I bet you already call him that and he already responds - but knowing Vinnie, he would come back to you whatever you called him

PS - he's not useless, if you ever need a cone or a tyre carried, he's your dog. Plus, we're supposed to laugh every day for our health - Vinnie makes sure you get your daily laughs (and some)

......and while you are at it, you could change his address to mine

Of course.

They don't really know it's their name after all, they just know it as a command noise for 'hey you pay attention!'.... In the case of rescues, they may have come to associate it as a bad noise, meaning 'I am coming for you', or 'I'm going to hit you'. So teaching them a different sound with different connotations will be much better for them in the long run.

My rescue dog was only about 2 or 3 when I got him, but would actually flinch if you used his name, so I changed it to Jackjack and he learned it quickly and that it meant 'hey little guy want a nice treat'?

what ever the RDA: for laughing is.... with vinnie you have had twice whats needed by the time you make your morning coffee..

ha ha, with him and beau in one house....can you imagine, beau's energy vinnies daftness....

bahahahahahahahah

Thanks for all the replies. I never knew there were so many helpful dog owners out there ! My kids will be delighted to know that we will be able to pick a name.

We're aiming for a Lab, golden retriever or possibly a rough collie. Basically something that's good with kids and isn't too challenging for a novice like myself. Oh and it has to be a "proper dog" according to my OH, meaning a medium/large size.

Hali - I actually live in Balerno so I'm going to pop up to the SSPCA place tomorrow (and possibly every day until I find the right dog!). Also the Dogs Trust at West Calder. If you could keep an eye out for a suitable dog where you are, that would be fantastic. By the way, I'm wondering about visiting the Edinburgh Dog & Cat home too, but I'm advised that their dogs are mostly strays and wouldn't have any known history - any thoughts ?

Good, we're planning on immigrating to Canada soon and apparently "Woody" means something quite rude!!! ;o0

hey Pidge,im in CAN, and yes ,Woody ,mean....well you know !!!! and its also a car!!!!so what part of CAN are you comming to ,im in Nova Scotia.....you never know!!!phil

Hey Phil. I know!! It's terrible although he'll always be a Woody (from Toy Story!!) to us ;o)

We're aiming at Calgary. Nova Scotia was on our list but I think we'd enjoy Calgary more. I grew up in Toronto but haven't been to CN for years and years. It's taking years for the visa to come through so plenty of time to think about it all.

Sorry for the threadjack ;o)

love Calgary,got friends there ,chilli winters and the cost of living is not so great,look up housing you will be shocked,price of homes is out of this world ,but they do have lots to offer for dog owners ..lots of dog parks and things to do with your dogs ........

I am in Edinburgh too and I went to Glasgow dog and cat home 11 years ago and got a wonderful dog .
If you want one with a known history you could try the dog aid society all their dogs are online