Who's Got a Ridiculous Name, Then?

Weekend Assignment #61: What is the most ridiculous name you've ever given a pet? Because, you know, once you've had a few, all the obvious names are taken, and I think most of us get a little slap-happy. "Ridiculous" could mean an absurd name, or a name in opposition to the pet's physical or character traits (i.e., calling a Great Dane "Tiny"), or something else that just points out that there's something goofy about your pet's title. The pet can be current or former, and -- since these are also a source of amusing names -- if you had a ridiculously named stuffed animal at any point in time, you can include that. Also, if you have a show dog or cat, their "formal" titles certainly belong in the ring.

Extra credit: Well, a picture of said ridiculously-named pet would be nice.

Okay, which is more ridiculous:

A. Naming this mongrel puppy Princess Guinevere of Westcott Street?



Or...

B. Applying the Toros mascot name Tuffy Toro to this scaredy-dog?




After nine years with us, during which she's been consistently treated kindly, Tuffy still runs away when confronted with the scary sounds of an empty can being dropped in the recycle bin, food being shifted in the refrigerator, John or Karen sounding mildly annoyed, or a pin dropping.  Okay, I'm exaggerating about the pin.  But she'd run from the sound of a pen dropping.  I'm sure of it.  Or the sight of a large box.  Or the opening of the washing machine lid.  Poor Tuffy!  So many things to fear! 



Tuffy will bark and, if absolutely necessary, growl, but if a stranger comes in the house she'll immediately run away, and do her barking from a safe distance.  She tries to sound fierce and protect the home, but she's not fooling anybody, least of all us.  The best you can say for the name is that it's ironic.  Still, she does  make a great burglar alarm!



As for Princess Guinevere of Westcott Street, I came up with the name as a bridge between the name my friend Bob gave her (Princess) and a name I liked better (Jenny).  I lived on Westcott Street at the time, and was very fond of T.H. White's The Once and Future King, in which Guinevere (Guenever in the book) is nicknamed Jenny.  So now you know the why and wherefore.  Are you enriched?



Other pet names over the years:

• Eowyn - the gerbil that ate my prom dress
• Friskyblue - a parakeet
• Kisser and Gommis - kissing gouramis
• Mr. P.- a plecostomus
• Noodle - a mostly-white Samoyed / Spitz/ Golden Retriever mix
• Wafer / Wayfarer - a black lab puppy

The first five stuffed animals in my childhood collection, in order of acquisition:
 

• Trophy - a toy poodle on a red pillow.  I still have Trophy (as shown here), but the pillow's long gone.
• Snoopy - a white, beagle-like dog, my Snoopy was not named after Charlie Brown's dog, but for Snoopy Sniffer.
• Percy - a panda.  Or maybe a bear.  I called him a bear, anyway. He was white, with black paws.
• Timmy - a tiger.
• Toothy - a giroo, I insisted, a cross between a giraffe and a kangaroo.  Everyone else said he was a dinosaur, more specifically a brontosaurus.  I guess we were all wrong!  He's green with leopard spots, and yes,I still have him, too.  I think Uncle Ed won him for me on the boardwalk at Seaside Park, New Jersey.
  

Karen

 

P.S. A few unrelated items of note:

1. Welcome to everyone who found this journal through the Round Robin Photo Challenge!  I update daily, so feel free to stop by often.  I'll try to make it worth your while.

2. My counter on this page reset itself tonight.  Drat!  It was up over 12,000-something.  Then tonight it was 0000004.  I shouldn't care--should I?

3. John signed on today as an official employee for the company at which he's been temping all year.  Now we've REALLY got to get him a car for that long commute!

4. Yes, MY new job is going well.

Tags: Weekend Assignment, Pet names, Dogs