Oh, Charl...no Chelved (dangit, whoever you are)...BELVEDERE! Come Here, Boy!, or: Sometimes I Forget My Pets' Names

Oh, who am I kidding?! I forget my kids' names, too. In fact, I not only get my pets' names mixed up, but I sometimes call my kids by my pets' names, and my pets by my kids' names! So there! Call the authorities, if you must...whoever you are! ;)

I suffer from short-term memory loss.
Why am I in this blog post?

But first, anyone else remember the classic, "Oh Belvedere! Come here, boy!" from the old Looney Tunes cartoon? Yeah, well, can you describe Belvedere? And whose dog was he, anyway? Yosemite Sam's*, maybe?

WRONG! He was Colonel Shuffle's dog, and a bulldog, not a hound dog (like I remembered him being). So maybe - considering your own memory issues - think twice about reporting a boob like me, for innocently mixing up a few loved ones' names! Just sayin'. ahem.

Dew'Imean Jon Farleigh

Where in tar(nation) was I going with this?

Oh yes, the psychology study! I wanted to share that (after calling one of my cats six different names before landing on the correct one, the other day) I was concerned that I might be going prematurely senile, so I googled "why people call people by the wrong name" (note: pets, people, same difference). And that led me to this LA Times article, that cited this published study by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Alan Page Fiske (and team), which revealed these golden word-nuggets:

* "People confuse the names of people with whom they have--or had--the same type of relationship. For example: parents mix up their children's names. (Some families reported calling their pets by their children's names, leading Fiske to speculate these are 'good families to live in, if you're a dog.')

* Confusing one person with another happens more often than we realize, says Fiske. 'Some people make many of these errors every day,' Fiske says, citing results of the study."

JonF'NoCrapImean Dewi

Woohoo! I'm not senile! And my dogs are lucky!
(Though my pets and/or children might need therapy later in life - for identity issues.)

BobBerTigLuJonDewOHFORPETESAKE Maddox

Anyone else wanna share a crazy, mixed-up name story?

* If you said Belvedere belonged to Yosemite Sam (and I thought he did, too), there's a good reason: Yosemite and Colonel Shuffle (Belvie's true guardian) were both voiced by Mel Blanc, and they both spoke with a deep southern accent. Mel Blanc, by the way, also voiced Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn, among others.