Naming the Pup

About two weeks after visiting the puppies, I got an email from Jenn Craig telling us that the pup she selected for us was "Orange Girl.

Orange Girl was hand picked for us!

Jenn Craig had color coded each of the pups at birth so she could keep accurate records, and this baby girl was color orange. Obviously we weren't about to name her that!

I’ve explained how Shana Bana got her name, but naming this pup did not come the same way. The "experts" suggest a two syllable name that ends in a short “A’ or any long vowel sound. Secondly, the name should not be mistaken for any command word.

A lot of dogs have people-names, which is fine for those folks who think that their dogs are furry, four legged people. Not my orientation at all, but to each his/her own!

The name “Tova” came up and was the leader for several days, and then “Rayna” came to the fore. Some suggested we use “Shana” again as she was so beloved. I felt Shana was Shana Bana and did not want to dilute her memory.

Both Esther and Jennifer, almost simultaneously suggested “Jade” which quite inadvertently was the acronym for our four children in correct birth order: Jennifer, Allison, Daniel, and Esther. “Jade” put me in mind of a jazz album I bought years ago by an artist named Cal Tjader (the “T” was silent) called Shades of Jade. The problem was that “Jade” was one syllable too short, so I extended Jade to JayDee. Perfect! Months later, after all of us had settled in, when she was especially good, which was quite often, I called her Lady JayDee (remember I like rhymes). When she was bad, which was rare, I called her Shady JayDee.

Jenn Craig stipulated that the AKC registered names of the puppies in this litter had to start with Harborview (her kennel name) and have the word “All” somewhere in the name. Therefore JayDee’s official AKC name is: Harborview’s All Shades Of Jade!

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