What’s in a name? A rose by any other name will smell just as sweet. Right?

My name story has always been a puzzle to me.

See, I come from a long line with both sides of my family, naming the children after their parent, and grandparent.

For example:
My Granddad Hudson was William, my dad was William, my brother was William.
My Grandfather Chambers was Arthur, my Uncle was Arthur, his son is Arthur and my brother is Arthur.
My Grandma Hudson was Pearl, her daughter is Pearl
My Auntie is June, her daughter is June
My Uncle is Robert and his son is Robert.
My Grandmother Chambers was Alice, my mother was Alice, … I am Jan.

What the heck?
Also, I am not Janice, Janet, or Jeanette. My name is Jan.

As a child, and still at times today, I wish I’d been named Alice, like my mom and her mom, or even Pearl… but, as it turned out, I am Jan and I answer to it.

So, what’s in a name?

Eight weeks ago, we got a dog, a wonderful dog! And, we’ve had a heck of a time with her name.

She came to us as MuMu. MuMu, the sweetest dog ever.

She was also over weight, out of shape, and a bit lethargic. It didn’t seem to matter what we called her, as long as we talked soft and sweet to her.

She paid attention, would look us in the eye, and while she is not trained, she is a good dog! She loves Ken, yet has attached herself to me. We loved her on first sight and are happy we are all together.

Still, neither Ken nor I could get our mouth around calling her MuMu!

I tried calling her Susie for a while. Nope, that was no good either.

I suppose out of habit or laziness, we started calling her Boze! Just like our dog before her. After all, I had three cats named Peet, what’s wrong with two dogs named Boze? She looked similar and we already had the tag.

The thing about all the Peets, we got them as kittens and orange cats tend to have the same personalities. Peet certainly did and all were great cats. Peet was Peet.

So, when push came to shove, Ken and I decided on calling this dog Boze too. She’s on record at the vets and has a city of Sechelt license.

Boze!

Now, in the last 8 weeks, she has lost 4.4 kg and is now a frisky, five and a half year old puppy! She also has shown us a real stubborn streak, and believe it or not, there are times, she totally ignores us!

The other day, I was talking with the friends who dog sit for us. They sheepishly told us, they call her MuMu. They just don’t see Boze in her. They see and love a very happy MuMu.

MuMu!

So… I experimented. I started calling her MuMu.

WTF!

MuMu turns to look at me every time I call her name! She pays attention when she hears MuMu. She pops her head up, and responds when I call out MuMu. She comes to MuMu and wags her tails ferociously. (Okay, she has always wagged her tail with vigour.)

Apparently, having a particular name for five and half years sunk in.

The last 8 weeks have been wonderful, and also must have been super confusing for her. There have been loads of change,

Not just the person she lived with changed, but her diet, her exercise, her toys and the games, she played are different. Her location, routines, and well, her name have changed.

Yesterday, when I called her MuMu,, I witnessed another change. Her face was different, more relaxed. It actually seemed like she had been lost and now is found.

She’s a good dog. She likes us, and we her. We are lucky we found each other.

Susie, MuMu Bozie doodle dog, Boze, Sugar, Sport, Cecilia, Puppy, Doggy, Hey you…. MuMu!

What’s in a name?

I think I learned it’s not so much what anyone calls you, it’s what we respond to, that matters.

We will learn to get our mouth around our dogs named, MuMu and will get a new tag.

Meet MuMu… again.