Name Game

Yes, she has a name.

I made a list; he made a list. We kept adding to the list and the list got longer and longer. I called her by various names each time I took her out to do her business, just to see what they sounded like in real life. The poor pup knew what "Do your business!" meant, but had no idea what her name was.

I began crossing off names. His list stayed the same. I would say things like, "She needs a name before you leave again." and "How can I tell her not to chew up the bentwood rocker if I don't know her name?" Right before he left, he told me his list was on the computer. And here I thought the name list was the lined tablet on the kitchen table. I told him to print it out (this was when I was velcroed to the pup and hard copy was preferable to a computer screen that was upstairs when her bed was downstairs, not to mention the lawn where the real business was done). He was walking out the door and asking if I'd seen the list. Right about then, being a single parent with a pup who didn't sleep through the night was high on my list of worries for the next ten days, NOT a cyberlist.

But I did finally look and I did print it out. I found some good possibilities and circled all my favorites. I even circled the good ones that started with a T, although I knew I'd never live it down if we picked one after our other dogs both had T names. I anxiously awaited his call. When it finally came, he was more interested in settling in since it was late and his flight was delayed over 2 hours, his car reservation went belly up and his non-smoking hotel room was stinky. Phooey!

I looked at his list again. People kept asking me what her name was. I finally began telling everyone that I was calling her Good Dog and my sweetie was calling her No. At least if I couldn't come up with her name, I could get a laugh. His nightly call came, I told him my favorites from his list. We batted them around, eliminated two, talked about them some more, and finally made a decision. One of the names on his list really had surprised me when I read it. It was not one I had thought of, but I had been using it. Remember way back last week when I posted the story of how we finally found the perfect puppy? Well, the title I used was one of the names on his list. The other names were good, but the coincidence was too much to ignore.

Now we can say we really do have good Kharma at our house!

p.s. I have been getting a full night's worth of sleep for the past three nights. Yes, I do get up with her around two or three and spend some time with her under the incense cedar where it's dry and very pee-able, but she settles down quickly and sleeps well. I love my pup.