Names that sound like “sit,” “stay,” “heel,” “no,” and “come” could be easily confused by your pup. Imagine how tough it would be to get your dog to stay if they are named “Fay” or how difficult it would be to get them to sit if their name was “Mitt”.
These types of names, such as "Rex" or "Bear," have short and choppy sounds, which make dogs respond quickly, according to Rover. Names with two syllables are ideal as well. Dogs' hearing is about four times more sensitive than ours, according to Psychology Today.
Give a dog a bad name and hang him is an English proverb. Its meaning is that if a person's reputation has been besmirched, then he will suffer difficulty and hardship.
It is for these lost souls that the “A Dog Has No Name” project was created. The purpose of this project is to attempt to tell the story of those dogs that died without a name, and in doing so, identify those cases in which animal abuse is suspected so a criminal investigation can be initiated.
Choose a name that you truly like. You will be using it all the time, so you should enjoy the sound of it. Try out the new name for a few days and see how your dog responds. Don't name your dog something that others may find offensive or embarrassing.
Dogs do not hear words, but tend to recognise sounds. They hear names with two syllables and initial letters such as “CH, S, SCH, SH or K” better than long dog names. Dog names ending with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) are also recommended.
Consider the following: Scooby Doo, Pluto, Goofy, Odie, Droopy, Underdog, Spike and Tyke, Astro, Huckleberry Hound, Augie Doggie, Marmaduke, Hong Kong Phooey, Ren, Sam Sheepdog, Santa's Little Helper, and most recently, Brian Griffin.
The short answer is yes, dogs do know their names. On average, dogs can understand 165 words. More intelligent dogs can learn 250 words. If your dog is trained to recognize their name as such, they understand that you are speaking to them specifically when you use it.
Dogs may care less about naming unless you purposely train them to associate a specific word with an object or person. Your dog's name is something that will be initially insignificant to your dog, just like a mother's words are insignificant to a baby who is too young to have receptive language skills.
They won't respond to their name when you call them and likely won't even acknowledge the sound of their name. However, as time goes on, they begin to learn and eventually start responding to their name all the time.