It's all in a name

I didn't like the name" Precious" when we brought our new dog home from the Animal Shelter in January 1992. I suggested to my eight-year-old son Kevin that we change the name to something a bit more Wyoming and a bit less suburban. But he was adamant. "That's her name -- you can't change it." He had a point. She did come to us with that moniker. The Shelter names all of its pets if they don't come in with one. But I told Kevin that it was going to be hard for me to yell out her name in public. I also pointed out that she might get beat up by tough-sounding Cheyenne dogs named Brutus or Spike. He wasn't worried. He assured me that she was tough enough to handle all comers.

But the name fit her. Even when Kevin morphed into a huge teen and later a young man with tattoos and deep voice, he never stopped calling her Precious. And neither did we.