All I can't think is "what the hell just came out of my mouth?!" It sound like I'm running some rehabilitation for retired prostitutes! "Brownie. Toots. Mr.Fluffy Pants, for God's sake!" Upon hearing these words escape my mouth I'm thrown into a solid 5 minutes of thought. Trying to contemplate the reasoning behind each animals name.
I mean really, a name is important. What is the first thing you do when you find out your pregnant? (Besides throw up) you immediately start pondering names. Girl names and boy names. Do you go traditional and use a family name. Do you blaze a new trail and go with a more modern name. Or maybe go really old school... Biblical (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John?)
I guarantee you had lists upon lists upon lists. Meetings and focus groups to discuss every possible name. Maybe even took a family and friends poll. (Go ahead, keep laughing...we both know you did it!)
The important thing is, however you got there, I can guarantee you spent 3 - 9 months to make that decision of all decisions.
Now stop what you're doing (except keep reading this blog or this question won't make any sense :o) How much time did it take you to name your family dog? Or cat or hamster...whatever. Like 10...15 minutes? Exactly! It's like there's this universal law that says "You just took an animal into you family. They need a name right NOW!!!"
Why? I don't know but it's true right? We name our pets in minutes compared to the months it takes to name our children. Wanna know why? (I know, you're dying to hear my version of why) Well, after extensive, scientific research (i.e. Facebook poll) I've concluded we humans name our pets from 1 of 4 categories.
1. Physical description 2. Personality traits
3. Food &/or Beverage names 4. Human names we LOVE (but won't name our children)
OMG...I know! I'm totally right! (That's what you're thinking, I'm just putting it out there.
Perfect example:
Category 1:
Physical description
My cats name is Mr.Fluffy Pants, (see gray cat on left.) originally he was bald and the size of a twig and his was named Lucky, due to being lucky he survived...but as time went on we changed his name. From "Lucky" to "Fluffers" (we stopped that for obvious reasons. I mean, no parents wants their child running around the house saying 'I see Fluffers!' right?) To then, "Senior Fluffy pants" and now just "Mr. Fluffy Pants." So yea, he's big and had fluffy legs, looks like he's wearing fluffy,gray pants. (And in all honesty...he kinda' looks like Dr.Evil's cat...but with hair.)
I also have a dog my kids named Bruno (middle name Brownie, because he looks like a...yup, brownie.) I tried to get them to go with Mars but that didn't happen.
A friend of mine named her dog Master Fat-Fat. Any guesses why? No, really, don't hold back. Let's just say I don't think this dog had an eating order!
Category 2: Personality Trait
So, my Dad use to tell us stories about this silly dog he had, named D.S. Now I understand that's not overly descriptive name...but in all honestly, the dog use to run around in circles in the backyard, for hours, for no reason! Yea, his name was Dumb Shit.
My sister had a cat named Slinky...who use to lay flat on the stairs and just slid down. (I don't know if she heard her name and just went with it or if she was scared of stairs and had a stroke every time she looked downstairs.) Either way...that cat OWNED her name! Last but not least, my girlfriends dog was named Coco....LOL...ok, we ALL know where I'm going with this! A. The dog was brown. B. Dog only drank hot chocolate or C. Dog had a problem (sniff-sniff!) Ah ha ha!
Catergory 3: Human Names we like -but not not enough to name our children.)
A few friends chimed in with their pets names: Daisy, Pixie & Sunshine. Cute names for puppy's but really, you don't necessarily want to give your daughter's those names in fear their future career path would already planned out. Might as well name 'em Bambie.
Then there's Yoda, Buster & Bruiser. Need I explain? Dogs yes, humans...eh...maybe no.
Last but not least
Catergory 4: Food/Beverage names
Apparently my family, starting with my Grandma, had some major food issues. I think we just loved certain foods SO much we couldn't help but name our animals after it.
Perfect example:
Grandma's cats: Twinkie & Muffin (and yes, they were a kitty couple)
My sister's cat: Skittles
Me: Nope, sorry, never wanted to eat my animals. (I stayed in category 1.)
But other people wrote in with: Cheddar, Boozer, Snicker-Doodle, Coors, Fry-Fry, no joke, kinda' makes me hungry. I asked my son what he would name a pet...he said "I dough-not know." lol..love that kid!
So, in conclusion. No matter what you end up naming your pet, the #1 most important thing to remember, not matter if it's a descriptive name, a perfect-personality name, a human name, or a food name ...MAKE SURE IT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN YELL OUT LOUD!! No neighbor wants to hear you yelling "Bruno...stop trying to get Lucky!"