If you’re a dog lover then Tuesday, March 23, is a special day for you. It’s National Puppy Day, a day celebrating the unconditional love and affection puppies bring to our lives. To honor this special day, Trupanion, a medical insurance provider for pets wanted to find out what the most popular puppy names were in 2021. According to their database here are the names that dog owners chose when they selected their new special little friend.
1. Luna
2. Charlie
3. Cooper
4. Bella
5. Milo
6. Lucy
7. Bailey
8. Daisy
9. Coco
10. Max
It got us here at the DAR wondering if any of those names were poplar locally? At Hillcrest Animal Hospital, Dr. Mason Bell told us what he believes is one of the more popular names he has run into lately.
“The most common name for a female dog is Elsa,” Bell said.
The other Dr. Bell, Mason’s wife Kathryn Bell, had a different answer.,“I think we see a lot of Bella’s, but as far as male dogs go, we see a lot of Rugers, a lot of Berettas, we see a lot of gun related names.”
Dr. Kathryn Bell was quick to add, “I’m really glad though that the Game of Thrones trend is over because I’m not going to lie, we saw a lot of Game of Thrones names for a while and those are very difficult to pronounce if you don’t watch the show.”
The third member of the team at Hillcrest, Dr. Rachel Chall offered her take on the subject.
“Well, I had about four Mollie’s the other day, so that one still is going pretty strong, but again gun names for the boys, I got Trigger the other day,” she said.
With a thriving practice comes a lot of names for a veterinarian to remember.
However, some of them are more memorable than others according to Dr. Kathryn Bell.
“I guess my favorite dog’s name that I’ve ever heard, I don’t know that it’s my favorite, but it definitely stands out the most is Old Lady Green Beans, which I just thought was hilarious and I also appreciate because I am a huge ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan, which is what that is off of so that one definitely stuck with me,” she said.
Dr. Mason Bell adds, “We recently had a dog named Bing Bong that was very unique. Very unique name.”
Chall treated a dog that brought a smile to her face, saying, “Probably the best one I’ve seen is a little tiny dachshund with no teeth that they went ahead and named Killer.”
A new puppy can be a handful and Dr. Mason Bell wants to remind pet lovers about the importance of starting your relationship with your new puppy properly.
“Part of taking good care of your pet is to bring him to the veterinarian as soon as you get him,” he said. “Bring him in for an exam that way we can start building a whole health and wellness plan for them from the day you get him, because sometimes you have information on the patient’s previous health and treatments and vaccinations and sometimes you don’t.
“You just need to get him to somebody to where you can have that conversation right away in order to avoid any complications, especially with puppies. Puppies need certain treatments at certain times in order to keep them healthy. It’s very important to get him to the vet as soon as you adopt or purchase a pet.”
National Puppy Day is a great way to celebrate all that puppies offer to enrich your life but it’s important to remember that not all puppies will have the luxury of having someone take care of them.
Stray puppies can be a problem not only in terms of their safety, but the extra burden unwanted animals pose for local agencies. Shelters can only do so much, and Poplar Bluff Animal Control does all they can, but the easiest way to do your part in controlling the pet population remains spaying and neutering your pet.
Dr. Mason Bell reminds you that there are added benefits as well.
“There are some health benefits to neutering your pet. There are certain types of cancers and that can be prevented, like in the case of females and ovarian cancer,” he said. “If you have your female spayed before first heat cycle, it basically negates the fact that she will ever develop any mammary cancer. Whereas if they have heat cycles, have litters of puppies, those chances rise exponentially with each cycle that the dog has that they’re going to develop other cancer and mammary cancer.”
Dr. Kathryn Bell says, “There was actually a study that was published a few years ago that the vast majority of dogs that were hit by cars were intact male dogs because they were searching for a girlfriend, so they didn’t really care about the pickup truck coming down the road. If you can neuter your pet, keep him in your yard, keep him out from wandering, you’ll keep him safer. When a pet gets hit by a car, you know we can help some of them, and some of them we can’t.”
If you’re so inclined, this time of year is a great opportunity to adopt a dog because shelters typically have the highest intake of dogs around summertime. National Puppy Day is a great way of encouraging and reminding people to adopt, donate, and love their animals more every year.