Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Anyone want to share how their dogs got their names? I'll start us off with quite a bit of true sillyness about how Gerry got his...
Gerry has two namesakes, sort of. There is the obvious - Jerry. The Jerry. Jim and Rene's Jerry. But I didn't think to pick it - the universe did. When I was a volunteer at the shelter Gerry was at, he just happened to have the name Jerry (with a J). One of several ways the universe was whacking me over the head to pay attention to this dog. Another way, of course, was the fact that he was soon to be a three-legged Jerry (or Gerry)! Crazy, huh?
Speaking of Yoda, his diagnosis has a lot to do with how I came to change the spelling to "Gerry." Initially I considered changing his name to something altogether different, since I knew I would want to share all about him in the forums and a second Jerry would be confusing. Though we did manage with two Tazzies somehow. 
And still do - with Spirit/Angel Tazzies.
Anyway, shortly before Yoda was diagnosed, while the vets were having me give him Rimadyl and wait and wait for his "tendonitis" to get better, I borrowed a movie starring Gerard Butler from the library. By the time Yoda was diagnosed, I had borrowed several more. So, crushed under the weight of the news, and awaiting Yoda's referral visit at the UW Vet clinic, and subsequently his amputation date (a year ago today in fact), Yoda and I got on the couch or the floor together and escaped from a harsh reality with those movies. Soon after, Yoda was doing brilliantly on three legs. Gerard Butler movies got us through to that point. A sort of guardian movie star for Yoda and I - haha!
Spirit Yoda must have had a paw in getting Gerry and I together. They are so much alike, and yet I made no effort to find a dog like him - I had no intention of getting another so soon. He was just dropped squarely in my path and I couldn't walk past him. So it seems to me that Yoda must be Gerry's guardian angel (as well as mine). Therefore, it seemed only right to name Gerry after our former guardian movie star - Mr. Gerard Butler. And thus, that little limping Jerry from the shelter - who loved to carry a leaf with him on his walk - became my Gerry. (And now he'll usually carry a toy instead - now that he's spoiled with so many).
Also, Gerry's middle name was recently designated as Elmo by an ol' college friend of mine who came to visit. She wouldn't stop calling him Elmo - she thought it suited him so much. So very well, that is his middle name now.
Alright, let the rambling name stories roll on!
Gerry has been a tripawd since 12/16/2009.
He was a shelter dog with a mysterious past and an irrepairable knee injury.
Videos and pics of Gerry's pawesomeness can be found at: http://gerry.tripawds.com
That's so cool and almost freakish!
Comet came with her name from the shelter and I don't know if the crappy people that had her prior named her or the shelter did. I just assumed whoever it was probably watch the sitcom TV show 'Full house' where the dog's name Comet. Rocket's name was "Bolt" from the shelter. I had been to an adoption and a border collie had the name Rocket and I wanted the name. I never put the thought together that Rocket and Comet were sort of similar in style. The Monkeybutt name wasn't even me! Comet named him that (she talks to me)!
But for fun here's a list of all my dog's names – I wonder if it says something about me?
Honey – white spitz
Sugar – white spitz
Bunny – white spitz
Tiger – white spitz
Cubby – black chow
Astro – cream chow (albino actually)
Peanut – later changed to Goofy – Golden Retriever
Snooker – Black Chow
Mugsy – Lab Boxer Mix
Dot – Bernese Mtn Dog Mix with a black spot on tongue
Comet – who knows
Rugby – Shepherd Mix
Rocket – who knows
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Trouble was given to us by a friend with an 'accidental' litter of pups. Bob had sold her a computer, we had been at her house installing and getting her familiar with the new operating system, etc. I was playing with the pups while they worked.
We got ready to leave and the friend almost jokingly says "Hey, you want a pup?" Having said for the last several years we wouldn't get another dog, we both just looked at each other. One of us came out of the transe and said we'd think about it. Sharon was so excited. The next day I called her and told her we'd take the red one. She jumped into gear and set about laying the groundwork for us to take the pup - they actually belonged to her son. (I am almost positive she paid him for the puppy, but she never would say so)
We picked up as 12 week old puppy a couple of days later. As the conversation went on Bob and I looked at each other and said "We're in trouble now".
....and she's been Trouble ever since
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
These are great! I hope more Tripawrents post to this topic. Cometdog you always give me a laugh. Thanks.
hugapitbull said: We picked up as 12 week old puppy a couple of days later. As the conversation went on Bob and I looked at each other and said "We're in trouble now".
