Oh no - who told you that was my real name?

Whahahaahaha!!

go for it it suits him much more anyway.

phoebe will answer to anything if i say it in a happy voice. i could shout fridge and she would come running

New life, new name. Bear suits him, but I like Malka's suggestion of Bhaloo as well...I can just imagine him singing 'look for the bear necessities....'

I like Bear or Bhaloo, it suits him. Max wasn't called Max when he came to live with us, he quickly got used to his new name.

Casper gets called Bear half the time, he does look rather polar bear-ish at times and everyone started using it as a nickname. He responds to either, really. The reaction to a name is what you make it, it's just like a command to a dog really. You could prime the name Bear to a recall/checkin/eye contact or similar like you'd train it with any other verbal command.
The only thing I would say is that I find two-syllable names flow a bit better, but that's just in my experience.

I think he`ll be Razzle-Bear for a while. We`re nowhere near the Training stage.
We do a potter up and down the road once a day, going a slightly different way each time. He is limping a bit - could be arthritis - and I`m trying to get some weight off him. I hadn`t realised how tubby he was under all that fur.
He won`t take supplements and there`s no way I`m able to syringe Metacam into his mouth so will think about a different method of getting fish oils etc into him. Ideas welcome.
I`m also working on grooming him. His coat is massive and he gets upset if you brush him for long so we`re doing it in bits.
Also slightly worried about his teeth but that will have to wait. Ideally I`d like him in for a dental but that will have to wait till he`s more comfortable round people and I`ve saved up for it.

Would he take salmon oil on his food? That's meant to be good for the joints. Would he take capsule supplements opened up and sprinkled onto wet food? Or Cortaflex is a liquid joint supplement, and I've heard good reviews on JointAid which is small pellets you can add to food.
You could perhaps try a Biofflow/magnetic collar for him, I know some people swear by it.

Would it be possible to put Metacam or Meloxidil into his food and disguise it with something really tasty? maybe raw liver?

I think the name Bear really suits/ I can't get over how much he's improved. You should be very proud of yourself. and him too for making so much progress.

What does HE think of the name? have you tried it? Does he respond to it?

Jenzi responds to Baba. It started as a nickname because she's the youngest of the dogs but it stuck and she will come running to it.

The others have 2 names anyway - one for normal use ie Zane. The other for training. For Zane, his name is Ganjak (part of his registered name).

Why not continue to use Razzle but also call Bear (or whatever you decide on) straight afterwards. Then little by little, drop the Razzle part?

He loves his food but is fussy - he loves Liver so yes I could shove some joint supplements into liver, good idea.
He doesn`t really answer to a name or word. He responds to tone of voice and body language (wafty arms and the suggestion he might like like to go out for a wee.... )