Welcome to Dogstar’s Wednesday Dog! Every month we ask Dogstar to consider a new topic. This week we asked them: What would you call your dog other than their real name? This is what they had to say:
Amanda & Subi
Some of my favorites are nicknames given to pets by their humans, usually tagged with cute voices and a bit of a backstory. Sometimes they are completely random. Anyway, it’s usually funny, adorable, perfectly fitting.
Subi has several nicknames depending on the situation. Many of these are strange one-off sounds and nasty sound effects that I can’t necessarily explain or explain, so here is our top nickname for sweet chi!
If you are summoning a food-related thing, it always follows “Doube” and then “What is this?!” She isn’t too keen to come when she is called, so we try to make it sound as fun and exciting as possible. If you use this nickname and voice, she knows that it’s time for us to drop something tasty on the floor or eat it. When considering Subi hype, it’s “Subi Doobie.” Each word is said to be a single syllable in a rapid fire. If you’re lucky, this sometimes incites the downward dog, followed by some happy YIP and spin. It’s unusually rewarding! She shows her belly and succumbs to a more calm moment, for me, Subi is a “mama” and my family calls her “soube.” It’s not exactly a nickname, but when her barking is excessive, she gets a strict “Subi” just like getting a full name when a person is in trouble.
Fun facts: Subi stands for Subaru, an automaker. Her OG owner was a car enthusiast. The name is stuck when we hired her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuk1uayhqz0
Kate & Gizmo
As a small ball of mixed fluff, Gizmo is very suitable for his name. But I couldn’t help developing a nickname of all range for him! The obvious one was Giz – this is the most common nickname I use and produced some good options.
- Grizzle Grizzle
- Gizstar
- Gusy (his beloved groomer’s favorite)
- Grzard
Sometimes you need something a little formal (see his formal portrait), so I began calling him Gizlington. From there, it’s a short hop to Tony, a solid list of related names.
- Tony Tone
- Teen Tony
- Tony Ir
- Dog – Tony
- Rigatoni
- Rigsey Tiggy Tony
- Barklingtonious
Next are the more common nicknames:
- Dog (used mostly when he’s bad – you can probably imagine the tone)
- Little man
- Sweet boy
- Doglet
- Diggle Doggle
- Mr Dog
- lil floo
- Cotton
- Mr. Cotton Fur
- Mr. Chicken Leg
- Senor Woof
- Blossom
- Skinny Legend
- Smalls
- Shishkabob
And perhaps one of my personal favorites that makes me laugh: Trotsky!
I need to be clear: however I Use all these nicknames regularly. That doesn’t mean he will necessarily sprint when I say them. But even so, having the adorable nickname of Arsenal, makes everyday life with the Giginator a little more fun!
Meagan, Draper & Rue
Draper:
- Drape – His most commonly used name is often said lovingly when receiving a belly rub or kiss
- Drapy Boy – nicknames for the above nicknames
- Draper Daniels – his “unofficial”, randomly packed from his friends.
- DRAPER DOODLE DANDY – How we call him to come
- Draper Kristofferskins – his official name when he is proud
- Muffin Man – When He’s Being Fool
- Peanuts – when he’s curled up in a small bowl
- Little Maestro – When He Was a Good Boy
- Bubba /Bubbakins /Bubbey /Bubbey Boy – When I’m the only one using, I’m fine tuning him, or come to bed and call him.
- Sir Berks a Lot – after a lot of barking, or if we’re singing a song about their barking
- Lil Stinker – Usually I called this “Code Brown” (see below)
- Weenie/ Weenie Boi – I was talking about him when he wasn’t around
- Brown One/Big Boy – I used to refer to the draper when he wasn’t around, but rue, that is, where is “Brown One”? ”
*Code Brown (Definition): My husband and I say to warn each other that there is something we call “dirty danglers.”
rue:
- rue bisou (Pronunciation: bee-zoo) – Her most commonly used nickname was often said, “rue bisoubisou, which sounds like Scooby-Doo.” Fun fact: Bisou is French for kissing.
- Bisou – A shortened version of the above.
- bisou bisou – again a nickname born from rue bisou
- rue rue – Usually used when calling to come to her or do something
- Little Miss/Lil Mama/Lil’Lady – When hugging, I’m usually compatible by me
- Baby girl – Same as above
- Baby mom – ^ Same
- Darling Bean – ^ Same
- Snowball – what my husband calls her when he enters from the snow
- Little One was used to point to rue when she wasn’t around, but the draper means, “Where are the little things?”
- Same usage as above
Nicole, Mac & Rosa
When it comes to formal introductions in our homes, Rosa Cosgrove and Machado Cosgrove are rarely named. For example, Machado is most often referred to as a “Mac.”
Now, our nicknames tend to be less than overly creative and often merely variations of real names, but most of the time they are longer than the actual name.
Rosa
When we adopted Rosa, her name was “Rose”, but we changed it to Rosa because we wanted to take care of a beautiful mama dog named Rosa on our trip and pay tribute to her. Now, here is the list of names she “responds” (or rather, called):
- Rosa
- Rosalita
- Rosalitami Perita
- Rosie Girl
- Rosie Lucy
- Rosie Lou
- Rolo
- Rolo (again, as Scooby-Doo said)
Mac
Machado was named after Surfer Rob Machado, but during training he found the “ch” sound difficult. So he became Machado with the “k” sound (macado), then shortened to a Mac. Here is a list of this name he will be called:
- Mac
- McAdor
- Macad
- Machado (with CH)
- Machdre
- McCaddod
- McCaddod Reed
- Mac Man
I also sometimes call them my muppets, especially when they’re extra mappets. One thing is certain, no matter what they are called, they are just my baby.
Maja, lava and spatula
Today we have a special guest star: Dr. Maja on Monday!
Lava has many nicknames, but some of the most popular ones I use every day are Lavkic, Lavitos and Lavic. Zlo (Croatian words of evil) and Zloba (also have evil words because she is a threat) are reserved for the situation when she escapes. I always like to use the tone of a voice that seems to confuse and sound serious, as if she’s pretending to be mad at her. Of course, there are a few other nicknames I would rather not share 🙂
Hera only has a few nicknames, including Helitos, Helikic, Helikica, and Helika. She is still ti-sick from time to time and doesn’t like her when someone is staring at her so she doesn’t really respond to her nicknames, especially on camera.
This article covers all the dog stars from the Wednesday Dog Star series.
