Naming the pups...

My sister lives in Anchorage, where her husband is an Iditarod dog sled racer. This means lots of dogs, often 50 or so, and a regular supply of new puppies. I'd never though much about naming puppies-- in my world, a puppy comes along perhaps once every ten years, and sort of names itself.

When you have lots of puppies on a steady basis, however, names become a problem. My sister and her husband have approached this thematically. For example, there was the spice litter, of which Curry, Spicy and Mustard are examples. There was also the cheese litter (Muenster), and the duck litter (Daffy, Daisy, Donald, Aflac)-- you get the idea.

So when my sister reported on the most recent batch of pups, she noted there were seven of them, and asked for suggestions. Seven? There were the Seven Wonders of the World, but somehow Acropolis or Great Wall don't seem to work. Then there are the Seven Seas, but there is some disagreement on exactly which ones they are, and Mediterranean or South Pacific are poor names for a puppy.

Eureka! how about the Seven Deadly Sins? Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Anger, Pride, Lust, and Sloth? I suggested those, and my sister was taken with the idea. No idea what her husband will think, since he is the one who actually has to call out those names when mushing on the trail, and introduce the dogs to the press. Stay tuned....