Life after the dog pound

Naming a new family member can be quite the endeavour.

Some pass on a family name, while others prefer something more common or unique. Whatever the case, your name likely wasn’t chosen by you—it was given to you.

Bella, Charlie, and Luna were more popular monikers in the Fraser Valley last year. And you’ll likely only find one ‘Monsieur Louie La Floof.’

We introduced you to Monsieur Louie La Floof last summer. Back then he was known as Barton.

Barton and his siblings were born at the Fraser Valley Regional District dog pound. Since then all eight pups, including mom Marvel have found their fur-ever home.

A HAPPY ENDING

Last spring, a white, sopping wet dog was found roaming in the rain. The dog was brought to the FVRD’s Community Animal Response and Education (CARE) facility in Chilliwack.

The CARE centre’s staff didn’t know it at the time but the dog—later named Marvel—was a pregnant pooch.

The pregnant pooch gave birth to six boys and two girls last May at the dog pound. Since then they’ve all been adopted by families from across the province.

• Parker, now known as Porter, is “surfing the tides on the Sunshine Coast,” a FVRD spokesperson told the Current. He joins a family with a pup that was also adopted from CARE.

• Lee, now Maggie-Lee, is a “bonafide farm dog.” She is living on acreage with horses.

• Barnes was adopted by a CARE staff member and still resides locally.

• Rogers—now known as Toby—is an “urban adventurer” in Vancouver.

• Banner is also still in the Fraser Valley. He found a home in Chilliwack that he shares with a cat and a little sister.

• Carter—now named Bailey—was also adopted by a local family. You may spot him enjoying life on the Vedder River Trail.

• Stark was renamed Loki by his new family. He shares his new Rosedale home with fur-sibling.

• And Monsieur Louie La Floof, formally Barton, was adopted into a big family with four kids who keep him plenty busy.

As for the mama dog herself, a staff member said she was adopted and “being treated like the queen that she is, ruling her roost and being catered to by her new family.” (Due to privacy reasons the FVRD could only share limited details about the pups.)

There are still many adoptable dogs in the CARE Centre right now that are in need of new homes. Find more about them on CARE’s petfinder page here and Facebook page here.

The CARE Centre adoption program provides a safe space for animals. The centre doesn’t euthanize dogs, rather it works to rehabilitate them.

POPULAR DOG NAMES

As for the names, Fraser Valley residents are required to licence their dogs each year. And those licences let us know which dog names are particularly popular in the region. We asked the Fraser Valley Regional District and both the Langleys for a list of more than 30,000 dogs registered.

The deadline to license your dog differs in the Langleys than from the rest of the region. The FVRD manages dog licencing for Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and the eastern Fraser Valley municipalities. In the FVRD, the deadline to renew or purchase a new dog licence is Dec. 31 of each year. Details on how to apply and cost can be found here.

In the Langleys, the deadline to license your dog is Feb. 1. Township residents can find more information here, and Langley City residents here.

Some CARE staff are likely big comic book fans, given the names first chosen for the pooches. But the dogs’ new families didn’t seem to admire the name. All—except for Barnes—were renamed after they were adopted.

Only one of the puppies’ original names cracked the top 10 list of favourite dog names in the Fraser Valley last year. In Langley City it was the preferred name.

Here’s a list of the ranks across the Fraser Valley:

Chilliwack

1. BELLA

2. CHARLIE

3. LUCY

4. LUNA

5. BUDDY

6. SADIE

7. BAILEY and DAISY

8. MOLLY

9. MAGGIE and MAX

10. TUCKER

Abbotsford

1. BELLA

2. LUNA

3. MAX

4. CHARLIE

5. LUCY

6. DAISY

7. BAILEY

8. MOLLY

9. DIESEL

10. SADIE

Mission

1. BELLA

2. CHARLIE

3. DAISY

4. LUCY

5. LILY and MOLLY

6. LUNA

7. MAX

8. BAILEY and BUDDY

9. SADIE

10. LOLA

Langley Township

1. BELLA

2. CHARLIE

3. LUCY

4. LUNA

5. MOLLY

6. MAX

7. DAISY

8. BUDDY and BAILEY

9. COOPER

10. MAGGIE

Langley City

1. BAILEY

2. CHARLIE

3. LUNA

4. ROSIE and MAX and BELLA

5. MOLLY and COOPER

6. SOPHIE and LUCY and BUDDY

7. ROXY

8. BENTLEY

9. TUCKER and ROCKY and PIPER and MILO and MARLEY and COCO and CHLOE

10. MAGGIE and DUKE

Kent and Harrison

1. BELLA (This was the top name. The remaining names were tied for second and third place with five or six dogs registered under that name.)

• CHLOE

• DAISY

• ROXY

• BELLA

• BEAR

• COCO

• LOLA

• LUCY

• MAGGIE

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