[RogueRed26]

My 3 month old black female GSD does not respond to her name, Texas.

During training time, I say "Texas, sit" and she sits. "Texas, lay" or "Texas, watch me" and then does the trick. During walks, I address her with "Texas, come." However, when I call her "Texas" she does not come to me, but if I say "come" and signal her, she somewhat comes to me. I tried treats and physical excitement to get her to react to her name (techniques I read in Puppies for Dummies), but she doesn't. Do you think a dog can dislike their name? Do you think she does not like her name?

I named her Texas after the state I live in (I love this state). Also, Texas means "friend, ally" which is what I want, a friend. I am a firm believer that a name fits an individual's personality, and I wanted a name that would represent something I look for in a companion pet.

So far, she has been able to catch on to the trick commands, but not her name. Should I change her name? If so, does anyone have any name suggestions? I want to name her something that means calm, peaceful, friend, companion, wise, loving, caring, etc just something that would not represent a "mean or tough" dog. Human names are encouraged.

All suggestions, opinions, or stories are much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Whiteshepherds]

This may sound ridiculous but if you use her name before every command, when you only say Texas she's probably waiting for the rest of the command.
Try fading out Texas and just use sit, down etc.

 

[paulag1955]

You might find this video useful. This is how we taught Shasta her name, except we marked the desired behavior with a clicker.

 

[KZoppa]

the indians believe that the animals choose their names. I agree with WhiteShepherds on changing how you give commands. If you want her to learn her name, you have to do name training. When you say Texas and she acknowledges it treat and say "good girl texas" and do that every day until she's responding. But keep in mind, you may decide to change her name if she doesnt improve when you say Texas. When we got Shelby her original name was Juliet. They called her Julie. She never once responded to it with them or us the first couple days but when i started calling her Shelby, she picked it up really quickly and answers almost every time. Shasta's original name was Jules. She would give you this look like we were stupid. She responds to Shasta.

 

[Samba]

Teaching the name should be something separate from teaching commands. After the name is well learned, you can put it before the command to get your dog's attention.

If you have not taught the name on its own, then the name is just part of the command to your dog.

Play the "name game" in the video above. It works well.

 

[LaRen616]

I got my GSD/Husky mix 5 weeks ago, his name when I got him was Champ, I renamed him Rogue and he learned his name within 3 days. I called him Rogue about a million times. As I pet him I would say "good boy Rogue" I made sure to look at him and call him Rogue and give him a treat.

 

[AgileGSD]

Dogs don't have the same concept of names that we do. Many, many pet dogs don't really know their name because they were never taught to respond to it (and than, many others respond to their name and a bunch of nicknames). People also tend to overuse their dog's name, which can cause the dog to tune it out.

It's pretty easy to get them to "know" their name. Get some tasty treats, say your puppy's name and give a treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, etc. After a few sessions of this over the course of a couple days, your puppy will start responding to her name.

 

[RogueRed26]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely stop saying her name during commands and start playing the "name game." I also honestly believe she does not like her name, though I will see how she does after some trainings. If she doesn't respond too well, then a name change will be in order.