‘I regret my dog’s name – it’s awkward to explain but I can’t change it now’

A woman has taken to Reddit to share how she ‘accidentally’ named her dog after speaking with a six-year-old girl on a dog walk – it has caused her a lot of embarrassment but she can’t change it now

While most rescue animals come with their names already picked out, others don’t and you get the job of naming them. One woman is urging pet owners to “choose their dog’s name wisely” after “accidentally” naming her dog when speaking to a six-year-old during a dog walk.

Taking to Reddit, the woman explained how she picked up a dog from the side of the road and referred to it as “Pup” while searching for its owners. She said: “I took her with me to a petrol station to put up a flyer with her picture on it. I lived in a very small town and put up flyers at the four petrol stations in the area in addition to posting online.”

The woman waited to see whether anybody would claim the dog before making plans for its future – but ultimately decided to keep her when nobody came forward.

She added: “This lovely little girl, about six-years-old, politely asked if she could pet my dog. I told her to ask her dad, he said yes, and she began petting Pup.

“She asked me what the dog’s name was and I said ‘ask her’ as a joke. This sweet little girl looked up at me with a big smile and said, so sincerely, ‘Asker is a beautiful name for this dog!’

“At that time I was still not planning on keeping the dog and couldn’t help but call her Asker for the next week.

“Before I knew it that was her name, and four years later I’m still confusing people who ask what her name is. Half the people bend over and say, ‘What’s your name?’ The other half are just confused and say, ‘What?’.”

While most users couldn’t help but laugh at her dog’s unique name, others shared stories about how their pets ended up with their odd names.

One user said: “My uncle couldn’t say doggy but goggy when he was little so the family dog came to be called Gogi.”

Another user added: “The dog we got when my son was a toddler was named Skippy, but my son called him Kicky.

“Our current dog is Huey but my little niece calls him Cuey and thinks it’s short for Cutie.

“She also calls any man who’s name she doesn’t know Fella – we don’t know why but it’s adorable.”

A third user said: “This reminds me of a pair of cats my grandparents had when I was really little that they referred to as The Kings but their names where Nosmo and Nopar.

“I was in my 20s when I finally got it – my grandpa named them after the no smoking and no parking signs on the building where he found them.”

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