Originally Posted by
Snowshoe
I have heard people wonder if changing the name might even be a good thing. Suppose the current name is associated by the dog with unpleasant things or at least with a harsh or unpleasant tone of voice? Just as changing a command that has been corrupted to a new word, a name change might help the dog learn new, good associations. Every stray dog I ever found I gave a name till I found it's owner and all those dogs happily responded to whatever I called them. The cat next door had the name we gave her and the name her owners gave her and she happily responded to each of us. I think dogs and cats treat their names sort of the same way we respond to different nicknames people might give us. We know more than one name for ourselves, they can too.