Paws for thought...

It got me thinking about imaginative names for pets and what they say about you, the owner. The most imaginative I've ever had myself was a hamster called Hamlet, which isn't too exciting. But my listeners in Berkshire have come up with some corkers!

Winston Churchill had a cat named Nelson, Adolf Hitler had a German Shepherd called Blondi, John Lennon had a cat called Elvis, Martha Stewart a chow called Genghis Khan and Audrey Hepburn a Yorkshire terrier called Mr Famous!

Even better - in Berkshire we have several examples of grey fearsome moggies named "Chairman Mao", and even a Labrador called "Albus Dumbledog"... Twin dogs called "Bonnie" and "Clyde", a mastiff called "Snowdrop" and a dachsund called "Banger" (Sausage dog, geddit?).

What about the names given to four local "Chinese Crested" dogs called "Havoc", "Chaos", "Trouble" and "Nuisance" and yet two more poor dogs called "You".

One listener's husband nearly called the family dog "Taxi" so that his wife would sound crazy when calling him.

What about "Ali Khat" for a Persian kitten? Or a Doberman called "Jaws" who works as a dog in an old people's home and is actually an old softie!

I loved the story of a rescue British Blue cat who was nicknamed "Tyson" in his foster home, because he kept fighting the other cats, but who was ultimately renamed "Henry Cooper", and is now known as "Coop".

I personally love the name "Mr Tumnus" because I'm a Narnia fan, and also "Womble", "Saffie" and "Ziggy".

Finally, for a litter, I thought this was tres imaginative - "Hugh", "Pugh" "Barney McGrugh", "Cuthbert", "Dibble" and "Grub"!