We will shortly be adopting a 5-year old dog from rescue, and, to be honest, we don't like his name.

I want to make it clear that we will love him regardless of what he is called, and he will want for nothing when with us.

However I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to do this, or just has some general advice on the subject. I realise that re-homing is likely to be stressful for him, and won't do anything to deliberately cause him more upset. However, if it can be done without too much disruption, I'd be interested in exploring this.

Your thoughts much appreciated, and once again I stress that I will not try this if people think it is likely to upset him.

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Owner of two Shelties - Ellie and Rory, and two cats - Leo and Poppy.

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Yep, it's vry possible.

Maya was a stray, the kennels named her Ice, it did not suit her so I changed it to Maya she was 2 years old

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Has the rescue said this is the name the dog was called by its old owner? If its not then I dont see why changing his name would be an issue.

My girl Scorcher was called Scorcher by her old owners so I never changed her name even though I dont like it.

you probably could. has he had this name from a pup or did the rescue give it to him?. if you do decide you want to change his name id do it by giving him treats when you call his new name and he comes to you, this way he knows by new name he gets a treat and old name he dosnt.
im probably going to be totaly wrong and someone in the know will tell me off but thats what i think you could do.

Thanks for the replies.

His owner gave him his name, he has only been in kennels for a week, so he has that name since he was a pup.

It's a typically upsetting story; his owner's husband died at Christmas and since then he has been unsettled and has been barking when people walk past the house. The next door neighbour then started a petition to have him removed, so the poor woman, who is a nervous wreck, has had to put him in kennels.

If he settles in well then we'll give it a go, if not we won't. Either way he will be better off with us, really looking forward to having him!

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Owner of two Shelties - Ellie and Rory, and two cats - Leo and Poppy.

Please follow me on Twitter! for talk of pets and more.

My dogs respond to their names and silly nicknames i've given them so don't think you'll have any problems re-naming. I didn't like Throp's name when i adopted him, but he knew it and turns out it suited him.

I can't see any problem with changing a dog's name. I would do it by using the new name followed immediately by the old name for a while, then gradually phasing out the old name. You may find, however that as your dog settles in, you decide that the name suits him and will keep it. Good luck whatever you decide.

Whats his name then? You could always rename with something that sounds similar?

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We found our Louie in the woods with no microchip, collar, tag etc so we never knew his name. Presumabely he was called something else, so no, it's not a big deal to change a dog's name. Anyway I call my dogs collectively 'doggies' when I'm calling them so they answer to other things. Don't think they know really what their names are specifically.

It will be fine. Our last foster dog from the refuge was called 'chou-chou'
We changed it slightly to Lily

Good luck with the new dog

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