LEWISTON – Dogs are no longer just dogs.
Somehow, over the last decade or so, dogs have seen their status elevated from pet to “our child” or “my baby.” That’s what one dog owner after another told us when we asked readers what they named their dog and what their dog is like.
Readers responded in a big way. Many, like proud parents, sent in photos.
Dogs have been people-ized. The proof is in the names.
The most common dog names, according to the Lewiston’s dog licenses, are the same names you’d give your two-legged baby.
The list of 1,578 licensed dogs in Lewiston shows that once-popular names are doggone near all gone. No Spots. No Fidos. There’s only one Snoopy, one Scruffy.
The most popular dog name in Lewiston is Bella. There are 29 Bellas. The other names in the top five: Molly, 26; Sadie, 23; Buddy, 21; and Zoey or Zoe, 21. Still other common Lewiston dog names Abby, Bear, Bailey, Ben, Charlie, Daisy, Jake, Lilly, Lucy, Maggie and Max.
In Auburn, the top dog name is Daisy. The city has 23 licensed Daisys, followed by Molly (17), Max (16), Maggie (15), Sadie (13), Sophie (13), Zoey (13), Bella (12), Buddy (12), Bailey (10), Jake (10) and Tucker (10).
Both lists are similar to national lists of popular dog names: full of many common human names.
Empty-nesters George and Susan Viscarelli of Lewiston oversee one household with a special Bella.
Bella: ‘She’s like a child. We worry about her.’
They got their mixed breed pooch two years ago from the Androscoggin Human Society. She came with the name “Jules.”
It didn’t fit, Susan said. Both she and her husband are Italian. They renamed her Bella, which means “beautiful” in Italian.
“It fits her perfectly, because she’s beautiful. She has a beautiful personality, a gentle soul,” Susan said. “And my grandmother used to call me Bella. We adore this animal,” Susan gushed, then acknowledged that Bella isn’t treated like an animal.
“She’s like a child. We worry about her. George buys her the best food. She has her own beautiful bed from L.L. Bean.” Whenever she needs to go to the vet, she goes. How much it will cost is an afterthought.
Bella is afraid of thunderstorms. When a storm starts, “it doesn’t matter where we are. We go home.”
Don Allen and Skip Gans of Lewiston are “daddy” to their Bella, a Jack Russell they rescued in Augusta. “She does have a personality,” Allen said. “She hates other dogs. When a dog walks down the street, she goes berserk.” She’s a picky eater and is high maintenance, Allen said. That’s OK, he added, bragging about how smart she is. “She fills our lives with love.”
Kristina Gailloux and her husband, who live in Peru, have two two-legged children and two four-legged “children.” The humans are Haylee and Hayden. The dogs are Hank and Harley. “We wanted to stick with h’s.”
Hank is a beagle, Harley a golden. “Hank is crazy, hyper. When he gets loose, he’s gone. Harley is the opposite: calm.”
Both dogs love to ride with Kristina on her four-wheeler. “They’re definitely our children.”
Ditto for Heather Turner of Lewiston. Her family has two boxers, Lucy and Tucker.
“She’s all boxer,” Turner said of Lucy. “She’s as silly as it gets. She chews my shoes, the expensive ones. She will jump a half-flight of stairs.” Tucker is larger, but Lucy “bosses him around.”
When the family comes home from work and school, “it is chaos. Boxers don’t have tails, their whole butt wiggles.”
Kevin Lyons of Livermore Falls is the owner of Molly, a Walker coonhound, he bragged. He’s a freelance photographer who shoots landscapes. Molly goes with him for country photo shoots. “She loves to run.”
Like a lot of dogs these days, Molly sleeps on the same bed as Lyons and his girlfriend. Sometimes Molly hogs the pillow. If the air conditioning is too high for her liking, “she’ll stare at me until I lift the blanket. She gets between us.”
Christine Callahan of Lewiston has a dog named Sadie. “She’s 2 years old. We rescued her from the pound.” Sadie was about to be put down because of a hip problem. “You just can’t do that,” Callahan said.
They saved Sadie, Callahan said, but when Callahan was diagnosed with cancer, “Sadie saved me.”
Tina Langlois of Lewiston called to tell us about her daughter’s dog, a little Chihuahua mix named Louie.
