Anyone have experience with this with an older husky? Past experiences worked out for me by adding the new name at the end of the old one when issuing commands, then in a week or so, dropping the original name and using the new name instead that I had been attaching to the old prior. Anyone got any tips? I am rescuing a husky named Hucksey, and we would like to change the name.

Thanks!

Honestly, I've never even bothered with the old name. New house, new rules. I don't know, I'm sure there's some people who won't agree with the way I do it, but I've never had a negative experience. It works kind of like nicknames. They don't always have the same nicknames, but they can learn them. My mom's lab is named Hercules and once he turned about 1, I just out of the blue started calling him Fleabag. He learned that that's what I say when I want his attention and so now he answers to it. So I imagine call names can work just the same.

Well i would assume that it would work with a husky the same way it did for my gsd/rott mix i adopted years ago. just because it is an older dog doesn't mean it cant learn new things (im a firm believer that the term "you cant teach an old dog new tricks" is a load of bull... so maybe thats why this worked for me, so possibly keep that in mind.)

i would go about naming it the same way you would a puppy, think about it... if you got a puppy from a breeder, chances are the breeder already gave him/her a name to begin with, and once you get it then you begin to give him/her a new name. samething with renaming an older dog, repitition... continue calling him by the name you'd like him to respond to... and make sure that he knows your talking to him when you say that word. to get it started initially whenever he gives you a response while using his new desired name reward him with a treat or affection (pet on the head, belly rub). same principle behind teaching a dog any sort of command.

If memory serves me right, i had my dog fully renamed in a month.

Of course others may have easier methods, this is just how i ended up doing it.

out of curiosity, what are you renaming him?

I got Ares when he was 5 months old, he was responding to the name Shylo, that his owners had given him. My boyfriend hated his name, and so we changed to to Ares. Everytime I'd say it, and he would look or come near me, he'd get a treat. He caught on within a few days.

I have never changed a dog's name from my pack, but my SIL had a dog she took in that most might remember, Weldon the Parvo Lab, that got his name changed. He came in Waylon but wasn't responding to it. Due to his condition of malnurishment and poor condition, we both said he needed a new name with a new home he just got. I had him for a week to get him settled with us and everything. He was born on the same day Dan Wheldon won his final INDY 500 so I named him Weldon. I would call his name, tap him if he didn't respond and then gave him a treat when I call his name to get him to recognize it. He picked it up in just a few days. I took him to her house after that week and he has responded to weldon good, for the most part since he is a wild hienz 57 dog, its go all the time

As long as you positively reinforce a name change, I'm sure you could change his name. With Kennedy, we adopted her when she was about 1-1 1/2 from a shelter where her name had been "Jessica" since she was a puppy. What kind of dog name is "Jessica"?! YUCK. I had her name picked out before I even knew what she looked like, so I asked the shelter staff to start calling her Kennedy instead of Jessica. On her transport they called her Jessica, but as soon as I got her I started saying Kennedy to her A LOT! She was very, very smart and picked up on it within a few days.

Just shovel treats down him every time he even glances at you when you say his new name. He'll get it!

Congrats!!

I haven't changed names before. But I do know how smart these dogs are. I can't see it will be a problem, just positive reinforcement when he answers to the new name. I would just drop the old name and use the new name from the get go!

what's the point? huskies are almost like cats, they only come when they want to

massak wrote:

what's the point? huskies are almost like cats, they only come when they want to

Hahaha, so true.

I adopted both of mine from the shelter, they were originally Icey and Diesel. Not only did I not like the names, but they just didn't fit their personalities. So I changed their names with absolutely no difficulty to Sky and Carter. Just make sure you positively reinforce the action of you saying their names. They don't even have to respond at first. Just hearing their name and getting a treat or big hug will eventually settle in.

Thanks for the help all Much like a cat, he only listens to either name when he wants too. I have been working on changing his name to Locke since I got him and he has responded to it fairly well.