Coming Clean, Her Name Is Really…

Have you ever made a decision that in the grand scheme of things isn’t super important, but after a while it still feels wrong?

I am an animal person. Many cats, dogs, horses, birds, turtles, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even a sort of pet roach have moved in and out of my life. Some were bought and many were strays as we called them in the South. Every single one of those animals had a name that I chose carefully. Each name had to roll off the tongue and resonate with the energies I felt for each animal.

When the time came for me to get my first guide dog, I was really worried about what the dog’s name might be. Maybe for most of you, this sounds crazy or even ungrateful. I admit I have a name obsession. My first guide dog’s name was Glory and it fit who she was perfectly. I loved it. My next dog’s name was Honey and I cried. I am serious. I knew I could not get over it, so I took the trainer aside and told him how I felt. He saw my tears and how important this was for me, so he said I could change her name but that all her records would be with the name Honey. I changed her name and all was well for 7 days. She stopped working after a week, and I had to give her back. It broke my heart.

I then received a dog which also had a name that didn’t work for me, so I changed her name to Carly. It was perfect and all was well until she got attacked by a dog that was off-leash.

My next guide dog also came with a name that I did not feel fit his dignified presence, so he became Plato.

Are you beginning to catch the drift of this story? So here is my confession:

All of the guide dogs whose names I changed, did not work out for one reason or another so when I got my last dog in 2013, I became superstitious and decided not to change her name no matter how I felt about it. When I started BlindAlive last year, I thought it might be fun for my dog to have a public name and a private name. Well, it isn’t working. Her name is not Annabelle. I love the name and it fits her well, but people are starting to catch on and when somebody asks me what her name is, I can’t tell them a lie. It just isn’t in me.

Her real name is Jingles. I admit that the name really challenged me, but I am pretty much over it now.

Why am I telling you this now? BlindAlive has launched a new bigger and better website and honestly, I just felt that I needed to come clean. That’s all there is to it. There is nothing more.