A pregnant woman and her husband who are expecting their first child have both agreed on a name that they love but it has caused an unexpected issue with their dog
A woman and her husband who are expecting their first child fell in love with a baby name but their dog ‘ruined’ it.
Becoming parents for the first time is both exciting and daunting. One of the most important decisions to make is the name of the baby.
Parents have the difficult task of choosing a name that will suit the baby when they are a child as well as when they grow up to be an adult. A Reddit user opened up about a current dilemma she and her husband are facing as she shared that they have agreed on a name but their dog reacted thinking they were saying his name.
In the post, with the headline ‘our dog ruined the only name we could agree on’, the mum-to-be said: “We’ve struggled to come up with names for our little boy but have both fallen in love with Vincent. The issue comes when we were excitedly talking about the name Vincent/Vinnie, our dog Winston (Winnie) reacted, clearly thinking we were saying his name.”
She continued: “Of course we don’t actually blame Winnie but now we’re getting anxious lol. Baby boy could come any day and we’re no closer to a name.
“We love the name so much and I just wanted an outside perspective if we could make it work or if we need to move on and try find an alternative.” The woman added that she and her husband have “kind of” agreed on the names Caleb, Albie, Fletcher and Franklin but are “not as sold” as they are with Vincent.
Her post has garnered 714 upvotes and nearly 300 comments in two days. One Reddit user suggested: “Name him Vincent and don’t call him Vinnie. Problem solved!
“If you want him to have a nickname, call him Vin or something based off his last name or something. You might even come up with something once he’s born because of his appearance or his personality, like Miley Cyrus real name is Hope but they called her Smiley because she was always happy and that became Miley.”
Another gave a humorous suggestion: “I say go with V-dog. That way it’s confusing to everyone BUT the dog!”
A third user shared their concerns: “Vincent and Winston will sound the same to a dog I fear. VIN vs WIN. SENT vs STON. Especially when said quickly. Winston. Vincent.”
A fourth gave a different opinion: “Name your son Vincent. Winston will adjust; dogs are very intuitive and he will figure out when you are talking to him and when you are not.” The user also pointed out a sad truth: “As much as we love our dogs, Winston will not carry his name for nearly as many years as little Vincent will carry his.”
They continued: “If it really becomes necessary, you can change the dog’s name. (Winston became Teddy Winston and then you gradually phase out the Winston. Now your doggie is named Teddy.) Congrats on your new baby!”
In an article discussing if dogs understand words made up by humans, PetMD referenced a 2020 study which found that when a dog hears a ‘nonsense’ word that is similar to an instruction word (e.g. sid instead of sit), they “hear it as the instruction word they know, not distinguishing a difference at all.”
The pet care and health information resource added: “Dogs also read our body language and listen to our tone as we speak to them, which helps them decipher what we are telling them. This indicates that they also use both sides of their brain to understand human words. So yes, dogs are capable of knowing their name and nicknames.”
