My family recently acquired a a beautiful “new” basset hound. She is two years old and came to us already named. However the name did not seem to fit.

There are so many things to consider such as gender, appearance and behaviors and any other attributes that can be attached to a dog. So, we began throwing names around to see if any stuck. We tried names of players on our favorite baseball team (Posey was a top contender), traditional girl names, some plant names (Flower), toys (Slinky, Yo-Yo, Matchbox), and food items (Olive, Pickles). We eventually chose “Slinky” as trial name.

What I soon discovered is that you must also consider what the name sounds like when you call for your dog in public. I hadn’t considered this before our new dog escaped and was free in the neighborhood. Unfortunately for me- at 3:00 AM it doesn’t take long for law enforcement to respond to calls from irate neighbors complaining of a crazy, wild-haired, middle-aged man standing under the street light in his “sleeping attire” yelling for a “Slinky!”

Back to the drawing board. We had to wait another day. Eventually the dog attempted to befriend our cats. Her way of doing this was to pounce at one of the cats and then spin wildly in front of it trying to entice it to play. The dog’s rear-end spun and slipped on the hardwood floors. She looked like she was car spinning out- or doing “donuts.”

Then I thought- “Everyone loves a good donut!”… and her new name was affixed! Donut! Of course she is “almost a champion” (don’t tell the Kennel Club)  so she needs to have a full pedigree name. Therefore, “Maple Bacon Donut of Grass Valley, CA” is now official.

So if you hear a crazy man yelling for a Donut in the middle of the night, please don’t call law enforcement. Instead, smile and go back to sleep. OR if you are so inclined, bring me a dozen donuts.