....and she's been Trouble ever since
How funny. When my wife and I brought Fortis home from the Houston airport we said the same thing. We both felt so sorry for him. We imagined how scared, lonely, and confused he must be as we made the drive home. But when I placed the transport crate in the middle of the living room and began to unlatch the door out flies an 11 week old, 25lb, black brindled Tasmanian devil! He immediately began to run in a big circle through the dinning room, then the kitchen, and back into the living room. I was on my knees just watching in amazement when on about the third pass and with my back to him he jumps on me wanting to play and play rough. Oh my gosh. I knew in an instance I had my hands full. The wife and I looked at each other and said "We're in trouble" oh, we were by the way. In any case Fortissima "Fortis" was the name I choose. I already posted about this choice under another topic.
Like Cometdog here is my list of dog names with a few cats as well.
Gigi - Samoyed (Gigiwas absolutely gorgeous)
Foxy - Samoyed (Gigi's daughter)
Sassy - Samoyed (Gigi's daughter)
Ace Lupen - German Shepard (Ace, what a loyal friend)
Tasha (The black cat)
Tiger (28 lean pounds, not sure what kind of cat this was)
Oscar (25 lean pounds, Tiger's brother)
Chipper (Yorkie, I didn't pick this name)
Ghetto (black mutt. Yes he came from the "ghetto") He was my boy before Fortis and secretly stayed in my dorm room for a good part of a semester.
Spook (Manx, a real sweetheart)
Wookie (Manx, I just recently had to let him go at the ripe old age of 21yrs) He loved to take showers.
Fotis (Y'all know Fortis)
Thats it except for the birds, turtles, snakes, tarantulas, fish etc..........I had so many tarantulas friends at work called me spider. 
Penny got her name from when we were first at the shelter where we adopted her.
We were at the shelter and were taking "Missy" outside to the play area. In order to get to the play area you had to walk across the parking lot. As we walked across the parking lot we kept finding penny's on the ground. As we were filling out the paperwork to adopt "Missy" they asked if we would be changing her name and we told them you bet, we had just picked up our "lucky Penny."
For Shelby, her name was Sherry. We figured a bunch of bad stuff had happened to Sherry so a new name was a must. As we drove home with Sherry, we decided that we would keep the SH part of her name. We love the movie "Steel Magnolia's" and IMHO the best hot rods in the world are Shelby Cobra's and I love reading the great Civil War history writer, Shelby Foote. I think Shelby fit's the P.P.
the chauffeur
Chuy was his name when we adopted him from the shelter. We figured that he was used to it and he's also from Mexico, so we just kept it.
Anka became Anka when we couldn't find a good German name that wasn't used commonly for dogs. We settled on a swedish name instead. (same part of the world, right?) Gretchen is part Ger. Shep. so when we adopted her we decided on a German name also.
You don't even want to get me started on the 7 cats we have. 
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
We have no stories, LOL. They just seemed to be the right names.
Dante though - I dunno, had we waited a few more days to name him, he'd have a much more accurate name - like speed demon, monkey, Little..you know what, Bugger, brat...I could go on. He's my Jekyll and Hyde dog - sweet as pie one minute, terrorizing the house the next!
Mina, hubby got from a book. He reads a series of books - and Mina is one of the main characters.
They were named Draco & Ginny when we got them from the shelter.
Coda...I just liked.
Zoey - I had planned for a male cat and had picked out the name Nova - for some reason, I felt that didn't work for a female cat, so I searched the internet for female names, and Zoey stuck with me.
Resin, hubby named her Resin. Don't know why - that was the agreement. I could get the cat if I let him name it, LOL.
Ponch - not sure where hubby got it from, but his name was Jake when he got him from the farm.
Cemil is a Turkish name (Anatolian Shepherds are from Turkey) meaning "a good gift". I like to think he was sent to me by my first Anatolian who died suddenly; Cemil is his nephew. Also, he was born a few days after my father passed away.
Radzi's full name is Radzimierz (Polish Greyhound--Polish name) which means Happiness and Peace.
Alle's short for Alleluia. She came into my life at a time when I was feeling extremely blessed.
Mujde (half Anatolian) is a rescue who had been chained out in someone's yard when her former owner couldn't keep her anymore--her name was Mollie but I wanted her to have a Turkish name too--Mujde means "good news". I was hoping she'd be good news for me and I would be good news for her. I think it has turned out that way.
Alex the cat has the middle name of one of my sister's sons. I had Crazy Julia, the momma cat, and let her have a litter so I'd have a bunch of hunting barn cats (then I got them all fixed). She had four kittens and I named them the middle names of my sister's kids. Alex is 13 now, the only one left.
Whidbey the duck has a name from the state of Washington. When I lived there, I got my first buff Orpington ducks, and that's what he is. His mate was named Chehalis (Haley). They were quite a pair.
