Naming My Service Dog

I’ve been thinking lately about a name for my service dog.  

My plan is to adopt a dog from a rescue group, a dog that is preferably between one and two years of age.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to name the dog myself, because a dog that age would surely already have a name and be used to its name.  Even if the rescue group didn’t know the dog’s name when they took it in, the dog would have spent time in a foster home and certainly the foster family would have named it something.

But I’ve always enjoyed naming my pets, choosing names that mean something, names that fit them  just right.  I’d really like to be able to name my service dog.

So I asked about this issue on an internet forum for people that rely on service dogs, ServiceDogCentral, and was told that it might work out all right for me to change the dog’s name when I adopt it.  I was told that dogs don’t get attached to their names the way people do, but that dogs are often trained to respond to their name along with certain commands.  For instance, a dog might know that “Rover, come!” means he is supposed to come to you right away, but if he just hears “Come!” he might not know that means the same thing.  You can teach dogs to respond to a new name, but it can take a lot of time and effort.  Since I will not be getting a dog through a service dog program, though, chances are my dog will not have had a great deal of training using its name.  If that is the case, it should be easy enough to change its name.

I don’t know if I’ll be getting a male dog or a female dog.  I also don’t know for sure what kind of dog I’ll be getting, but I am leaning toward either a golden retriever or a Labrador retriever.

Here are the names I’m thinking of so far.

Sacha – pronounced “sasha,” it’s a Greek name that means “helper.”  It could be used for a boy or a girl.  I think this is my favorite name so far, but I’d have to see the dog to decide if it fits.

Sanders – this would be a boy’s name.  It also means “helper.”  I was thinking it might be a good name for a golden retriever, because it sounds like “Sandy” which would fit the coloring of a golden retriever, but it’s not my favorite name.

Madeline – this would be a girl’s name, of course.  It means “strength.”  I would actually call the dog “Maddie,” though, not Madeline.

Miles – this would be a boy’s name.  I’ve always liked the name Miles for a boy.  If I had a son, I would consider naming him Miles.

Randi – I like this name for a girl, although of course it could be a boy’s name, too.  Maybe I would spell it “Randy” if I was going to use it for a boy dog.  It means “shield.”

Logan – this would be a boy’s name.  It means “helper,” which seems fitting for a service dog.

What names do you all like for a service dog?  Got any other ideas for me?