On Feb. 7th I will be bringing home my new eight week old puppy. I have been diagnosed for a while, made peace with my pd. I don't work, my days are usually spent alone whether I am at home or out hiking, fishing or whatever. I would never thought a thing about having a dog. They are a lot of work and can be a big pain, right?

Ever heard of a dog assisting a pwp? I did a while ago but never looked into it until now. I have learned that ANY dog can be classified as an assistance dog if it can be trained to meet a certain standard. I've looked into it and decided It would be a good thing for me. I've watched a short video of an assistance dog helping a person overcoming a "freezing" episode as well as helping a person that has fallen get up from the ground. A companion like him can also help overcome depression (boy do I need that). I've done a bunch of research and decided to buy a dog and attempt to train him myself with an occasional consult from a pro when needed.

I can't seem to come up with a name that my wife, kids and grandkids agree on. I keep telling them his name will be "Bill" if we don't come up with a name before we bring him home. "Bill" comes from a line in a Johnny Cash song, "A Boy named Sue". The line is "Bill or George or anything but Sue". To tell you the truth I kinda like the name Bill.

Sooo, please help me out. Help me name my new puppy. Tell me what you think I should name him. The dog will be large, very large. He is an English Mastiff. He has short brown hair with a black face. When he is fully grown he will weigh around 220 - 250lbs. I would like to keep his name short easy to pronounce.

I will let you all know what I decide on Feb 8th.

Thanks
David

Last Edited on 28-Jan-2010 2:01 PM

You can always have fun with the translator like I did too =)

Fight on!
Christina

The service dog thing made my super attentive parky senses tingle and I rembered something about it. If you go to pg. 7 of the archived messages and scroll down to Kelly's posting you will find out about her gentleman neighbour who has PD and a service dog that helps him with his balance.

Now as for a name for this dog:

How about Hercules, Herc for short or Samson, call him Sam. Or call him Parky, short for you know what. Good Luck with the training Dave and keep us posted. I am sure this dog will be a welcome addition to your life. Be strong John 8)

How about Bowser? He is in the game Mario.

Marcia, I'm sure I will have a new best friend whether or not he has what it takes to be a full fledged assistance dog. I was shocked at how minimal the standards are. I will try to post them later or at least the link to them.

Caroline, I forgot about the balance thing. That is big for me. I did see a video of a dog assisting someone down stairs. That's part of the reason I chose a large breed.

The name Bill is out of contention thanks to one of your suggestions. One of the names here is at the top of the list. Keep 'em coming, only eight or nine days left.

Thanks
David

David

Last Edited on 30-Jan-2010 4:51 AM

I have never been good at naming pets. However, I've always found that a wealth of great pet names can be found in the medicine cabinet. My current cat's name is Zac, which is short for Prozac. Had he been a female, the name would have been Zoe, short for Zoloft. So, look through your medicine cabinet (or your own PD meds)...something might come to mind!!! Could also be a great mental reminder to take your meds... Just a humble thought from a simple mind!!!

Good luck,
Mihai

Best of luck at naming your newest member. Oh heck, name him Puppy. People will surely get a smile every time you call "here puppy" and along comes this huge dog :)

We named him Simba, as in the movie The Lion King. I'm told it means "big cat". Probably appropriate for him, since I definately wanted and needed a small dog. He keeps me company and indeed helps with "the blues" as I too am not working and am often alone.

On a serious note, its been shown that dogs do best with 2 sylable names - preferably ending with a vowel sound. For example - Snoopy, Fido, Coco, Pizza (there was a family who let their two year old name it), Brownie, Rosco, Maggie, etc.

I wish you good luck with the puppy! All soon to be 220 lbs of him.

John

Last Edited on 31-Jan-2010 6:01 PM

I have always liked "Zeke" for a big dog.

Sue

The link is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY

Thanks for the link. I agree, it is a neat video. I'm not a church goer but it made me smile.

I know it sounds crazy, but I'm starting to get a little nervous(I'm shaking all over, haha). Only a couple more days before I pick him up. I'm going to spend a part of today and tomorrow puppy proofing the house and making a bed for him. It will be a five hour drive so we will spend the night in Indy. Saturday, pick him up on Sunday morning. The cats are in for a surprise.

John, it's good to hear from you. Since we live so close we should get together again. Pam and I really enjoyed our visit in Columbus (despite the fact that we couldn't hear much over the crowd noise).

All of the names are great, I still haven't decided yet. I got a chuckle from Sherman as in tank.

David

I think I like the name Parky that was suggested here and also Mihai ideas to name him after a med. I am not too good at naming pets. I have a fluffy cat I just call Fluffy.

patti

The town we are going to is actually Mulberry. With a storm blowing this way I'm not sure exactly when we will be driving there. Kinda looks like Sunday will be the safest. We would definitely take you up on the guest room offer and if that's not possible would like to meet you and have lunch, dinner or something. We will still try for Saturday since my wife has to work Monday morning.

David

Last Edited on 8-Feb-2010 7:44 AM

I want to thank you all for the suggestions and advice you shared with me. To name my new friend was a very challenging and I must say entertaining endeavor. Just when I thought I had the perfect name a new one was offered that I liked more than the previous. It was close. My first choice was Ripley, then when I heard Willie I knew that was the name. We kept on looking and found other names but kept coming back to Willie. The adoption day finally arrived and we drove the six hours through the remains of this weekends snow storm to meet our new puppy. Before meeting him we met his grandfather and believe it or not, his name is Willie. I just can't name our puppy Willie now, not after his grandfather. After the long ride home and a good nights sleep I woke up, went to see the puppy and decided he will be called Toby. I discovered the name while reading a book titled "Walking The Appalachian Trail". Toby "Son of Billy Goat" Woodard is a former through hiker of the Appalachian Trail featured in the book and since I love hiking that trail and have always dreamed of through hiking it (Georgia to Maine) I thought it fitting to name my future hiking partner in this way.

Thanks again Everyone,

David & Toby

Last Edited on 8-Feb-2010 8:41 AM

I bet the new puppy is doing GREAT .. is it Toby for sure now? Toby Keith comes to mind.. :)

patti

David

1. http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm

The article title is "Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business"

2. http://servicedogsamerica.org/certification/index.html

This article is a step-by-step list of the criteria a service animal must meet in order to be qualified. It also says you can train your own dog.

Good luck!

David