“He’s flipping cute,” she said. “My daughter wanted a name with two syllables. He understands you. He’s almost human.”
Langlois was cautioned that because the response from readers for this story was so high, Louie might not make it into the story because of limited space.
“Try to fit Louie in,” she persisted. “He’s small.”
Comment on this story at:
https://www.sunjournal.com/weblink/
How dogs became a bigger part of our world
PORTLAND — There’s been a sea change in the relationship between humans and dogs in the past decade, according to dog expert Maria Goodavage.
Goodavage grew up in Maine, lives in San Francisco and was recently vacationing in Maine. She’s a New York Times best-selling author for her book “Soldier Dogs” and was featured on the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in 2012. Goodavage blogs about dogs and is the author of several other dog books.
When she began writing books in the early ’90s, including her “Dog Lovers Guide to San Francisco” and “Dog Lovers Guide to California,” it was tough to find a hotel or a business that allowed dogs, she said.
“Dogs were considered pets for the backyard. It was unusual to travel with your pet. There weren’t that many pet stores compared to now.”
Society has changed. There are more couples without children, couples waiting longer to start families and empty-nesters eager to fill the void. In many of those households, dogs become their children, Goodavage said.
Businesses responded. More started allowing dogs in lodgings. Restaurants and stores began leaving water bowls out. Banks, oil company delivery men and other businesses started giving out dog treats, “because dogs are kids for many people. People are willing to spend a lot of money on their dogs.”
Dog owners are correct, Goodavage said, when they say their dogs understand them.
More than any other animal, “dogs are so finely attuned to people,” she said. It started in the days of early man, when the friendliest dogs had a higher chance of survival because they would get food from humans, Goodavage said.
That relationship has evolved to the point where the animals can read their owner’s emotions, she said. More than any other animal, dogs pay attention to their owner’s body language. Dogs sense your mood, they know if you’re happy, sad or afraid.
“I’ve heard this from countless scientists and dog cognition experts,” Goodavage said. “Dogs are so hyper-tuned to us. You’re their world.”
Scientists are studying dogs at major universities like never before, and are finding out how much dogs know, Goodavage said.
And humans have reciprocated by seeing their dogs as having human qualities. Which ties into why more dogs are sporting people names, Goodavage said, herself included.
She named her first dog Joe, after her late father. Her current dog is Jake. “My daughter Laura jokingly considers him her brother.”
Bow-WOW! Readers talk their dogs up
Mell Hamlyn has a boxer named General Ledger. Future plans are to adopt two pugs and name them “Debit” and “Credit.” Hamlyn is an accountant.
Janet McCarthy’s household must be busy, she has three great Danes: Zoey, Amelia and Daphne. “They have people names because my dogs are part of the family.
Shannon Sylvester’s dog Serenity “is my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Crystal Sheppard of Auburn said her Boston terrier is named Gwen. The dog came with the name. “I kept it because in 2002 a transgender male who went by the name Gwen Araugo was brutally murdered.” Moved by the story, Sheppard took in Gwen when she needed a home. “That is how our Gwen came into our lives and stole our hearts.”
Sarah Wellington of Lisbon has two female Chihuahuas, Molly and Frankie.
Sue Roux has a dog named Sadie.
Mt. Blue school secretary Bette Jo Tracy has Bailey, a chocolate lab who constantly licks her lips when her back is scratched. Tucker, a yellow lab mix, doesn’t know he’s huge. “Tucker will try to fit in places where he just can’t!”
Lisa Wall of Lewiston has Jesse and Chloe.
Bob Berry of Livermore Falls has a rescue dog named Annie, who comes from San Diego.
John Ludwigsen has a dog named Molly. So does Michelle Kearney. And Carole MacCollum. “When she came to us, her name was Kate,” MacCollum wrote. It didn’t fit. “One night I looked her in the eyes and asked if she wanted to be named Molly. Ears perked up, head tilted, kisses came.”
Jessica Philippon of Lewiston has a shepherd/St. Bernard mix who weighs 133 pounds. They named him Max.
Paul Thornfeldt of Paris said his wife has a Maltese whose name is Kalie, “but we use ‘chicly boo boo.’” He has a cocker spaniel, Pumpkin. “We typically call her Punky.”
Lynn Brettler named her Chihuahua puppy named “Ozzy Blue.” Most days they call him “Ozzy,” “but when he’s naughty it’s ‘Mr. Blue.'”
