Nomenclature Issues

I guess I'm just too excited not to blog about something. It gives me something to do and a way to express my feelings. Guess this means you guys will have a lot of posts from me until I get the puppy. *smiles*

Yesterday I received an email from a reader that just made me smile. I had no idea that I had a puppy walker from the UK reading my blog for any period of time let alone since before I left for University! She sent me an email congradulating me on finally deciding to get my own puppy and welcomed me to the world of puppy walking. It was such a lovely email to recieve. I really can't say how much little things like that mean to me. (It's actually what people don't understand when buying presents for me. A thoughtful card with a bunch of flowers is all I really need to know that you've been thinking of me.) Anyway, I asked her a question on names that I had not been able to have answered yet.

Just like back home each litter is given a letter and each puppy in that litter has a name beginning with that letter (fun sentence huh?). But there are also sponsored puppies here. I've thought a lot about sponsoring a puppy because you get to name it. And you don't have to stick with the litter letter. That means that there are some puppies out there who have names like Bob even though the rest of the litter has names beginning with "H". It's pretty cool. I only know of one puppy back in the states that has a different letter than her siblings.

Unlike how it works in the states I will get to know the puppy's name well in advance before I actually get her (I say her because we all know my preference for the females). For me, this is pretty strange. I knew Hilly's name before I got her because her name couldn't switch and the puppy couldn't be switched. But with Freya I was told, "black lab female, litter letter F". And with Rocco it was, "yellow lab male, litter letter R". The reason we do this back in the states is because we don't want the raisers getting attached to the name or the puppy before they receive it. Let's say that you're originally assigned a "Joanne" from a "J" litter here and Joanne gets sick before getting on the puppy truck to come to you. Waht GDB will do is put another "J" female from that litter on the truck for you because you have no idea which "J" puppy you're suppose to be getting. This way when you're handed a "Jillian" instead of a "Joanne" you don't miss Joanne because for all you know you were suppose to get Jillian the whole time. Another reason that we don't get to know the names ahead of time is because there could be last minute name switches.

I hear that doesn't really happen in the UK. You see, back home, every puppy's name is unique. When puppies are born at GDB in San Rafael they cannot be named names that are used for Working Guides, Active Breeders, or current puppies in training. So there won't be another Freya until my Freya retires, there won't be another Rocco until my Rocco retires, but Hilly's name is up for grabs. That isn't true in the UK. You can have puppies in training with the same name as working Guides or breeders. It's strange for me really. I've gotten use to the fact that my puppy has a name that no other dog in the GDB system can have and it made me feel like they were special. Haha! It should be interesting to see if I get a name already in use.

With all of that said, I've decided that I'm still going to have a Name Game. When I find out the name of the puppy I'll just tell you guys the letter the name starts with. 

I had a dream last night that I was assigned a female yellow lab named "Soldier". While I like the name, I'm really hoping for a not lab. Haha!