(no subject)

[podling]

It bugs me somewhat that puppies don't have names for the first several weeks of their lives...

Comments

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Well, that's why they learn to sniff butts. It's like a nametag.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

They have names, they're just dog names.

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

Exactly, they have the names their mother gives them. We just name them whatever we mean to call them. They recognize it as their name signature, but I don't think we could ever know their True Names.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Um. A)I was joking. B)Why would their mother's name (if we allow blatant anthropomorphizing here, and ignore the logical flaws with this) for them be any more real than a name I gave them? And "because she's a dog" is not an acceptable answer here. C)My nickname is also just a "name signature," but it doesn't make it any less my name.

[littlefrogling.livejournal.com]

it's like "old possum's book of practical cats." they've got 3 names. the daily, family name. the name that only belongs to that one. and then the Secret Name.

and i think it's perfectly logical to think a mommy dog can name her pups.

[podling]

Oh, it's logical. And I guess it makes it slightly better that they might have a name (other than "you there!") from their parents, whether that name be a scent or vocal or whatever. But the names we give things are still their names as well. I answer to several different nicknames, and they are all "me" in some sense of the word. It's about identity really. Names of people shape their personality sometimes, I think it's less so for puppies though.

After all, Gwen is an individual dog with personality traits and such. So is Pooch. Granted, she responds to most things I call her ("Hey, bitchwhore! come here!" being a favorite) but still.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I didn't have a name til I was 6 weeks old. I attribute my general fucked-up-ness to this.

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

Exactly, and why should we put all dogs through this trauma? Sure they have their "real" names, but dogs live to love humans, they live to be petted and adored. Having no name from us for so long probably fucks some of them up, while making others even more dependent on us for reassurance and love having gone unnamed for so long.

[podling]

Well, I mean, I guess I can sort of understand why. I mean, people like to rename things, it gives them a sense of ownership. Take Zippy, for instance. So I mean, you want the owner to name the dog, and given that the owner rarely knows the puppy at birth, they can't really name it right away. But it still exists even when it isn't named. And there is a sense of identity even still. Though really, we called our dog "pooch" until we could come up with a better name for her that we all agreed with. Of course, it never happened, and it is Pete's dog, so Pooch she stayed. She was pathetic when we got her though, and not just because she was nameless...

[lonesomenumber1]

I tend to doubt that going without a name for a while harms a dog. I don't think if you name your dog Spot, he thinks "I am Spot." He thinks, "Now the One Who Feeds Me is making the noise that means he wants my attention."

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

All of this makes me wonder why we domesticate dogs and cats and birds or whatever. Here, domesticate is a euphemism for "emotionally hobble."

David, ducking

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

duh, because we like being adored. we crave unconditional affection and love, even if from beings who are not our equals (part of that whole hobbling thing, if nothing else)

[lonesomenumber1]

Dogs and cats have been domesticated for thousands of years. If by "domesticate," you mean "train," we do the same thing to our kids -- that is, modify their behavior so that they'll be able live in the adult human world.

Let's not forget the original reasons these animals were domesticated, either: dogs for herding, protection and hunting; cats for getting rid of vermin. Treating them like our children is a relatively recent phenomena.

But I do love my dog. :-)

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

Well, yes--we do socialize kids. Some pet owners seem to lavish the kind of love and affection on pets that, I think, ought to be normally reserved for our species. I think domesticate does mean train in certain contexts, and that definition was probably the norm in the past. But now, I'm not sure what we are doing with pets. I mean we freakin' scoop cat shit out of boxes for them. What is THAT?

[lonesomenumber1]

Jeez, I don't know. That's my wife's job! I reckon it's better than scooping cat shit of the living room rug. :-)

[aaangyl.livejournal.com]

The last few litters of puppies I saw kind-of had names... they each had a little colored ribbon assigned to them at birth, so you had "mister blue" and "miss scarlet" and such.

Also, on "domestication" and such... I mean, to some extend, our cats and dogs domesticated themselves; given enough time, raccoons seem to be keen on going that way as well. The thing is that in the modern day most people don't work side-by-side with their dogs the way they once did, the way the dogs were BRED to, and so many people think of their dog as just another piece of property or something. It's totally not a thing for everyone, particularly in the modern day; I think of dogs more like furry kids for people that don't want to worry about financing college or having the garage burned down. =)

Re:

[podling]

Oh, that's cool! Little color coded puppies! If I ever have puppies (and by that I mean, have a dog that has puppies, not have half puppy/half Andrea hybrids) I hope I remember that.

And yeah, furry kids. They're high maintenance, not for everyone, true, but they do have positive aspects other than just financing college and irresponsible fire breathing tricks. I mean, they don't talk back. They're not as moody. They're wish is often to please you, which may be true with human children to a point, but I think they lose that after a while. And they're fuzzy & furry and cute! :)

I disagree

[arkibet.livejournal.com]

Every dog in the first part of their life is called "puppy." When I meet an unfamiliar dog, they always remember being called a "Puppy" and respond well. Hmm... hopefully there aren't any catburglers reading this who will use that trick.

Just had an odd association: When I was playing the SIMS, my one SIM [Mark] was on the criminal career path, a catburgler at the time. His wife [Marlana] was sleeping and sure enough, a catburgler came in and stole something from the house. I pictured Marlana rolling over in her sleep mumbling: "damn pyramid scheme."

Re: I disagree

[podling]

This is a good point. I mean, it works on dogs. Not so great on people. But sometimes... "hey baby..." can work wonders...

And that's great! A catburglar pyramid scheme! Yeah!

[pier777.livejournal.com]

*decides to be a heckler, causing trouble in the PAS (Pets Against Specie-ism) movement!*

*plants a sign in front of this whole doggie conversation*

"Cats RULE!!!
Dogs dRoOl~~~~*"