King Arthur, Buddy Holly and the Sundance Kid have one thing in common: They’ve all been best in show.
The first part of a dog’s registered name is usually based on the breeding kennel where they were born. They’ll share that name with every other dog from the breeder. Some names are place-based; others use a single initial. These nicknames — also known as call names — can be related to registered names, but they don’t have to be. Whiskey is a natural call name for whippet GCHG Pinnacle Tennessee Whiskey, and Trumpet makes sense for bloodhound GCHB Flessner’s Toot My Own Horn.
the Fifinator, but is registered as GCHP Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici CA DN MX MXB MXJ MXJB ROM BFL-1 LC-11D. Some owners and breeders do seem to delight in skirting the rules about profanity with names like Redmoon’s One Sexy Ducker and GCHP CH Evenstar-Wesridge’s One Hail Of A Man. Registered names also have to be unique — or at least, unique-ish. The AKC will only register 37 dogs of a particular breed with the same name at any given time. There can be 37 Dalmatians registered as Spot, but the 38th will have to add on extra letters or numbers.