What name to pick first?
It all depends. If you plan to show or compete with your dog, and you know his name will appear in lots of catalogs, you might want to decide on a registered name first and then come up with a call name. If your Toller is mainly a pet or hunting companion, and you'll never use his registered name after filling out his registration application, then a good call name is probably your priority. Many people like to have the two names relate to each other, but others don't care.

In our multiple-dog household, we focus on a call name first because we want each call name to sound distinctive to the dogs. After we've got a short list that we like, we try to come up with a couple of registered names that go with each call name, and go with our favorite combo. Usually we like call names which are one or two syllables and start with a good hard sound, like a "D" or "B" rather than "Sh" or "W." We like names that "shout well"-- will it carry when hollered across a field? Is it similar to commands we commonly use? Does it sound too similar to our children's names? We've accidentally found it convenient to have each kid and dog name begin with a different letter, so on the master calendar we can use just a first initial to track vet/dr appts, show or trial entries, playdates, or heat cycles.

What is a registered name?
A registered name is the official name of a purebred registered dog. Why register a dog as Orangewood's Dear Diary when she's known to her owners, friends, and even breeder as "Bridget"?

A registered name is your dog's unique public identity. If your Toller competes in any AKC event (such as obedience, conformation, hunt tests, agility, field trials, rally, or tracking), or a NSDTRC-USA field test, he will be entered with his registered name. Though your Toller may be known at home as "Joker," the American Kennel Club will know him only by his registered name: Orangewood's Just Joking, and that's how he'll be listed on his registration papers, catalogs for shows or performance events, and of course pedigrees.

If you're determined to register your Toller as just "Red," you still can. The AKC allows up to 37 dogs in each breed to have the very same name, and then will add Roman numerals to differentiate them-- so your Red may end up registered as Red XVII. In some breeds, such as Border Collies, it was once traditional (and is still common) to have dogs registered as simply Floss or Kip. However, in most other breeds, including Tollers, using a call name as a registered name indicates an owner who doesn't know the protocol.

Anatomy of a registered name
A typical registered name for a Toller might run like this: Orangewood's Ain't I Lucky. "Orangewood" is the kennel name of this dog's breeder, and the name of any dog she breeds will begin with this prefix. (Despite needing both a male and a female dog to produce a litter of pups, only the owner of the female dog is considered the breeder of the pups.) In the puppy sales contract, most breeders will require the pup's registered name to begin with their kennel name. Breeders do this because they are proud of the pups they've produced. "Ain't I Lucky" is a phrase chosen by the pup's owners as the remainder of his registered name. Depending on the breeder, the puppy's owners may need to choose this phrase to follow a theme for the Toller litter ("This is the 'spicy' litter") or an alphabetical requirement ("This is the 'G' litter"). Some breeders allow the new owners to choose the registered name without further restrictions, though they may want approval of the name before the puppy is registered. This is usually stipulated to prevent an awkward or embarrassing name.

An example of an awkward name is one that inadvertently uses another breeder's kennel name. A puppy owner might come up with the name Orangewood Double Espresso without knowing that another breeder uses "Espresso" as a kennel name. "Espresso" would be highly identified with that breeder, just as "Orangewood" is with our puppy's breeder, and Orangewood Double Espresso suggests the Espresso kennel is connected with this puppy. Some breeders register their kennel names with the AKC, which then restricts that kennel name as a prefix for all dogs within a particular breed.

However, even if the "Espresso" kennel name has not been registered, and even when not used as a prefix, the Toller community will assume "Espresso" means a connection to that breeder. To use another breeder's kennel name causes confusion, and even suspicion. Did you use the word "Espresso" in your dog's name because you just didn't know not to? Or were you trying to take advantage of Espresso kennel's good reputation? This is just one of the reasons that a pup's breeder may want to okay the name you choose for your pup.

Some registered names purposely contain multiple kennel names, like this: Foxbright's Dream of Orangewood. These kind of names are usually only used by breeders or very experienced owners who have hopes of breeding that particular dog in the future. A name like this usually signifies that the Toller was bred by one kennel (in this case, Foxbright), but is owned by another kennel (Orangewood). This could mean that the Orangewood folks purchased the dog from Foxbright as potential breeding stock. If this pup is female, any future puppies born to her will carry just the Orangewood name. A name like this could also mean the father of this pup is an Orangewood dog, and this puppy is a "stud fee puppy"-- rather than take a monetary fee for the male's stud service, the Orangewood folks chose a puppy instead, and they want to show the link between their kennel and the breeder's.

To correctly read a name with multiple kennel names, first you must be familiar with Toller kennel names. In the Midwestern U.S., Toller kennel names you are likely to encounter include Lonetree, Sagewood, Skylark, Springvale, and Vermilion. These kennels have the longest histories in our region and several generations behind them, so you are more likely to come across their Tollers. In other parts of North America, you will find other prominent kennels whose names will be instantly recognizeable to other Tollerfolk.

Call names
A "call name" is the everyday name of your dog. Often these names have some relation to the registered names, as when Orangewood's Ain't I Lucky is known as "Lucky," or Foxbright's Dream of Orangewood is called "Dreamer."

Some owners delight in creating names with a less obvious link between registered names and call names, such as Orangewood's Wizards and Witches, called "Muggle" (a Harry Potter reference), or Orangewood's Right on the Money, called "Guilder" (a Dutch coin). This sort of name is our favorite!

Other call names have no apparent connection to the dog's registration name. Orangewood's All Hands On Deck may go by "Belle," or Orangewood's Orion might be called "Devon." We have been told this used to be more of the norm in the early days of dog shows, when some owners wanted to protect their dogs from theft at benched shows. They feared dogs might go willingly with a thief who used the dog's name, so the call name and registered name were deliberately unrelated to prevent lucky guesses. Nowadays, the "unconnected names" are more likely due to an owner having his heart set on a certain call name that just didn't fit with a breeder's litter theme for registered names.

