Mums offended by my dog?

[SpareChangeDownTheSofa]

I have a friendly, cuddly dog, he's a cross breed but one that most kids want to happily stroke (most adults too). Since he is a rescue he is always on a leash to prevent running off when not in a dog park area (so people approach him to meet him).

He has quite a common name that is being used for boys these days but is also a very common 'dog' name. Alfie.

The other day I was walking him and a mum and son came over, all ''aww he's so cute! can I stroke him?'' It was all good, then the kid asked me his name and I said ''Alfie'' and the mum got this sour look on her face and huffed, ''That's my son's name'' and ushered her son away in a mood.

Now its happened before that kids have had the same name as him and the parents laugh or the kids are quite happy but I was so at this woman's reaction. Would you be annoyed if someone had a pet with the same name as your kid??

Aw, I know an Alfie-dog. He's an exceptionally thick chocolate lab.

The mum is being totes ridiculous - it's a very common name for male creatures of all species. And an adorable name.

I love a dog (or cat) with a people name. Our first dog was called Max (one of the most popular dog names in the US), and one of my son's best friends is called...you guessed it, Max.

#2 son is called Riley, and one of my coworkers has a dog named Riley. It never occurred to me to be offended or upset.

When I was out with my DS a wee dog came over for a sniff, the owner said "it's okay, she's friendly"....then the owner called her dog away, the dog had the same name as my son .

have a staffy pup whos name (short form) is ani,ah-knee
most people say it annie.
ok.. except my mums name is annie she thinks its funny.
also anis full name is a word that means dog

How ridiculous! One of my DS has got a name that he shares with many dogs, he is happy with that and so am I ;-) Our dog has got a name that many boys and men has too!

I have an unusual first name.

Upon meeting meeting a relative of my now husband for the first time he announced that he used to have a dog with the same name!

I burst out laughing and still chuckle at the ice breaker.

My cousin was named after their dog.....

Yeap the dog was still alive when cousin was born (I think he, the dog was about 2).

Aunt & Uncle had a very dry sense of humour, and would never give a straight answer as to why they thought this was a good idea.

Cousin loved it btw

We have a hamster called Chris and a cat called George. George the Ginger Cat.

How ridiculous (I speak as the owner of a dog also called Alfie!). A name is a name. I keep a horse at a stables where there are animals called Edward, Peter, Madeline, Chloe, Jack, Milo, Stanley, Sidney and others. So what ....? Silly woman.

Lunacy - how ridiculous! I've had no end of people tell their cat has the same name as my daughter - Willow! Oddly enough I can't be bothered to get worked up over it!

Murphy was called Alfie for a few days, didn't suit him though so we changed it. That said, he answers to anything anyway and DS mostly calls him Jeff....

A work colleague has a dog with the same name as my daughter, we find it amusing.

There are an awful lot of Alfies about, pet-wise, I have noticed. I find it odd that so many people choose a pet name for their child .

I think I upset someone, mentioned that neighbours pet was Alfie and that he didn't look like an Alfie as he was too refined. Then discovered her new grandson had just been called Alfie - oops

SofaToad

I think now while he's a young, goofy dog, Alfie was a good match for him but then when he gets older we can call him ''Alfred'' so he has a good ''old man'' name.

My neighbours named their chickens after their children. Luckily the kids were teenagers and thought it quite funny when foxes ate them all one by one (well, not for the chickens, obviously).

I would love it if someone called their dog Carolyn. (That's me!) However, I don't think its going to happen. I've often thought how funny it is that certain human names sound right for animals but others just don't work. Never met a dog called Barbara or maybe Paul for a boy. What about a dog called Claire? BTW, I have two Lab pups called Holly and Willow.

My worst enemy (arsehole who emotionally abused and cheated on his girlfriend who worked for me, and sexually harassed me) has a name which appears to be the most popular name for dogs where I live.

This amuses me greatly.

I used to know someone whose cat was called Oscar. She then had a baby when the cat was still very much alive and well, and also named the baby Oscar.

Ha! You're not alone. One of my cats is Freya. (who incidentally was a the Norse god of cats)

I posted a thread a while back about someone being appalled that we had "stolen her future child's name" when we got Freya as a kitten. The consensus was I was not BU and she was bats!

I am a fan of "human" names for animals. In my life I have had dogs called George, Bill (William when being told off) and Stephen.

The troll inside me thinks all future pets will be named from that year's top 10 baby name lists

reminds me of nicola mcleans tweet to danille lloyd stating why have you named your dog after my son

her son is called rocky-stupid bint

Ha I shorten.my name and have met several dogs who share it. Dd1 has also met a dog that had her name.

We don't care

Think I'd rather share names with dogs than half the people I meet tbh

We think it's funny and we don't give a crap

As a teenager, I used to babysit a little boy called Snowdon. You get some very funny looks in the park when you shout "Snowy!" and a toddler trots over

Alfie's a very popular boy's name at the moment. Everyone who picks it seems to think they're very original. But it is fundamentally a dog's name.

My cat is a short version of a name I would have had for a girl had we had one.
I wonder if once she had named her Son somebody commented it was a 'dog' name and she get's huffy about it now if she meets a dog with 'her' sons name ?