I had a pig once that I named Sparkle. She did a dog-type happy dance one day when I changed the shavings in her pen-- the name suited her. I had geese too, at that time. Two pairs, named Amos and Emily. They reminded me of "American Gothic" and I decided those could be the names of those people. I couldn't tell them apart, so I had 2 Amos's and 2 Emily's. My ducks then (the first buff Orpingtons) were Luther and Millie; no story, just names that suited them.
Good memories....
Cemil and mom Mary, Mujde and Radzi….appreciating and enjoying Today
Holly got her name cuz she was born on Dec 20th and is a Christmas puppy (or puppynog as we called her). Zuzu got her name... well we all sat around the table and kept ruling out everyone else's suggestion until my daughter said Zuzu and everyone liked it. Zuzu is the little girl in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, which we all like to watch over the holidays. The name fits, as our puppy Zuzu loves to check out our flowers... and the petals they drop. 
Other dogs as I was growing up...
Christy - golden retriever
Ben - golden retreiver - he went on to be a guide dog
Tinker (Tink Curtis) - golden retriever/yellow lab mix - he went on to work for the NYC police as a bomb dog
Stella - golden retriever, who was bred for the Guide Dog Foundation
Panda - golden retriever
All but Christy were owned by the Guide Dog Foundation - we were their family so they wouldn't be kennel dogs.
Holly joined the world of tripawds on 12/29/2009. She has a big little sister, Zuzu, who idolizes Holly and tries to make all of her toys into tripawds in Holly's honor. And she's enjoying life one hop at a time!
http://anyemery.....ipawds.com
Holly J -
Comet told me to tell you - you should have named Zuzu - "Potter" from the movie (as in mean old Mr. Potter)!
Hee-Haw Hee-Haw!
(that's from the movie, too!)
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I've already gone through all our pet names in a blog but:
Cats:
Barnum and Bailey - Circus names. Lame.
Dodger and Oliver - Duh. How creative. Oliver Twist.
No more cats though for us.
Dogs:
Benny - poor Benny. I can't even remember where that came from - yes, now I know - Benita to torment my sister (it's her detested middle name).
Catie/Cate/Caitlin - Cate for Cate Blanchett who's my favourite actress/Caitlin - Dylan thomas's wife? Catie because it works.
Riley - no story here, really. After days of calling the fat little guy "chubby dude" and "pupy" my son said, "how about Riley." It just seemed to fit.
Hammy the hamster - Seriously boring name. Of course, if I ever had another rodent creature I'd give it a big illustrious name like Arnie or Rocky.
As a child my husband had a springer spaniel named Goober. Now that I ponder that, it would have suited Riley as well.
Off to bed right me. Now, while I can still complete the math required question below. I like the questions with the single digit numbers the best. Anything beyond that and I need my calculater. Night Night.
Catie -
Birthday – November 4 2003
Amputation – January 13 2010
Crossed the Bridge – June 2 2011
carmenmcconnell said:
Hammy the hamster - Seriously boring name.
That is too funny! I had a hamster named Ham Bone.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Oh I guess I'll chime in here since some people might not know how I got named:
My pawrents picked me up from the shelther and as I was sitting on Mom's lap in the car (ok, they didn't know about seatbelts at the time!), she said to Dad "what are we going to name him?"
They thought at some point I would get a sibling and they'd name him "Ben" or "Tom" but that never happened. I liked other dogs, just never wanted them staying too long in my crib!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
My original name was "Chopper," but the good lady who fostered me after I was dumped by some Oaktown ghetto punks decided that Chopper was a terrible name, so she called me "Wyatt."
The name "Ray" was added because there was already another Wyatt in the German Shepherd Rescue, plus, it was given to me my Codie Rae's Mom, Martha (who is involved with the Rescue), who gives all of her dogs "Ray" or "Rae" as a middle name.
Martha also added "Dawg" in honor of Jerry G. Dawg, my predecessor. Uh huh. Was that a ploy to get my pawrents to fall for me or what? Hah!
When my pawrents got me, they decided that the name "Wyatt" really does suit me after all, so they kept it.
Yours truly,
the Sherriff
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
Who knew Jerry was a veggie eating, tie-dyed T-shirt wearing Deadhead dog??
My original name was "Chopper," but the good lady who fostered me after I was dumped by some Oaktown ghetto punks decided that Chopper was a terrible name, so she called me "Wyatt."
The ghetto creeps spent more time coming up with a clever name than they spent with Wyatt Ray ! For shame - it was a cute name but not now!
ok, they didn't know about seatbelts at the time
Got a chuckle...just because you felt the need to let us know you are safe drivers NOW! It totally puts you in a better light knowing you are going to Grateful Dead concerts with your seatbelts latched! 
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
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