Riley, over at his blog has a contest going where we’re to tell the story about how our dogs got their names and we’re almost late with our entry!  Katie says I should get in gear and tell her story…tell how she became our Katie.

It’s not that exciting a story…but it does go to show you how the best laid plans of …well…dog owners…sometimes just go by the wayside.

When our sheltie-girl Bonnie died at age 15 we were heartbroken and we decided to take a break from owning a dog to let our hearts heal.  We lasted 2 months.    I’d been in touch with a small breeder but had told her we weren’t ready for a new puppy yet.  Then she emailed me and said she had a youngster she’d been keeping to see how she grew, intending to use her for a show dog, but that she had to find a home for her now.   The little girl was four months old.  And we were ready.

The day before we were going to go meet the newbie I made a list of all the possible names.  You know, names like Maddie and Maggie, Gracie and Gidget, Phoebe and Penny.  Girlie names.  I had maybe twenty choices and I left the list out on the counter for my husband when I left for the day.  I knew the breeder had named her Izzy and I liked that name too.

When I got home from work my husband said he wanted to name her Kate, after a dog he had when he was growing up.  Kate sounded like a nice Scottish name, appropriate for a Shetland Sheepdog, so I agreed.

When we went to “meet” her (as if there was any doubt we’d be bringing her home!) she hid behind a big chair and wouldn’t come to us.  The breeder was also a day care and the place was full of toddlers whose hands and highchair trays were full of hot dogs that Katie was more interested in than us.  Plus we’re pretty sure she wasn’t used to being around people very much, that she lived outside in the kennels.  Knowing her as I do now, the whole “meet the folks” thing was probably pretty traumatic.

The breeder watched with some worry on her face as we tried to coax Izzy to us without much luck.  I sat in the big chair and we waited quietly for her to come to us.  The breeder went into another room to get paperwork and I let my hand dangle down.  Izzy came to sniff and she let me pick her up!

When the breeder came back we were cuddling and all was right with the world.  The breeder was relieved.  We were in love.  Katie slept, upside down, in a crate in the back all the way home.  And she never cried once.

In retrospect Izzy might have been the perfect name, as it rhymes with dizzy, which she certainly is.  But now she’s our strong Katie-girl, all tough bravado and bark, and I can picture her on a cold, hard Shetland Island taking charge of the thunder and lightening just like she does here at home.  Except here she gets her own pillow (and often ours too) to retreat to when things get a bit overwhelming.

So she’s our Katie.  Named after a childhood pet, but very much her own personality.