Happy New Year!

I often get asked how the puppies are named-although I don’t have all the answers because I don’t know the full scope of the program, I do know a couple of things that might answer some questions!

Puppies currently are being named by letters of the alphabet, which I am assuming is to keep track of the litters better and to understand the relationships of each puppy. Last year, there were some “themed” litters like the Grandparents litter, the Spice Girls (Sugar’s FIRST litter), the Disney litter etc. but I think overall the alphabet system is preferable for most organizations.  Sugar’s litter is the “L” litter which means that most if not all of her litter will have names beginning with L.  Why “most”?  Occasionally there is a “name a puppy” where someone has raised a certain amount of money in order to have the opportunity to name a puppy so it’s a possibility that in a litter there is a puppy that doesn’t have the same beginning letter:)  There are a variety of ways the puppies can be named and each organization picks what works best for them and their breeding program.

A friend came over to help socialize the pups on New Year’s Eve. Red wasn’t relaxed at all…….

Orange having fun in the tunnel

 As a whelping home, we don’t name the puppies as there is a lot more to it than us just “picking a name” so the organization chooses the names.  I also think this policy is in place partially to help organizations keepa little bit of the “separation of attachment” in place.  It may seem like a simple task, but what I’ve learned over the last 5 years volunteering is that nothing is as simple as it seems!  As whelping homes, we do get the opportunity if we choose to send in a list of our favorites and if the stars align and it works, it’s possible we might see a name or two from our list make it to the top and a puppy may show up with that name! Not guaranteed, but it’s fun for us whelping homes to send in some of our choices and anticipate the day when the puppies get named~!

And why does it take so long to get named? Why am I still calling them by collar colors?  Well, the process is pretty intense-in this case, there is another organization involved that will be taking a couple of the puppies for their program and there are many other moving parts that need to be considered before the names are given-so hopefully all of the pieces will fall into place in the near future and when they come back after 2 weeks at the prison I will hopefully get the opportunity to meet my litter and greet them by name!  I feel like I am waiting for the birth of a child that I sort of know but need to see them with their name to make sure it fits!!!  It may seem like a simple thing, but it’s not easy for me to wait that long to discover who these puppies will be!  I have to have a conversation with myself frequently and recite “patience is a virtue” and “all in good time”……… but it WILL happen!!!!

So what are some of the names I’ve thrown around? Here are a few!

Like Mother, Like Son