Strange Pet Names

Schatzie seems tame in comparison to many of the pet names out there today.

When I was eight years old, my mother had a friend whose Rottweiler was having puppies. While the mama was a Rottweiler and the daddy was a Doberman Pinscher, the puppies were big, beautiful balls of mushy love. I don’t think I was ever quite as excited as a child than the day that we walked 10 blocks to the friend’s house to bring home one of the puppies. We picked out an unassuming, adorable face who was seated in the back of the litter.

When we got home, we talked names, and went on all day about what we would call this pup. She was just 8 weeks but already so heavy that I could only hold her for short periods of time without my arm going numb. We had no idea how big or ferocious she would get, but from day one, she was the sweetest pup. It was my uncle who came up with her German name, Schatzie, which ironically means sweetheart, honey, or darling. She more than lived up to her name despite being a large and klutzy, happy-go-lucky Marmaduke-like dog.

Whenever someone asked me her name, I would tell them, help them pronounce it and explain what it meant. It was a weird name, I thought as a kid. Then I grew up and realized there were a lot of Schatzie’s out there in the canine world. But to me, her name was a little awkward in the beginning.

Today people want to name their dogs a truly original moniker, the same way many parents purposely choose an obscure name for their children. And some people go out of their way to make sure their dog’s name is one-of-a-kind.

Read the full story at Babble Pets...