WHAT’S YOUR DOG’S NICKNAME? – 03.22.2011

Our dogs are probably no different than yours.  They all have their names that the world know them by and then they have a “special” name or two or even three that only a select few people know.  Our dogs have truly earned their nicknames, either by the way they look or their behavior patterns.

Since this is Orso’s blog, we’ll start with him.  Orso has a few nicknames – we call him “Baby Boy,” “Baby Bear” and “Big Poppa” a lot – but the one that truly fits him is “Buckethead.”  Orso has this big, impressive block head that sometimes looks too big for his body, almost like he’s wearing a bucket over his head.  Lately, he’s been growing into his head nicely, so we’re not sure how much longer we will be calling him Buckethead, lol.

Luna has earned herself a very special nickname.  We call her “Poopoo Mouth” since she has at times engaged in coprophagia.  It’s pretty gross but we try to find humor in it since it is part of nature.  Dr. Pane, her vet, has nicknamed her “Luna-tic” since, in typical Catahoula Leopard fashion, she can be pretty unruly at times. 

Mouse has a few nicknames and all for distinct reasons.  Mouse has a very special personality.  He is high-strung and doesn’t settle down easily, so when he does quiet down, we try to not get him excited for no reason.  When he is settled and we are talking about him, we refer to him as “The Rat” so he won’t know we are talking about him and get all worked up.  Mouse = rodent = rat, so that one is pretty self-explanatory.  We have also dubbed him “Chinky” or “Chinky Chink” because when he gets really happy he squints his eyes and they turn into little slits.  It might be a little racially insensitive, but it fits him way too well to stop calling him that.  Nichelle, his dogsitter extraordinaire, has nicknamed him “The Golden Child” because when he was younger, not only did he eat a leash whole that cost us countless thousands of dollars to remove, but he would constantly run into stuff, get injured or cut, and require stitches.  I swear that Mouse’s vet bills put Dr. Pane’s kids through college!