What not to name your Toller
Though you may choose whatever call name you like, we caution new or future Toller owners of several common call names in our breed, starting with Red, Rusty, Ruby, and Rose or Rosie. Feel free to use those names for your Toller, just be aware that some Tollerfolk will think you lack imagination.

Also, there are a few less-obvious call names that are nonetheless currently popular in the breed. (And how popular is popular? Well, funny to say, two or more, given our small community.) We suggest steering clear of Schooner, Clipper, Decoy, Deke, Farley, Digby, Kash/Cash, Ember, Chili, and Ginger, as there are already promiment or multiple dogs with these call names.

Again, you can go ahead and use these call names for your Toller, especially if you have no interest in conformation shows. However, if you do name your dog Digby, and Toller people have reasons to talk about him, he's likely to be known as "the Florida Digby, not the Minnesota or Alberta Digby." Worse yet, they might actually have to speak of him as Orangewood's Captain Digby, as if he had no call name. Wouldn't it be nicer to have a dog whose call name is more recognizable?

AKC name requirements
For complete details on AKC regulations for naming a dog, see the AKC website. These are the high points of those rules.

Names are subject to AKC approval and are limited to 30 letters, including spaces between words, apostrophes and hyphens. (The last time we checked, the application has only 28 spaces for some reason-- so don't panic if your chosen name doesn't quite fit.) All letters in a dog's name are limited to the standard English alphabet, and when Registration Certificates are printed, all letters are capitalized.

A Registered Kennel Name cannot be included in a dog's name unless its use is authorized by the owner of the name. To register a kennel name with the AKC, the breeder must have bred at least 5 registered litters in the past 5 years or have owned stud dogs that produced at least 40 registered litters in the past 10 years. A breeders can also register a kennel name on a provisional basis for five years if she will meet the AKC's breeding requirements during that time. Because most Toller breeders do not breed that often, we don't have many AKC-registered kennel names in our breed, though there are a few. If your breeder's kennel name is registered, she will certainly let you know, and she must grant permission on the puppy's registration application for you to use her kennel name.

The dog's name cannot include Roman numerals at the end, because the AKC assigns Roman numerals to names that require them.

However, you can use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc), cardinal numerals (one, two, three, etc.) or ordinal numerals (first, second, third), and because of this, dog names can sometimes look like text messages: Orangewood's 2Good 2B 4Gotten.

A dog's name cannot include particular words or phrases. These include: champion, champ, sieger or any other AKC title or show term (either spelled out or abbreviated), kennel(s), male, stud, sire, bitch, dam and female. That is, you cannot name a dog Orangewood's Champion Fetcher or Orangewood's Very Best of Winners.

You also may not use obscenities or words derogatory to any race, creed or nationality, including transliterations of such words, nor can you use breed names alone.

If your Toller is whelped in the U.S and the breeder (not you) registered a name with the AKC, you are allowed a one-time name change. However, this is only permissible if the dog in question has not sired or produced pups and has not received any awards at an AKC event. The breeder, who chose the original name in these circumstances, must consent in writing to the change. This is most likely to happen with an older pup that the breeder had intended to keep for showing or breeding, but then decided to place instead. However, if the puppy managed to get even a lousy fourth place in a conformation show, then the name must stick. The new owners can give the pup whatever call name they like, but will have to be content with the registered name.

Resources for Toller names
If you need inspiration for a name, it's easy to find websites or books with plenty of suggestions, though most of these resources focus only on call names. (Try Dog Names or Cat and Dog Names.) Favorite sources for Toller names include maritime lingo, places in Nova Scotia, historical Canadians and Canadian events, Scottish names ("Nova Scotia" means "New Scotland," after all!), hunting terms, and synonyms for red or orange. Try books on choosing names for (human) babies too-- nowadays names like Spencer, Sadie, Max, or Molly are popular for both dogs and kids.

If it's the registered name that's stumping you, try the "Official Names" section of Dog Names for New Puppies, or The Incredible Little Book of 10,001 Names for Horses by Barbara Mannis and Catherine Lewis. Yes, horse names, many of which would sound just dandy following a kennel name. This guide lists names alphabetically and also has sections to fit a range of needs: names for females ("Mares and Fillies"), males ("Colts, Geldings, and Stallions"), small horses, big and tall horses, easygoing horses, horses with attitude, and horses of particular colors. (Names for chestnut, buckskin, palomino and strawberry roans are especially apt for Tollers, and also possibly those for Appaloosas, Pintos, and Paints.) Your breeder might also be willing to share some of her favorite names with you-- most breeders have a stash of registered names they're just dying to use.

If you have a name in mind and want to check its uniqueness, head to the internet. Tollerdata is a database of information on Tollers worldwide, with an emphasis on North American dogs and health information. Inclusion in the database is voluntary, so not every Toller is entered, but those belonging to more active breeders and exhibitors usually are. On the opening page, you can search for part of a registered name (such as the "Ain't I Lucky" part of your proposed name, Orangewood's Ain't I Lucky), or click on Options to search by call name (Lucky). For registered names only, you can also search the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever information at World Pedigrees. The World Pedigrees database is larger, but is only searchable by registered name, not call name.

Finding a great name-- dare we say, the perfect name?-- for your Toller is a fabulous brainteaser. It might take weeks and lots of lists before you realize you've come up with something that's just right. However, no matter what you name your dog, the most important things are that your dog is always glad to hear you call him, and that you can't think of his name without smiling. Then you've truly found the perfect name!