Training The Family Dog 
  
              TRAINING THE FAMILY DOG by Edna Kaehele Lantern Press, New York Copyright
           1953 By Lantern Press, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 53-10376
           Published simultaneously in Canada by George J. McLeod, Limited, Toronto, Ontario
           Manufactured in the United States of America 
                               Chapter Seven: NAMING THE FAMILY DOG

              Here in America we call our family pet a dog. In other places he is known by a
           variety of other names. In Germany and Norway, for instance, he is called a hund, and
           in Holland a hond. The French know him as chien, while in Wales he is a ki, and in
           Mexico and Spain he is called a perro. In Italy he is a cane, and in Hungary a kutya.
           The word for dog in Tibet and China is the same - kou. In Ireland a dog is a cu, and in
           Russia a sobaka. To the Portuguese, he is a cao, and the native of the Belgian Congo
           calls him a shenzi. 

              So while a dog is a dog wherever you find him, the name for him is not. It is the
           same with the individual call names of the dog. One owner may name his dog
           Brownie, while his more imaginative neighbor calls his brown dog, Russet, or Duncan
           (which means "brown chief"). Or he might use Burnetta (little brown one), Barna
           (brown), Barnarez (bronze-Hungarian), or even Jeannie, "with the light brown hair".
           They all mean substantially the same thing, but language was given us so we could
           express exact shades of meaning, and surely some of these "brown" names are
           more attractive than plain, unadorned Brownie, and are less overworked. 

              Perhaps it is true, to paraphrase the great bard, that "A dog by any other name - will
           smell," but, as my favorite news commentator used to say, "Sweet essence of
           dog-gone-it," he will undeniably smell sweeter with a name that doesn't offend the
           listener's ear. 

              All too often the name of a dog fails to tell us anything at all about the dog itself. A
           name should be not only colorful but informative. I've seen home-loving pets maligned
           with a name like Rover, and cute little ragged moppets burdened with the royal weight
           of Queen, which invariably goes from the ridiculous to the more ridiculous by
           deteriorating into Queenie. 

              Let's dispense with the inanities of Prince, Sport, Buster, etc., and restore some of
           the original dignity and function of a name which was to indicate something of its
           owner's trade, his place of origin, his ancestry, his character, or all four. 

              How much more interesting to hear a dog called Rory, or Rudd, or Russo, than just
           plain Red. They mean the same thing actually, but if he is named from the first group,
           one knows not only that the dog is red in color but that his master is a person of some
           imagination and originality. 

              One radio star calls his dog Nonny, for the express pleasure he derives from being
           about to sing out, "Hey, Nonny, Nonny!" And I remember an old movie of which nothing
           else remains but the one scene in which two large dogs are introduced as,
           Keep-Off-the-Rug, and You-Too. 

              The hardiest individualist I know, when it comes to naming his dog, is Casey
           Brennan, a three-year-old friend from Avoca, Michigan. His dog answers to any or all of
           the following: Fluffy, Boomer, Ricky, Browny, Rainey. Casey, it seems, likes a name to
           fit every mood, but the system is too unwieldy to recommend generally. 

              Runnung Casey a close second is my favorite music critic, Sam Wilson, who
           unblushingly christened his basset hound Phoebe Gertrude, Wistful Wilhelmina
           Basset-Wilson. They think that P.G.W.W. Basset-Wilson will look elegant on her
           calling cards... 

              (The late Edna Kaehele was a noted cancer activist in Columbus Ohio in the
           1950s, and formed the internationally accaimed anti-cancer group, FEAR FIGHTERS.) 

                                   Thanks T. Casey for sending this along

                                        Page created April 30, 1997 
                                     Page design © 1997 Donald Van Horn