.

 

[missmarstar]

We changed Dillon's name when we adopted him at age 2. We never did anything like combine the old name with the new name for a period of time.. we just simply started calling him Dillon when he got here and rewarding him for looking when we said his name (just as we did with Sam when he was a pup to teach him his name). It was a pretty easy transition.. I don't think any dog is too old to learn a new name.

 

[kathi127]

Thanks everyone! If we get him (keep your fingers crossed for us!) I think Dusty will be his new name! We definitely don't want to keep the same name, there will never be another RUSTY for us, he was one of a kind! And we really don't want to compare them.

 

[Pointgold]

I've posted this before:

My favorite name change story
True story. I have a pal who breeds Portuguese Water Dogs. She had a nice girl that she called "Tickles". Her eyes did not clear, so she placed her with a wonderful family. They loved her dearly, but hated her name. Cathy told them to add the new name as a prefix to the current name, call her that for a while, then drop the old name. A month or so went by and the family called Cathy to ask if they'd been calling her the double name long enough yet. Cathy said "Sure, I think it will be fine now." The nice lady let out a sigh of relief and said "Thank God. The neighbors were starting to complain." Cathy asked her why, and the nice lady said "Well, we are going to call her "Tess". This lovely family had been calling her - "Here, TessTickles!"
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[AquaClaraCanines]

I always change their names!

PG that is hysterical! You should post that in Mary's testicle thread! LMAO

 

[kathi127]

I've posted this before:

My favorite name change story
True story. I have a pal who breeds Portuguese Water Dogs. She had a nice girl that she called "Tickles". Her eyes did not clear, so she placed her with a wonderful family. They loved her dearly, but hated her name. Cathy told them to add the new name as a prefix to the current name, call her that for a while, then drop the old name. A month or so went by and the family called Cathy to ask if they'd been calling her the double name long enough yet. Cathy said "Sure, I think it will be fine now." The nice lady let out a sigh of relief and said "Thank God. The neighbors were starting to complain." Cathy asked her why, and the nice lady said "Well, we are going to call her "Tess". This lovely family had been calling her - "Here, TessTickles!"
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OMG, that is so funny!!!! I can just see the look on my spinster next door neighbor's face now if it were us!!!!

 

[tippykayak]

Dogs don't really identify themselves with names. They learn that a certain sound means they should give attention, but they don't have any vanity or sentimentality about their names. In fact, if the dog has had poor training or any abuse, it might actually be better to give him a new name, since he may have inconvenient associations with the old one.

We train our guys to look at our faces when we say their names. They know that if they make eye contact after they hear their name, good things happen. Name your dog whatever you please and positively train it, and he'll learn to be happy and excited when he hears it.

 

[Lego&Jacub]

I agree that it's not too late to change his name. And I was going to mention the same thing that PG did... that you can add the new name to the first name, and then after awhile just phase out the old name. Good luck... I hope that if you connect with him he will come home with you!!!! What a lucky boy!

 

[msdogs1976]

Good idea with the name 'Dusty'. I had thought I would name a new dog Mulligan. I'm a golfer and my previous dog was named Birdie. In golf a mulligan of course means a second tee shot or chance on the first hole, so I thought it would be appropriate for a rescue dog, a dog getting a second chance. But I just couldn't make myself change from a biblical name to a 'cute' name. The name has grown on me and it is unique for a pet name, so that's kind of cool too. I'll save 'Mulligan' for the next rescue dog.

 

[MyCodyBoy]

dogs are so smart, I think you can change their name at most any age and it doesn't even have to be close like Dusty.
good for you for getting a rescue, it was ment to be and maybe after being with Rusty for a while you wont want to change his name.

 

[Adriennelane]

She was only 12 weeks old when we adopted her, but Dory knows that she is Dory now and not Rachel, LOL. It didn't take her long at all.

 

[MillysMom]

I've posted this before:

My favorite name change story
True story. I have a pal who breeds Portuguese Water Dogs. She had a nice girl that she called "Tickles". Her eyes did not clear, so she placed her with a wonderful family. They loved her dearly, but hated her name. Cathy told them to add the new name as a prefix to the current name, call her that for a while, then drop the old name. A month or so went by and the family called Cathy to ask if they'd been calling her the double name long enough yet. Cathy said "Sure, I think it will be fine now." The nice lady let out a sigh of relief and said "Thank God. The neighbors were starting to complain." Cathy asked her why, and the nice lady said "Well, we are going to call her "Tess". This lovely family had been calling her - "Here, TessTickles!"
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HAHAHA! That's so funny!

 

[missmarstar]

We train our guys to look at our faces when we say their names. They know that if they make eye contact after they hear their name, good things happen. Name your dog whatever you please and positively train it, and he'll learn to be happy and excited when he hears it.

This is what we did when Sam was a puppy... if he made eye contact when we said his name, he'd get a treat and lots of praise. Even now, even when he's being naughty and pretending he can't hear me, if I say his name he will make eye contact.

We used the same idea when teaching Dillon his new name and it worked just as well as it did with Sam.

 

[Finn's Fan]

My angel boy was Cody, my heart and part of my soul. Our rescue dog was Kodi, who was over three years old when we adopted him. I couldn't call him Kodi, not even one time, so we named him Finnegan. Finn has always responded to this name right from the start. I'm not so sure you have to do the combination name to have them "recognize" their new name. Good luck with getting your new pup!

 

[KatieandAngie]

I've posted this before:

My favorite name change story
True story. I have a pal who breeds Portuguese Water Dogs. She had a nice girl that she called "Tickles". Her eyes did not clear, so she placed her with a wonderful family. They loved her dearly, but hated her name. Cathy told them to add the new name as a prefix to the current name, call her that for a while, then drop the old name. A month or so went by and the family called Cathy to ask if they'd been calling her the double name long enough yet. Cathy said "Sure, I think it will be fine now." The nice lady let out a sigh of relief and said "Thank God. The neighbors were starting to complain." Cathy asked her why, and the nice lady said "Well, we are going to call her "Tess". This lovely family had been calling her - "Here, TessTickles!"
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ROFLMAO That is a hilarious story.

 

[cubbysan]

I'd feel like it was fate to meet another with my loved one's name. But I would want to to change it if possible -- Dusty sounds like a great option

I was thinking the same thing, I believe in signs.

 

[cubbysan]

Brady answers to "Brady" and his nickname "Bubba". He knows that when I call him "Bubba", he is going to get extra lovies.