We were having dinner at a friend's house and they had adorable new  puppies.  My youngest son, who was 2 at the time and a huge fan of the Shrek movies, was desperate to have one.  I told him he needed to ask his father.  He scooped a puppy under his arm, marched over to his dad  and announced, "Dad, I am Shrek.  This is Donkey.  Can I take him home?"  and that's how we ended up with a fluffy, caramel-coloured Bichon mix named Donkey.
Christy Lawrence
Tucson, Arizona

We had a black poodle we named LC (large car) after a good sized friend of ours. When he was killed we got a miniature , black and silver Schnauzer, but had no idea what to call him. So we had a get together with some friends to name him. They watched him play, walk and act, but couldn't figure out a name. Till finally a girlfriend of ours said, "Boozer"! He perked up his ears and came running. Why that name? He was so fat that his tummy drug the ground and when he walked, he couldn't walk a straight line. He'd start off right, but kept going off course. It was a hit and that was 10 years ago. He's straightened up his walk and still makes us smile. We love him a lot. 
Harman

JAZZ

We got a dog 2 years ago and he was a full bread, male, golden retriever. It took us weeks to come up with a name for him so temporarily we called him "puppy." Since ''puppy'' ended with a ''y'' we had to name it something that ended in a ''y'' also. My mom was bragging about our dog to one of her friends when she mentioned that he resembled and felt just like a ''Gotta Get A Gund" bears we decided to name him ''Gundy"
Chase

Perdida

We have three cats named COKE, PEPSI and COLA, all black. (My boyfriend likes the pop "Coke" and I like "Pepsi"). We figured they should all have the same last name so they were named COKE cola, PEPSI cola and COLA cola.
I then got a female Border Collie that is black and white. My boyfriend Rob said that as the cats were named after a sweet drink, the dog ought to be named after a treat. The only black and white treat I could think of was an Oreo cookie, hence that is what she is called.
Shanette

We went to the pound for whatever reason and the lady at the front knew me very well. She told me there was a young pup in the back that was at least part American Pit bull terrier. She said there were some pretty undesirable men looking at him at the moment and begged me to look at him and take him home to save him since they can't turn away anyone adopting a dog or cat. So we went back there and there he was. White with huge black/brown spots. He looked at us and lowered his head and gave us that pitiful puppy eyed look he is famous for. We heard the guys talking about him and how big he already was and how powerful he was going to be and how cool it would be to make him mean. Needless to say I swooped him up and we rushed to the front desk. The guys tried to stop me but I told them we already had paperwork on the dog. But we tortured ourselves for a name. Finally my hubby came up with one that stuck ...Apache for A -Pache dog ..(A patchy dog). I groaned but agreed since it was a cool name. ;o)
Tara

Ki Ki

At one time we had a dog with us who was a stray. My oldest was only 1 at the time he was with us. The only word she really likes saying was kitty kitty. She also was determined to call the dog kitty kitty. He absolutely adored her and that became all he would come to. NOTHING my hubby and I tried would stick. One little twist though...when my daughter said kitty kitty it came out "Ki Ki" or pronounced Kee kee. Many people commented on his unusual beautiful name which when it was explained they got one heck of a kick out of it.
Tara

This is a small male Jack Russell that I first met when I worked for the NCDL.  A member of staff was carrying him up from the field, when I stopped to make a fuss of him and give him a small treat. As I gave it to him I asked the member of staff what his name was - "Hang On Snoopy" came the reply with a grin across the face of the staff member.  I needn't have asked anymore as by now he was hanging off the end of my finger <ouch>.
That was the end of lesson 1 ...........  10 points to dog.
Gill

Sugar

Sugar was born about 4 am. Her belly was all sunken in and she was not breathing. Because of the abnormal look to her stomach I was going to let her be. But, my son was watching her birth and begged me to "try and get her to breath".  So I did thinking that I would not be successful, but I was. She did take her first breath and we started to feed her. She nursed on both mama and from a bottle. We kept her separate from the litter for the first two weeks because she seemed to weak to fight for herself with the litter. There were times when we felt so sorry for her that we started to say "Time to give some sugar to the little one", that soon turned into "time to give sugar some sugar". The name just came to be all by itself .
Tina Van Winkle

Two of our dogs were already named Splash and Sally so we didn't have to think of them.  With Gem we were trying to think of something that would go with Splash and all we could think of was Puddle. Remembering a story from childhood of Gemima Puddle Duck, we shortened it to Gem, but she is often referred to as Puddle, Puddle Duck, and the full Gemima Puddle Duck.
Kathy Newman

Rocky

Rocky is a retired Rockette.  Yes, as in the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes in New York City.  He was the puppy in the 1997 Christmas show, at 2 months.  (needless to say, he's used to having lots of people and other animals around!)  No, he doesn't have quite the long legs that other Rockettes do, but he does have their spunk and stamina!  What else could he have been named??!?!?  Rocky was a given.
Alyssa

Cora

I thought I would share the story behind Cora.  She was named after a woman that I have known for 35 years.  She took care of me a lot when I was little and my mom was depressed.  She is a wonderful person that loves everyone and everything.  One of those rare people that is just able to make people feel good.  Well she is 88 years old now and was doing fine until about 3 months ago when she was put in a nursing home with an early diagnosis of Dementia.  She doesn't remember things too well now. Every time she sees me she knows me, but just doesn't remember I had been there.  A little while ago I let her know I was getting a puppy and that I was going to call it Cora so I would always remember her even when she was no longer with us.  She was quite pleased.  I am going to have a photo button taken of me and Cora for her to wear in the nursing home.  So that is the history behind Cora.
Carol, Cora and Mr. Buddy

Tasha was a shelter dog who had been dumped at the ASPCA in NYC on Thanksgiving, 1998.  That family who left her had named her "Troubles."  (and you wonder why they didn't keep her?)  When I met her, she had such a sparkle in her eyes and eagerness in her step, I had to adopt her...but I knew her name had to change.  As I said then, "It's like naming your child 'Tantrum' -- who would DO that???"  Our first night in the dog run, I took her out with Rocky and started calling her to me, using any name that came into my head, just to see if *she* had a preference.  I was on a "Rocky & Bullwinkle" kick (the cartoon) and thought of 'Natasha' -- hollered it out and she came bounding over, a huge grin on her face, wiggling from end to end!!!  I thought about it, and Natasha always seemed to me an elegant yet relaxed, strong yet gentle name....so it stuck.  (Natasha is like 'Gillian' - we only use the full name when she's in trouble, so she's called simply 'Tasha.")
Alyssa