Posted on 03/26/2009 3:48:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
SNIP
The Top Dogs project is a database of L.A. dog registrations that was launched by The Times last year, and we're quite convinced that we could spend hours examining it without ever getting bored. It's chock-full of fascinating, if trivial, insights -- for instance, the most common name-and-breed combination in L.A. is a chihuahua named Princess (there are more than 1,200 of them). A pit bull was more likely to be named Rocky (there are more than 300 of those), and a chow chow like Stewart's was often named for its ursine resemblance (more than 1,000 of them were named either Oso or Bear).
And at least three unfortunate L.A. dogs are named Genghis Khan. Another 11 are simply named Genghis (and we doubt their owners are referring to the oddly named L.A. music club Genghis Cohen).
Troubled by this new knowledge, we did some more amateur sleuthing. Were Angelenos naming their pets after other brutal dictators as well?
As it turns out, this naming trend isn't as uncommon as one might think, especially for the more powerful breeds often used as guard dogs.
For instance, L.A. has eight dogs named Attila (including three rottweilers and two boxers). There are 44 Neros (six of them are rottweilers), six Maos (including two chow chows) and one Stalin (oddly, a Labrador retriever).
Perhaps most shocking was the information that 15 L.A. dogs are named Hitler (mostly rottweilers, German shepherds, boxers and pit bulls). An additional 12 are named Adolf, including four German shepherds and three rottweilers. (We're hoping against hope that at least some of those are misspelled tributes to debonair actor Adolphe Menjou, but maybe we're just kidding ourselves.)
Why, why, why, we ask, would an owner saddle their pet with such an unpleasant moniker?
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(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
My cats are named after demons.
Why? Because it’s funny?
Why would anyone want to name their dog “Obama?” ;)
I’m gonna buy a rat and name him Obama, it won’t last long
Next cockroach that wanders into my kitchen will be named Barrackroach.
I’m more worried about the recent trend of U.S. Presidents named after the winged horse that carried Muhammad to heaven....
How many Obamas?
What breed would best be named “Barack” or “Obama”?
Exactly. Can you imagine yelling, "Stalin!" and having this big lab run over and lick your face?
My cat hat an Obowelmovement.
What no Mugabe’s..or Putin’s..or an Idi Amin?? Would it be Presumptious to name my dog TOTUS??? LOL
I have a whole tank full of “Obamas”. They’re goldfish for my piranha.
How about a Chihuahua named Cortez? Would the LA Times object?
Or this guy:
Remember “The Jerk”?
“Navin Johnson.....decides to hitchhike to St. Louis, .... On the way, he stops at a motel, where a dog wakes him up by barking at his door. Navin thinks the dog is trying to tell him there’s a fire and decides to name the dog “Lifesaver.” He wakes up the other hotel guests to rescue them, but when everyone realizes it was a false alarm, one man angrily suggests he call the dog “Sh*thead” ...which he does.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerk
And how many are named Che or Castro? Of course, the LA Times wouldn’t even think of those as being murderous.
At a dog park in New York, I once met a man with two Havanese named “Fidel” and “Che.”
Only Muts can be named Obama.
ADOLPH!! STOP EATING YOUR OWN POOP!
My 1st Shepherd also had a German reference, Luger. He was a lot friendlier.
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