‘My relative demands I change my dog’s name as it makes his wife depressed’

A woman has taken to Reddit to share how her distant relations are trying to make her change her dog’s name because it has caused them a great deal of upset – she has put her foot down

A woman has been left flabbergasted after being ordered to change her dog’s name because its upsetting one of her distant relations. The dog owner explained how she named her three-month-old puppy Clover simply because she likes the name.

But it has caused her relations a great deal of upset because they used to have a dog called Clover. Taking to Reddit, she said: “I named her Clover because I liked the name and thought it was cute. I have been posting her on Facebook and gushing over how cute she is.

I got one comment from a distant relative stating that she had a dog named Clover and how it died. I thought that was sad but didn’t think much of it and said I was sorry for her loss.”

However, a few days later, the woman received a direct message from the woman’s husband telling her she needs to change her dog’s name because it’s upsetting his wife.

“He said I was an a***hole for naming a dog after her recently deceased dog,” she added.

“I was surprised cause I didn’t even know about the dog until she mentioned it let alone named my dog after hers

“He said that seeing posts of my dog named clover was making his wife depressed.”

Annoyed by his message, the woman replied: “I already decided it’s her name and didn’t name the dog after her dead dog. If she isn’t happy seeing it then just unfriend me and you won’t.”

The man did not take this well and said she’d regret naming her dog Clover as their other family members would likely talk bad about her for it.

He said: “He got mad saying how our other family would see it and talk about it and that I should just rename it.

“I honestly don’t know that side of the family very well let alone talk to them or see them, they are practically strangers to me.

“Would I be the a***hole for not changing my dog’s name?

“I’d like to add I’ve had her for about a month now and she is just now starting to come to her name I don’t want to confuse her or go through the effort of retraining her to come to a new name.

“Changing all her information with her vet and name tag it seems pointless to me when she is already answering to the name and I love it.”

While most users agreed she shouldn’t change her dog’s name to suit other people, others shared their surprise at somebody having such a “dramatic” reaction over an animal’s name.

One user said: “You didn’t even know the other dog existed before you named yours, and changing the name now will not only confuse the dog (since you say she’s answering to the name), it’ll cost you money to boot.

“I get that it’s probably hard for them, but much like if they’d asked you to change your child’s name, they simply don’t have the right to demand that of you.”

Another user added: “You didn’t do it on purpose and it’s the dog’s name now. They just need to get over themselves.”

A third user said: “Nobody ‘owns’ a name, whether for an animal or for a human.

“Sure it’s hard at first to see another pet with the same name, but if you liked the name you have to understand that someone else is also going to like it.”

Do you have a strange dog story to share? Email [email protected].