Name names
Bug will always be Bug but sometimes she prefers something else.
Bug may be the buggiest dog I’ve ever met in my life but she hasn’t always been Bug, sometimes by my accord and sometimes by hers. When I first went to adopt Bug I was dead set on a dog named Poppy but as soon as we met I knew Bug wasn’t quite a Pop. For days she cycled through names from Birdie to Clementine before she finally realized her name, and despite being the most buggish dog in town she occasionally goes through a crisis of identity and begs me for a change. So far I’ve let every name fixation ride out until it passes after a day or two but one day Bug may set her heart on a new name and I’ll have no choice but to let her get a legal change. For now, here are the whims we’ve experienced.
Leanne
First things first, we have to address the summer of Leanne. On our first sunny days of the year Bug told me excitedly that she was going by Leanne. I asked her, “why Leanne?” and she told me, “Leanne wears a summer hat and she’s a good neighbor.” The next day Bug barked at our neighbors again and promptly forgot about not being Bug.
Blaze
Starting at a new school is always a great opportunity for a new identity but this was not one we discussed. When we moved from one side of Williamsburg to another and Bug changed school districts, it meant starting at a new day care and meeting all new kids. She’s always nervous at a new school and upon picking her up from her first day I was told she walked into the middle of the room and announced her name was Blaze and she loves to “smoke weed a shoot guns.” To avoid expulsion she had to send a hand-written apology to school and we had a really lovely heart to heart about being yourself.
Teri
Unfortunately Bug did not learn a lesson about being herself, the next week she went to school as Teri, “a cool gal who knows a lot about geography.” I’m not sure where she’s even heard this name but Bug does not in fact know a single thing about geography. She gets lost going from one side of our fairly small apartment to the other. Luckily Teri was the shortest lived identity out of all of them.
Bug Anne
Like all kids, Bug went through a real first name-middle name phase. She’s extremely proud to be from Arkansas and wanted to use her middle name to emphasize her southern roots but the Anne sort of fell off when she was asked to spell it once.
Buggy Two Snacks
Finally, our current era. Bug told me quite confidently that if she goes by Buggy Two Snacks everyone will know that at snack time she’s the one who gets two snacks. I have yet to hear a report on whether or not this plan is working but quite frankly I think it’s genius.