Wendy Johnson’s dog is named Sadie, “Sadie Mae when she’s in trouble,” Johnson said. “Boy, does she have a human personality. I don’t really think she considers herself a dog. Then again, I treat her like a child.”
Ditto for Keith and Judith Whelchel of Lewiston. “We have a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Fiona. She’s our second child,” Judith said, adding they sometimes mix up the names of their dog and daughter. Who doesn’t?
Jessica Keene of Turner named her black lab Phoebe.
Nicole Adams of Jay named her miniature dachshund Alison.
Davina Poulin’s puppy pug is called George. “Not because of the new baby prince,” she said. “My George had his name first.”
Ethnic preference often plays a role in dog names.
Ina Austin has a standard poodle, “Kola, a Lakota word for friend.”
Bethany Golletti of Lisbon Falls picked Italian names for her dogs, Vito and Gia. “I regretted naming my girl dog Gia when I found out I was having a baby girl.”
Crystal Howes of Greene has two labs, a chocolate named Rican “like Puerto Rico,” and an eight-week-old black named Papito. “My daughter is 10 and named them both. She’s half Puerto Rican and says the dogs are too.”
Melissa Delehanty of Auburn said she and her husband got a black lab puppy in 2009 and researched names. Her husband came up with “Nyx,” the Greek goddess of the night, at the same time their daughter’s favorite book was “Fox in Sox.” They combined the words, naming their puppy Mr. Knox.
They don’t plan to reveal to Mr. Knox his name came from a goddess, even though his ego could probably handle it.
Denise Ireland of Auburn got their family’s little dog five years ago and named him Dudley, “for Dudley, the angel in the movie ‘The Bishop’s Wife.’ Little did we know he was a devil in disguise,” she mused, adding, Dudley “loves everyone.”
Benjamin Austin of Sabattus has a Min Pin named Buddy and a corgi/pit bull mix named Delah.
Sue Voisine of Auburn has a black lab mix, Savannah.
Paula Dubay of Auburn has a goldendoodle named Hadley.
Robbi Starnegg of Lewiston has a yellow lab named Emma.
April Potvin of Lewiston named her dog Grayson.
Laurie Garrity of Litchfield named her golden Bella Grace.
Jonica Rollins of Lewiston has a shepherd named Belle.
Melissa Dunn of Auburn is the proud parent of a Mexican hairless puppy, just a few months old. It was tough deciding a name “for such a beautiful baby,” Dunn said. She finally settled on Abbie. “She is the coolest, cutest thing ever.”
Dave Arnold named his Jack Russell “Seymour” after Patriots player Richard Seymour.
Libby Roy’s bulloxer (American bulldog and boxer hybrid), who wears a Yankees jersey, is “Mugzy.”
Laurie Linn of Bowdoin wanted hunting/nature names for her dogs, Gunner and (originally) Kestrel (as in the bird). But Kestrel turned to Kelsey, which seems to fit.
Tory Wotton of Mercer said their family’s labradoodle is Grafton “after our favorite place to hike, Grafton Notch State Park.”
Sandra Hilton has a Hannah and a Bella. They were having trouble naming the second dog. “One morning my husband woke up and said his grandmother came to him in a dream and pointed and said ‘Bella.’” You can’t say no to grandma.
Megan Parks of Lewiston named her dog Lily, “after my grandmother who passed away the day before we adopted her from the humane society in Lewiston.”
Top dog names in Lewiston:
1. Bella
2. Molly
3. Sadie
4. Buddy
5. Zoey
Top dog names in Auburn:
1. Daisy
2. Molly
3. Max
4. Maggie
5. Sadie
(Source: Lewiston and Auburn dog licenses)
Most popular puppy names nationally in 2012 (www.vetstreet.com)
Boys:
1. Max
2. Buddy
3. Charlie
4. Rocky
5. Cooper
Girls:
1. Bella
2. Daisy
3. Lucy
4. Molly
5. Lola
Coming up: L.L. Bean’s “Dog Days of August,” Aug. 24 in Freeport. A full day of demonstrations, talks and activities for dog lovers and their dogs. Part of L.L. Bean’s “Summer in the Park.” For more: www.llbean.com/llb/shop/513045
Comments are no longer available on this story