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We started trying to think of a name for our new 8-week old puppy almost as soon as we got word from the breeder that she was born. After a lot of names considered, our family settled on "Nova". However we just got her home and now we realized how close her name sounds to the reprimand "No". Certainly tone is important for dogs, but this seems just too close to overcome. Yet that is the only name we all like as a name.

So here's the question: has anyone else called their dog a "No" name (Nova, Nora, etc.) and did it complicate your urge to yell "No!" when the dog misbehaved?

Aeryk
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The traditional German equivalents to "no" and "good boy" are "nein" and "fein", which are pronounced the same except for the first letter. It's recommended now to no longer use "fein" as a word for good behavior but choose a different word that sounds completely different because dogs cannot distinguish between the words well.

That being said, these words are traditionally associated with dog training because they were used for many decades by many people. Did it negatively impact the training results of dogs? That's impossible to measure in any objective manner. But subjectively it's clear that it didn't impact training so much that people chose different words earlier. Dogs are able to derive much information from tone alone.

OTOH, there's a reason why it's recommended to chose a different word for training now. I would suggest the same to you. Instead of "no" you could use "don't" or "leave it", but the whole family has to agree on this word and use it during training consistently

Elmy
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I wouldn't worry about it ... keep in mind there's a school of training that says you shouldn't use the word "no" to dogs .. but rather, work on positive encouragement/reinforcment.

However, that said, personally, I still use the word "no" with ours :)

As you said, the tone will be the split .. using the word "no" in a strong, firm tone will definitely have a different impact that their name being used. It won't confuse them, they'll sort it out.

You could also, as others put forward, choose different words in place of "no", however, will take a little bit of "personal training" to get yourself using it properly.

Otherwise, what Elmy put (ie other synonyms, or even borrow from other languages) are equally viable options. Dogs will pick up what you teach them, "as long as you are consistent" ;)

Good luck!

Ditto
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