Jackson, Day 21: How to Name a Bichon
I’ve gotten some emails asking why, when I changed this puppy’s name, I chose Jackson.
For a lot of Fosters, it’s a tradition to change the dog’s name. Change of name, change of luck. Since Jackson seemed to recognize the sound of his original name, I wanted to preserve that “aah” sound in the middle.
Although you might expect to see a lot of Snowballs and Biancas and Sugars, you’ll find among the Fosters that names having to do with whiteness or fluffiness are shunned. Too many dogs come in with such names, and it would be too much to discuss Snowball Number 14 vs. Snowball Number 67. So creativity is encouraged.
You can always get a good name from the entertainment world. The BratPack, for example, is going through a Flintstones phase. They recently adopted out Mr. Slate, but they’re about to run out of names. I guess the Jetsons are next, or maybe Aqua Teen…Master Shake isn’t vanilla, so it’s acceptable.
You should not name a dog with any word that sounds like a command. So nothing that rhymes with “no” or “sit” — but of course, I know you’re training with verbal commands and simultaneous hand signals, right?
The most popular names for dogs right now are Max and Sam for males…Lucy and Molly for females. No Tiffany, Jennifer or Jason. If you’re really stumped, try going here or here for ideas.
My biggest benchmark is the Back Door Test. Go to your back door, open it, and shout the name you want out to the world three times. If it doesn’t sound stupid, prurient or embarrassing, you probably have a winner.
But to answer the original question…Jackson is, of course, named after DeForest Kelley. Thanks for asking!