Dog Names

When I named my dog Bean Sidhe, I thought of banshees as a well-known myth. Turns out I was wrong. People would ask me her name, and even after I repeated it twice, they didn't know what I was saying. They thought she was Benji or Bouncy or Bandit.

And the spelling... well, people didn't know what to make of that at all. (Can't blame them; Gaelic rarely makes an appearance in the U.S.) I'd fill out paperwork, and her name would get typed in as "Bean Sidle" or "Bean Sigh". I quickly switched to using "Banshee" on any kind of paperwork.

So... lesson learned! I decided that any future dogs would be given simpler names.

I'd been contemplating names for a while, particularly paired names because I thought I'd eventually get two dogs. One pair that stayed in my mind was Indigo and Violet (the places on a rainbow where my favorite colors are found).

As it turns out, even though I did adopt two dogs, they are so different that paired names didn't seem to fit. I needed to choose their names individually.

Little brown dog was difficult to name. She's timid and horribly thin, and she doesn't display much personality beyond wanting to be in my lap at all times. I think that will change as she gets healthier and more secure, but of course she needed a name sooner rather than later. I decided to go with one of the names that had been rolling around in my head for a while and call her Indigo.

As for little black dog... she loves cozy, den-like spaces. She was following me around the house, and every time I opened a closet door, she immediately ran in to explore all the dark corners. In my big walk-in closet, she liked the comfy spot behind my dresses. In my tiny linen closet, she happily curled up on a stack of towels. She's always looking for a cozy little nook... so I named her Nook.

I took both dogs to the vet today for a check-up. Their names were immediately understood and spelled correctly. Success!  :D

Nook got a clean bill of health. The vet agreed with the shelter's assessment that she's about three years old.

Indigo has a few missing teeth, and the vet thinks she is older than the shelter's estimate - probably six or seven years old. She is obviously underweight, and she doesn't show much interest in food. It's imperative we find out why. I have been tasked with collecting urine and stool samples (ah, the joys of pet ownership!), and I'll be taking her back in for bloodwork tomorrow.

I'm afraid getting her to a healthy weight will be challenging. I have to coax her to eat... so far, I've managed to get her to eat sliced turkey and scrambled eggs. The vet suggested baby food, and I did coax her into eating some this evening. Hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.