Top Ten List with a Twist
Okay, I know what you’re thinking…”Oh geez, another top ten list of dog names” and factually, I agree with you. If you did a web search for the top ten dog names in any given year, most likely, you’ll find the same list over and over, at least I did; and that very fact got me thinking.
Top ten lists are cool and all, but what do they really mean? Is there something deeper than just 10 popular dog names? I for one, think so, but only if we add a twist! A twist that could possibly bring meaning to the mundane, icing on our cake, food for our thoughts…well, you get the idea. What better fun twist is there than one of statistics. Yes! Exciting, right? By itself, no, but what if we took it a step further and matched the top ten dog names with the top ten dog breeds for the same year? What would that say about us as a dog loving people? As a tail wagging society? Can we draw a meaningful conclusion that dog names and dog breeds at matched reflections of the owners or maybe a current state of affairs in the country. Lets see…
Names vs. Breeds
Fighting out of the “Red” corner of the Veterinary Pet Insurance vault, weighing in at 360,000 pet insurance policies written in 2010, we give you the top ten dog names of 2010:
| 1. Buddy |
| 2. Max |
| 3. Sadie |
| 4. Jack |
| 5. Daisy |
| 6. Lucy |
| 7. Lady |
| 8. Charlie |
| 9. Rocky |
| 10. Duke |
And fighting out of the “Blue” corner weighing in at hundreds of thousands registered dogs in the United States, we give you the top ten most popular breeds from the American Kennel Club:
| 1. Labrador Retriever |
| 2. German Shepherd Dogs |
| 3. Yorkshire Terriers |
| 4. Beagles |
| 5. Golden Retrievers |
| 6. Bulldogs |
| 7. Boxers |
| 8. Dachshunds |
| 9. Poodles |
| 10. Shih Tzu |
Get Ready to Rumble
For our purposes, let’s mix the most popular dog breed with the most popular dog name, shall we? The proverbial “They” say that not only the dog, but the name of the dog is a reflection of their owners, so what do we get when we do that? I give you the new and improved, top ten dog name list with a twist!
#10, A Shih Tzu named Duke! OK, I can see that one. Shih Tzus could be of royalty, they appear to be high maintenance and “proper” when combined with the name Duke as in the English decent, that one could make sense. As for the owner of Duke the Shih Tzu, I’d have to place him with an older couple that likes their dog more than their grown children and the children know it.
#9, A Poodle named Rocky! Hmmm, I have some mixed feelings here. When I hear the name Rocky, I think of the “Yo
Adrian” version of the name and Poodles are smart dogs, usually pampered pooches by most accounts, so what does this breed with that name say about the owner? Someone that wants to sound like a biker gang, rough neck but is really just a big foo-foo on the inside? That describes some people I know…
#8, a Dachshund named Charlie! OK, I don’t think anyone is going to argue this one. That makes total sense. It’s not Charles, it’s Charlie and it’s not a Shih Tzu, it’s a Dachshund. Yeah, he has some short legs, but we all have a set back and we get along, right? I’m certain that the owners of Charlie the Dachshund is a middle class family in Middle America with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. The name matches the breed. Good job statistics!
#7, A Boxer named Lady! When picking the dog name Lady for a Boxer, what is this owner saying? Elegance, grace and
class as in the historical ideal of a lady? Then matching it to a breed that is typically more petite, is a good cuddler and can be neurotic? Seems like a match to me. Boxers are good family dogs. Ladies over men are better family “dogs”, that’s a match. Boxers shed a lot. You ever take a shower after your wife or girlfriend and see the hair in the drain and wonder why she’s not as bald as you? That’s a match too. Statistics win again!
#6, A Bulldog named Lucy! Look at her face…Need I say More? That screams the dog name Lucy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucy rode a skate board on You tube. That’s a match!
#5, A Golden Retriever named Daisy! I have to say, I’m seeing a pattern here with fitting dog names. I’ve never met a
Golden that wasn’t sweet, gentle and mild mannered. Matched with the delicate natural beauty and simplicity of one of the most common flowers in a daisy and again, we have a match!
#4 A Beagle named Jack! OK, I confess this one is appropriate too, but almost falls into the “too obvious” category. Here’s a practical owner whom doesn’t see the need for imagination when naming their dog but who, by the very same token, didn’t need to. Besides, I’m sure they already have cats named Petunia and Pumperknicle so they needed a “Jack”.
#3, A Yorkshire Terrier named Sadie! The 80′s called and they want their iconic phrase “gag me with a spoon” back. OK,
based on the stats, I know there are a lot of you with Yorkies named Sadie and I certainly can’t condemn that, they’re actually great dogs, but did you have to go over the top proper with the dog name? It’s like the opposite end of the spectrum of Lucy the Bulldog. It’s cutsie wootsie gone wild…am I alone here?
#2 A German Shepherd named Max. Finally, some testosterone. No, it’s not Maxwell, it’s Max and if you have a problem with it, go talk to the German Shepherd. A blue collar dog with a blue collar name. Being that today is Father’s Day, I’m going to say that after Mom named their Yorkie Sadie, then she let Dad name the German Shepherd. I suddenly want to play rugby, eat a bloody steak and burp loudly in public while scratching myself. Who’s with me?
Statistics Win!
Drum roll please…And the number one dog name of 2010 coupled with the number one dog breed of 2010 IS…Buddy,
the Labrador Retriever! Well, there’s a perfect ending, huh? Labs are fantastic dogs, obviously or they wouldn’t be the big cheese in dog breeds, and matched with the dog name Buddy that truly embraces what our dogs are for us, they’re our buddies. We spend every day with them, we welcome them into our homes and we consider them family. Buddy the Lab owner is, metaphorically at least, all of us that own and love a dog.
So there is truth to the fact that dogs and their names are well chosen by their owners. Our list with a twist seems to prove just that.
Now Hear This!
If your house was on fire, would you prefer your dog bark wildly to get you our of bed and have you think they just want to go pee and you be forced to think when you want to sleep? Or would you rather them jump on your chest and say “Hey. The house is on fire”
that do prove that dogs can indeed speak in a human language that with minimal imagination, we can pretty clearly understand. Talking dogs are certainly no stranger to animation or the big screen, but here in real life, I wouldn’t hold my breath for your neighbor’s family dog to do a public service announcement on adopting homeless dogs or anything.
Although intellectual conversations won’t be had tonight with your pooch over a sniffer of brandy, dogs do talk, it’s just not in language form. Dogs speak often through vocal cues, but the canine non-verbal communication is much more obvious and prevalent. Dogs will talk and communicate effectively with a tail wag, a change in body posture, a perking up of ears, a paw on your lap and the occasional lick, but I say were lucky to leave it at that and use the dog training for something other than talking dogs. Something more useful like opening the refrigerator door and bringing back a beer.
