Allow me to introduce you to my 8 month old Siberian Husky, his name is Loki. It occurred to me recently that naming a puppy is certainly a big deal and may require careful consideration. A new pet owner might strive to choose the right name that suits their puppies’ appearance, personality, sex, uniqueness, and breed.
The name Loki originates in Norse
mythology, he was described by scholars as that of the Trickster God or
God of Mischief. In my experience naming my new pup was a struggle, but Loki
chose his name, and what an appropriate choice it was…
About
a month ago I decided Loki was grown up enough to get a big boy bed. My neighbour
has this really great bed for her dog that I decided I would buy for Loki. It’s
large and plush and has a removable cover so it can be washed and is described
as ‘indestructible’.
Excited, I headed out to the local pet
store and made this fairly substantial purchase thinking this bed will last him
YEARS and somehow he will appreciate that I purchased such a lovely
INDESTRUCTABLE bed for him. Turns out he instantly took to his new bed. I spent
about an hour with him, observing him with his newly claimed sleeping spot, and
then headed out for work.
Now,
I can’t exactly tell you what happened in the next 30 minutes… only Loki knows
the truth, but I can speculate. At some point, and perhaps I attribute too many
human qualities to Loki, but I believe a switch in the God of Mischief’s mind
went off. I am certain as soon as he heard the front door close and my truck
pull away, the wheels started turning and the Trickster God had a plan in mind.
‘Don’t tell me something is indestructible’ I imagine him thinking. Half an
hour later, my roommate walked in to a destroyed indestructible bed, with Loki as
the blue eyed center piece in the middle of a stuffing netherworld! There was
no tail between the legs, no apologetic look on his face, no, he was grinning ear
to ear, wagging his tail and proud of his accomplishment.
Needless to say it took my roommate just
about as long to clean up the mess as it took Loki to methodically create it.
The next day I took the destroyed bed back
to the store from whence it came, the store clerk looked at it and laughed.
‘What kind
of dog do you have?’ he asked. ‘A 7 month old Siberian husky’ was my response;
he immediately refunded me.
Remarkably Loki has not destroyed the $15
bed he had since I brought him home 5 months ago, and is quite content with its
‘destructibility’.
So what’s in a name you ask? In my case,
amongst the 15 or so names I tried on him, Loki was the only one he responded
to when called by said name. Just goes
to show you never know if a name will suit your dog or if your dog will suit
his name. It seems that Loki has really grown into his, and this is just the
start of our adventures…
Sheena Neel, Loki’s Mom
