THE NAME GAME

Shirley!

Shirley, Shirley bo Birley
Bonana fanna fo Firley
Fee fy mo Mirley, Shirley!

Lincoln!
Lincoln, Lincoln bo Bincoln Bonana fanna fo Fincoln
Fee fy mo Mincoln, Lincoln!

Come on everybody!
I say now let's play a game
I betcha I can make a rhyme out of anybody's name
The first letter of the name, I treat it like it wasn't there
But a B or an F or an M will appear
And then I say bo add a B then I say the name and Bonana fanna and a fo
And then I say the name again with an F very plain
and a fee fy and a mo
And then I say the name again with an M this time
and there isn't any name that I can't rhyme

The dogs over at Portuguese Water Dog Blog have posted the story behind all of their names. If you haven't seen the blog, you should give it a read. Our names don't have such wonderful stories, but we thought you might like to know them and their origins.

Java was the hardest dog to name. Can you believe that Mom and Dad called him "new puppy" for 2 weeks? In fact that's what his folder still has on the tab. Mom and Dad rescued Java from a pet store - he was 4 months old and weighed 40 pounds. Due to an illness in the family, he had been returned by his original owners. Mom fell in love with him as soon as she saw him (she went there looking for a Scottish Terrier! Mom would never purchase a dog from a pet store unless she was rescuing it) Anyway, Mom and Dad went through a lot of names trying to find just the perfect one for Java. He was so stubborn that Mom wanted to call him "Jackson" as in Stonewall Jackson. He had such a beautiful color to his coat in the sunlight, she thought Merlot would be a good name for him. They tossed around the name Merlin. But when Java went to the vet for his 2 week checkup, they asked his name. Mom and Dad looked at each other and both said "Java Bean" at the same time - not even a name then had discussed, so he became Spencer's Java Bean. And we think it's the perfect name for a Chocolate Lab.

Baby Lilly with her Mother, Laurie Darlin'

Mom did a lot of research on Scottish names before getting Lilly. She knew she was searching for the perfect little black Scottie girl so she went through a ton of Scottish names before she decided on Spencer's Bonny Greer, which loosely translated means Spencer's beautiful watchdog. When she found Lilly, the breeder had nicknamed her Lilly (she was 4 weeks old) and Mom and Dad decided they liked the name so her official name is Spencer's Lilly Greer, which means Spencer's Flower Watcher.

Baby Piper

Mom and Dad knew they would be getting Piper when the breeder contacted them as soon as Piper was born. Mom kind of wanted to name him Sawney Bowie (Sonny Boy) but the family vetoed that. It means "golden haired defender of mankind". She looked at other Scottish names and liked the name Rauri Mack, but finally settled in on Bag Piper, so hence, Rocky Creek's Bag Piper.




Carrleigh was already named when we got her and had already had a litter of puppies. Due to that, AKC would not let us change her 'legal' name, so we just kept it. She is Impish Carrleigh Kilbride.

We enjoy hearing about your names and hope that more of you will enlighten us.

XOXO
Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Java