Choosing Great Puppy Names

Finding cute puppy names is easy, but which one is best for your new little Cocker? Discover seven top tips to help you choose your puppy's name.

Essential Tips for Naming Your Puppy

Choosing puppy names is always exciting, and because the name you pick will stay with your Cocker Spaniel throughout his or her lifetime, you won't want to simply pick the first one that comes to mind, you'll probably want to give it some careful thought.

A golden cocker puppy still wet after his bath, looking very sorry for himself!I've just had my first bath!

In the past, puppies were given names that reflected their particular characteristics, such as, Spot, (a spotty dog) Rover, (always wandering and roving around the block) Blackie, (erm, a black coat perhaps?) or Patch (yes, you guessed it, a coat with patches of colour!).

Today, however, puppies have names that are a little more cosmopolitan and sophisticated!

They're now being named after foods, such as; Biscuit, Soufflé, Honey, Roquefort, and Almond.

They're also being named after humans; Charlie, George, Max, or William, or cute sounding names, like Tinkerbell, Fur ball, Fluffy, or Chi-Chi.

However, whatever you decide to call your puppy, there are some things that you might want to bear in mind, so let's take a little time to consider the following top tips.

7 Top Tips for Choosing A Puppy Name!

7 Tips for Choosing a Puppy Name!

  1. Why not choose a name that matches your dog's personality? It wouldn't do to name a rough and tumble, alpha Cocker 'Fluffy', or a tiny, gentile female Cocker 'Big Foot', - it doesn't quite fit, does it?

    But if you've a mischievous sense of humour...!

  2. You're likely to use your dog's name thousands of times during his lifetime so choose a name that you won't be embarrassed to use in public. It may sound common sense to you and I, but I've heard a few unusual names in the dog park!

  3. Choose something with one or two syllables, preferably two because it will be easier to 'sing-song' his or her name. It's much more difficult when training and calling your dog to you, if his name has several syllables.

    Try it yourself, you'll see how it's much easier using a name with only a couple of syllables.

    I named my Cocker Spaniel Max and very often when calling him to me I extend it to Maxie to make it two syllables because it's much easier that way.

    I use the 'short' Max when he's been naughty and Maxie when he's good (which is more often than not, thankfully) and he seems to recognize the difference between the two.

  4. Don't choose anything that sounds too similar to an obedience training command, for example, Spit may sound too much like 'sit' and Flo or Jo may sound like 'No'. Puppy names like these can cause your Cocker Spaniel baby much confusion!

  5. A word of caution. Don't choose a family member to name your dog after, (for example, Bella, after your great aunt Bella) you might just offend without realizing.

  6. Whatever you eventually choose to call your puppy will stay with him right through to adulthood. So beware, what may seem like a cute name now may not seem quite so cute when he's a fully-grown adult Cocker! 

  7. Involve the children - get the kids to take a look through a selection of suitable names for their puppy and ask them to write down 5 of their most favourite.

    Put all the names into a hat and ask Grandma or Grandad to pick one. This will make the children feel involved and more likely to accept the chosen name - even if it wasn't on their list!

Anyway, that's enough from me. You're probably straining at the leash to get on with the task of choosing something very special from our great selection of puppy names!

Good luck and enjoy!

Ready To Choose Your Puppy's Name?

If you are, we'll waste no more time!

Listed below are some of the pages you'll need to get started - just click on any of the links and you'll be taken to thousands of cute puppy names!

Photo Credits for Choosing the Best Puppy Name: 
1.  About Cocker Spaniels.com