Lottie Moon

The first big hurtle for me was her name.  The shelter had named her Abby, and while that was cute and fit her okay, I felt like she needed a name with real meaning behind it.  I have theory, well proven by lots of anactdotal experience, that you must be very careful what you name your dog, because they will become it.  I knew a dog named "Havoc," who ran agility with extreme speed but completely destroyed the course with his explosive force.  Years ago I named my australian shepherd "Clark," and he grew to become the biggest dog nerd.  My border collie is named "Punch," and he literally jumps up and punches me when he's excited.  And then there is "Panic," who also runs agility courses with crazy speed.  This theory of mine, proven in my mind, is why one of my dogs is named "Peace."

So of course, little white deaf dog needed a perfect name that she would never hear, but would shape her life and personality, anyway!

I had a dream, where a little Native American woman told me to name her "Lakota."  I liked that name, but I feel like the Indian thing is SO overdone, and this puppy didn't have any kind of Native American connection.  I thought mabe I could find some Lakota word to name her, so I searched a Lakota dictonary online, but unfortunately the Lakota language is not a very pretty language, and I couldn't find anything I liked.  Next I came up with Indigo, which I liked a lot.  Indigo is the color of the aura of the highly spiritual and intuitive, thus the "Indigo Children."  But "Indigo" didn't seem like the name of a white dog, so I wasn't completely sold on it for my puppy.  Then I thought of "Lottie Moon."  The name Lottie Moon was a Southern Baptist missionary woman who went to China back in the late 1800s.  She was a highly spiritual woman who was a trailblazer, fighting for the rights of women in China back when even women in the US faced seeminlgly insurmountable inequality.  She was strong and tough and fought to help others.  And there was another woman named Lottie Moon who was a spy in the Civil War from Oxford, Ohio.  Two strong, independent women.  But the reality is that "Lottie Moon" is also the name of a bar at Miami University, where I got my BA.  I spent many hours waiting in line at Lottie Moon's, looking at that sign, and thinking that would be a good name for a dog . . . .  Besides, "Lottie" sounds similar sorta-kinda like "Lakota" . . . !
So Abby became Lottie Moon, but perhaps her full name might be Indigo Lakota Lottie Moon.  Wow, a big name to live up to for such a little pup.  But as I get to know her better, I think she can handle it.