she said, “look me up when you get back to town.” “look you up,” i said. “hell, i’m gonna hunt you down.”

This is probably the most overdone topic in the history of the world, but I'm going to write about my dogs' names. Deal with it.

Monsters I've named: Connor, Brewer, Brennan, Brother, London, Roman, Rebel, May, Eve, Elsie, Oakley, Jockey. Oh, and years ago there was a certain houndy son of a gun I called Grover. I think they all kind of go together come to think of it. They're all rather dignified and strong, but not clunky or contrived.

Names in my kennel that I would never consider in a million years but that I've come to like: Rachel, Fox, Petunia, Heini. They're sharp with tons of personality. Fox is a super common name, but it doesn't bother me. The others are quirky and cute.

I think Keytone is an awesome name for a dog. Sharp and completely unique.

Boring names: Juneau, Aurora, Star, Klondike. All so overdone. I actually named all of them except for Star, but I was 11. Give me a break.

I guess Freddie should be added to the "I would never consider this name" group. For a male, lame. But for a female? It just about works.

Oh, and in total disclosure, I should add Sosa, Delta and Trotter to dogs I've named....and summarily sold.

Let's see...what about meaning? Connor was named because of the Irish connotations. Brewer and Delta were named after places in Maine. London I like because it's rugged...as in Jack London. Grover, Eve, Brennan and Roman just came to me. One of those weird things where you look at the beastie and just know. Kenny and Lori have (had?) a Brother. He was a leader and a pretty cool guy. I just thought it was a fun name....and plus, my Brother dog has three sisters, so he really is THE brother. All of the boring names were my being a little girl with dreams of Alaska and all the snow in the word on my body; they sounded so noble and adventurous back then. Oakley, May and London were names I'd liked for a while and just needed a dog for them. I thought of Reb specifically for him, same with Jockey (now Joppy) and Elsie. Trotter started out as Johnny Walker, to be called Johnny, because I wanted to play along with the "liquor cabinet" theme my friend has. BUT, then I decided to be all witty and call him Johnny Trotter, because he was a sled dog and all, you know. But THEN, he wouldn't run for a damn so I have him to my dad. He called him Clyde, but I hated it....I sold him as Trotter because Clyde is a dumb name and I couldn't possibly let my father win. And Sosa was, oh lordy, this a terrible note to end on...Sosa was named for Sammy Sosa because, ummm, he's an incredible black athlete. But when the buyer asked what his name meant, I just said he was a sports legend. Politically correct, for the win.

What's interesting to me is that Kenny and Lori give the weirdest names, but they usually fit well enough. I don't change the dog's name after he's had a season on him, because usually they know it by then, but I do change a yearling's name. Before I had that rule (more of a guideline, really...), I tried to change Rachel's, but I kept accidentally calling her Rachel anyway. I never bothered to change Heini's because I hadn't planned to keep her. By the time I decided I wanted her, she was Heini to me. I was also going to change Freddie's, but she knew it so well I didn't bother. Brennan (Tazzy), London (Elf) and Roman (Coty) all got new and better names, though!