Introducing our new pup for real

Our new family member has a name. Also a microchip (a very good addition, because she has a reputation as an escape artist . . . we are accustomed to escape artists and keep our fence in good repair, but we also like additional safety nets for the return of any potential wanderers).

She is:

Tempest's Ceilidh Sora

Call name pronounced "kaylee"

She seemed to respond to this name immediately. We had sorted through a couple of dozen names, working from an array of criteria. And these are the stories behind our choices:

Tempest: The "kennel" name for our rescues. When Ceilidh is registered for her AKC-ILP number (so she can enter obedience or agility trials at shows, should she ever want to), this will be an official part of her name. The "tempest" comes both from the Shakespearean play and from the first dog in this series, Ariel, who was almost literally saved from a tempest, having been abandoned at the age of 7 weeks in hole in an open field in late December (with two siblings: all, miraculously, survived, although that was questionable for the first 24 hours after they were found).

Ceilidh: A social gathering involving music and storytelling. Probably spinning and knitting, too. This pup's movements seem to suit fiddle music, more likely jigs than reels.

Kaylee: A character in Firefly with a personality that seems to parallel that of this dog.

Sora: Offered by my Finnish exchange sister, this is the word for gravel, a link to the pup's shelter name of Pebbles.

Sora: My daughter also enjoys that this name represents a character (albeit male) in the computer game Kingdom Hearts.

Sora: Also, in Japanese, sky.

Yesterday morning, along with her name and her microchip, Ceilidh had her first play sessions with Tussah, our older dog. This was day 4 of their being together. Since their initial meeting last Sunday, the two dogs have behaved as if they'd known each other already for so long that they were not especially interested in interacting.

Ceilidh initiated the first round of play; Tussah initiated the second. They tore up the living room (not a problem) and then played chase around the kitchen counter (through dining area, kitchen, and living room, circularly).

Although Ceilidh is obviously different from Ariel (our previous Border collie) in many ways, she also displays many behaviors (already) that remind us of Ari and make us smile. For example, at the moment Ceilidh is asleep in her crate, lying on her back, with her paws in the air. There are a handful of other behaviors we have seen in these two Border collies that we have not seen in the other dogs we have lived with for long or short times—Aussie, poodle, mutt, Golden, Springer, Westie, Corgi, Tussah-mix, hound, Husky. The family resemblance is, of course, charming.

Welcome to Ceilidh, one smart pup who will be lots easier to work with on training now that we all know who she is!

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The next post will return to the photo shoot account.

Comments

[Janice in GA]

What a wise and clever selection of names!

Give her a big kiss for me. :)

[Kris Paige]

Glad she finally told you who she is! What fun for Tussah, too, to have someone again who understands play bow!

[Deborah Robson]

Janice, I'll deliver a kiss for you!

Kris, since Tussah had to learn play bow after she joined us, it's nice to see her using it again. That's one of the reasons we thought another dog in the household was important. . . .

[StephCat]

She's lovely! I love the thought process behind her name.

Our dog, Rigel, is an English Cocker from Songbird Kennels. His 'real' name is Songbird's Starry Starry Night; Jan of Songbird gives song titles as names. My husband, Dave, a high school physics teacher, is a total astronomy buff. I really like that particular song. "Rigel" is a star in Orion, and has a very British sound/feel to it. I also have some friends from when I was in vet school who named their son Rigel.

[Deb Robson]

Isnt it wonderful how many names dogs can have, officially and unofficially? And then there are all the nicknames. . . . Astronomy is a great place to get names, although not one that I think of naturally. I might get to similar names, but through the mythology connection. . . .

[StephCat]

Two of our cats have astronomy/literature names:

Callisto (though he is a boy), goes by Cali, CalKan, Caltrans (live in California), Cali Man, etc

Oberon, goes by Obi, Obes, Obers, Obi Wan (gotta get a Star Wars reference too if at all possible)

[Deb Robson]

I like all of those names! Especially the transition from Oberon to Obi Wan {grin}.

Well, the crate we ordered for Ceilidh isnt quite large enough. We thought we could get by with one size smaller than Tussahs, because Ceilidh is 10 pounds (almost 25%) lighter, but no, she needs a bit more room. So Im off to order a second. The first will work for travel.

[Deb Robson]

By the way, thinking of your Oberon, our Ariel Miranda was not named for the mermaid of the Disney cartoon but for two Shakespearean characters. . . .

[Cathy]

A friend's (champion) collie is named Ceilidh - I found a sock pattern called that and knit her - um, the human - socks for Christmas last year.

Sora is a very common water bird here - wonderful association with the tempest, the jig and the water bird...

[Deb Robson]

Cathy, oh, yes! The bird! And I may need to find that Ceilidh sock pattern. A Finnish friend other than the one who suggested sora in the first place says that if we add an e it becomes sorea and means a number of nice things, including beautiful.

[StephCat]

We named Cali & Obi's sisters (long story about how we had a litter of kittens, working with a breeder, etc) Europa and Rosamund. :)

Don't even get me started with what Disney does to fairy tales!

[TXBelle]

My daughter and I went through the protracted process of adopting a Papillion-ish adult dog several years ago. It does take time, but what wonderful results these organizations produce! These people are very cautious about - and skilled at - matching people to their rescues and we, too, adopted the first little dog they introduced to us. Our first day with him was a busy one much like yours (including a six hour round-trip to pick him up,) and he acted like it was his daily routine. I strongly encourage anyone looking for a new puppy or kitten, to instead consider adopting an older animal. I could go on for days listing all of the advantages to it. If you’re not ready to adopt now, then please help support the group of your choice with any contributions you can make. These rescue organizations operate solely with volunteers and donations and in return, provide the invaluable service of finding forever homes for these wonderful, loving, deserving animals

[Kristi aka FiberFool]

I'm so glad she has a name now and that they are playing! Out two don't play often, but when they do it makes me smile.

[Deb Robson]

Im not sure how frequent the play will be, but it doesnt matter as long as it happens now and then. Tussah doesnt have a whole lot of play energy, but she does like to at times. The pup is using her extra play energy with us {grin}. TUG with rope toys is big!

[jeni/magnusmog]

Ceilidh is a great name for a dog - especially one who looks like she will be good for spinning and dashing around!

I've got a serious case of puppy envy now :)