Spot or Rover just won't do when naming dogs that race for you.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published June 25, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Paul Caple pays thousands of dollars for greyhounds at auctions. He spends time breeding and nurturing them into champions.
But before any of his prized pooches set their paws on a sandy oval track, Caple goes through the toughest task of all.
Naming them.
Caple cannot slap any old moniker on a dog. The naming game in the greyhound industry is tricky.
Kennel owners are required to register the names of their greyhounds with the National Greyhound Association and must follow a strict set of rules.
- Names are limited to 16 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks.
- No dog can have a name that begins with the, and it cannot end with junior or senior.
- Roman numerals are forbidden.
- Names are restricted from having more than three initials.
And one more thing: Once a name is registered, it cannot be used again until a decade after the title holder's death.
A male dog's name can be off limits longer if its semen was frozen for breeding purposes, and a name may be prohibited if the dog gains the slightest bit of popularity.
With more than 27,000 names submitted to the greyhound association each year, kennel owners face an ongoing challenge of coming up with new ones.
"I keep a thesaurus handy at all times," said Caple, who owns Capabal Kennel and has been racing at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg the past 14 years.
Caple, like many other kennel owners, uses a theme when naming newborns to reflect the litter's lineage, and he waits until the puppies are about 14 to 15 months old before their names are submitted.
"A lot of kennel owners use themes for two reasons," Caple said. "It's easier to think of names and it helps determine what litter that dog came from."
Caple draws inspiration from all kinds of things. He has named dogs after songs from the 1950s (Yakety Yak, Bitty Pretty One), golfers (Sorenstam, Beth Daniel) and comic book characters (Veronica, Archie, Jughead).
Others have spawned creativity from beer (LaRosa Enterprises Inc. has had Bud Light and Ybor Gold) and radio personalities (Don Abernathy Kennel has named dogs after shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge).
Sometimes the natural categories are broken when a name already has been used. The greyhound association asks kennel owners to submit one name and at least two alternates for each greyhound. Caple said he had to scour through as many as 80 names for one litter.
One way owners get around that is to attach prefixes to names. For a $10 annual fee, owners can obtain exclusive rights to a prefix. Greymeadow Kennel, for instance, uses Greys in front of all of its dogs (Greys Warrior, Greys Statesman).
"We do it because it helps people know the dog came from us, and it's just easier to name," said Mary Butler, owner of Greymeadow Kennel.
Gary Guccione, secretary treasurer of the greyhound association since 1982, is responsible for deciphering names and making sure they are appropriate.
"We know it's a difficult challenge for owners," Guccione said. "Sometimes we have to write back two or three times with an owner to get a name approved. I think after a while the kennel owners learn to be creative and find a way to come up with an appropriate name.
"All we ask is that the name is in good taste and is announcer friendly."
Francesca Field, co-owner of Bahama Mama Kennel, put the guidelines to the test.
In 1998, she and fellow owner Donna Marie Moore dubbed one of their greyhounds Test Tickle.
"We were having fun and wanted to see if the NGA was paying attention," Field said. "We figured there was no way it would get through."
The name slipped past the greyhound association, and the dog did well enough in schooling to qualify for the racing circuit. Test Tickle created a buzz among the patrons at Derby Lane and caused track announcer Jim Peake to cringe when the name appeared in a program.
"Whatever happens if this dog gets scratched from a race?" Peake said.
To Peake's chagrin, the dog ended up winning its first race. Soon after, the greyhound association ordered Field to change the name to Test Tricks. The dog won only one other race after that.
"I think the dog got mad," Field said. "It was like he was saying, "I can't run under Test Tricks. My name is Test Tickle."'
While creative and diverse names can be fun for the owners, they sometimes can be problematic for the announcer. Peake said he usually calls each owner to make sure he has the correct pronunciation.
Still, Peake sometimes stumbles letter by letter on names. Not surprisingly, most come from the Bahama Mama Kennel. Among some of the tongue-twisters the kennel has used are Shesellseashells (she sells sea shells) and Whatuciswhatuget (what you see is what you get).
"We really put a lot of thought into the names," Field said. "We're not purposely making the name hard to pronounce. What we want is the name to stand out. When bettors see an unusual name in the program, they'll know it came from us.
"It's the one time we get to have fun in this business."
