How to Teach Your Puppy to Recognise Their Name

Choosing a good name for our dog is no small matter. It matters that we spend some time thinking it through to pick the most suitable one. And rightly so, since it's going to stay with them their whole life.

Short, catchy names are recommended, and it's best to avoid ones that aren't suitable for calling your dog at the park. But does the dog actually understand their name? What do you need to do to teach it to them? We'll answer that below.

How to Choose the Ideal Name for My Dog

Even before we've met the dog who'll be ours, it's common to daydream about the name we're going to call them. It's not always a simple task. There are so many options that it'll be hard to settle on one. It can be a good idea to look at the dog and name them referencing some feature that makes them special.

For example, a dog with shiny black fur could be called Patent, after patent leather. One with a shaggy mane might suit Lion. You could also go for the exact opposite — a toy breed could be known as Titan. These three names we've mentioned share one common feature: they're short and catchy.

It matters to go for dog names that are clear and simple, just one or two syllables, with strong-sounding consonants, such as P, R or T. This is known to help them learn it and avoid confusion.

Forbidden Names

There are countless suitable names for your dog, but you should rule some out. However nice a name is, it might not be suitable for a dog. Of course, nothing crude, rude, or joke names. You should also avoid:

1. Names that coincide with other words the dog also needs to know, such as basic obedience commands or the names of household members.
2. Ones that are too long. Tangerine might work fine for a cat, but it'll be excessively long for a dog.
3. Ones that are hard to pronounce. For example, in Spanish, ones including certain consonant combinations, such as Gangster, or ending in consonants such as D.

Calling Our Dog So They Learn Their Name

Dogs are known to be able to learn and understand a considerable number of words. Among these, of course, is their name. Usually there's no need to do anything special to get them to know how we're calling them. We tend to refer to them by their name naturally when we want them to pay attention to us.

Since this situation will repeat many times throughout the day, it's usual that within a short time the dog will have realised that word refers to them. What's more, if at the moment they react to their name they receive positive stimulation, we're helping them learn it much faster.

Canine learning is known to be encouraged when we reward their successes and ignore their mistakes.

For example, if you say your dog's name and they look at you or come over, and your reaction is positive, they'll quickly learn that's the behaviour you're looking for.

If you reward them right at that moment, they get a benefit that encourages them to repeat that behaviour.

How Long Does It Take a Puppy to Learn Their Name?

Generally, recognising their name is a fast process, especially for the reasons already mentioned. That is, we call the dog by their name a huge number of times a day, giving them plenty of learning opportunities. What's more, this needs pairing with the fact that during the first days with the dog, we usually pay them a lot of attention.

In other words, we won't just call them a lot of times — we'll also stroke them, give them rewards and so on. So, almost without realising it, what we're doing is helping them associate us, but also their name, with highly positive experiences. That's exactly what's needed to boost their learning.

So, within just a few days, it's usual for the dog to establish the link between their name and themselves, though there can be differences between individual dogs depending on their learning ability. It may take longer if it's a very young puppy or a dog we've just adopted, who has probably already had another name.

How Can I Change My Dog's Name?

On the point we've just mentioned, it's worth saying this is a fairly common situation among adopters. It's very common for the dog we adopt, even if they're a puppy, to have lived in a home where they were called by another name, or to already come with a name assigned.

In these cases there's no problem changing it, in the way we've explained, that is, repeating it and getting them to associate it with positive feelings for them. In fact, if the dog comes from a situation of mistreatment, it's advisable to change the name, since it'll be linked to the negativity of their past life.

It may take them a little longer to learn their new name than it would the first one, especially if the puppy is already a few months old. This makes sense, since they'll have taken the old one on board. But with repetition, rewards and building a proper bond with them, they'll learn the new one in no time.