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more photos“This little guy here, when he was a baby, he would truck off by himself away from his brothers and sisters, so my sisters started calling him trucker,” owner Charlotte Oakley, 59, of Redmond, said of her black Labrador retriever. “I have this old Ford truck that didn't have a muffler on it. I put him and his sister, Rose, in it, and she didn't like it.”
The missing muffler didn't seem to bother the male dog, who enjoys riding in the old Ford. “He just stretched out on the seat, and I went, ‘Well, there you go, (I'll name him) Ford Trucker,'” Oakley said.
The dog's full name is Ford Trucker Johnson, because one of his relatives was named Johnson, Oakley said. Names with automotive references also run in the family. “His dad was Rear Axle,” she said.
Submitted photo
Who's your Buddy?
What's in a name? Here's a look at dog names in Central Oregon, from the common to the colorful.
By Hillary Borrud
Last modified: November 16. 2009 4:58AM PSTChris Stanley, 34, of Redmond, is accustomed to getting confused responses when people hear his relatively lean dog is named Fatboy.
“You'll say his name is Fatboy, and people will say, ‘He's not fat.'”
Of course, Fatboy wasn't always so slim. Stanley got the hound and blue heeler mix about nine years ago from a woman who lives on a ranch in Prineville.
“He was her favorite pup, and she used to bring him in and feed him cookies and stuff,” Stanley said. “He was just a little pup, and he was so chubby, he couldn't get up the back steps. He would just slip and slide on the steps. My brother used to tease him, (saying) ‘Come on fat boy, come on.'”
The name stuck, and Fatboy has plenty of company among local dogs named for their physical attributes, including Mr. Stubbs, Stumpy and Tubbs. The Bulletin's analysis of dog license records in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties reveals that most owners prefer classic names such as Buddy, Sadie and Maggie. Yet some of the less popular names are the most colorful: Pan Head, Styx, Wilson McNaughty, Varuca Salt and Tsunami Bear.
The “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings” films are also a common source of inspiration when owners search for dog names, as evidenced by dogs of several breeds named Frodo, a Labrador retriever named Luke Skywalker and dogs of various breeds named Yoda.
While state law and county code require owners to license their dogs, Deschutes County Administrator Dave Kanner said the majority of dogs in the county are probably not licensed. Records show about 14,000 dogs licensed in Deschutes County, approximately 1,800 in Jefferson County and only about 200 licensed in Crook County.
Hillary Borrud can be reached at 541-617-7829 or at hborrud@bendbulletin.com.
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