Naming Na'ilah

Skin and bones dog

I expect to name the new dog Tuuva because she was found near Tuba City in the Navajo Nation.  I start calling her Tuuva on the drive home from Arizona on August 25.

When we arrive home, however, my family is not thrilled with her arrival.

John is angry, in fact.  Last March he had found a cute part-Corgi rescue dog that needed a good home. 

"No," I had said.  "Not unless you are willing to keep it in your apartment."  He lives two hours north in Bakersfield during the week, coming home on weekends.

I myself did not want to take on the care and training of any new dog.  It had to be his dog, in his care.  I put my foot down.  

But then I walk in the door six months later with a starving abandoned dog.  Not a cute little dog, but a big skeletal monster.

John is rightfully indignant.  

Roz is totally stressed by what I have done.  Her little chihuahua has enough problems fending off the Corgi.  And now a big dog that could swallow little Gracie Giselle in one mouthful?

In addition to the dog psychodynamics, there's the work: feeding, training, walking, bathing, applying flea treatments, and picking up the shit in the back yard.  I tend to be out of town once a month or at least several times per year, and she is the one who gets asked to dogsit.

My ace in the hole, however, is that both John and Roz love dogs.  

Within 24 hours, each of them has grudgingly admitted that this is a sweet-natured dog and that they could consider keeping her, though they think she should be taken to the pound.

Roz even starts discussing what to name her.  My hopes rise.

"I think she should be named something like Tuuva, something related to where she was found," I say.

Roz feels that name is not pretty enough.  She consults her smart phone for the list of top ten dog names she has compiled for dogs she hopes to have in the future.

"Na'ilah," she says.  "It means 'successful one' in Arabic."

"Arabic?" I ask.  "A Navajo dog with an Arabic name?"

"It's a good sign," she argues.  "She was successful in getting you to pick her up."

I can't argue with that, and the privilege of naming is a small price to pay for Roz accepting the dog into our home.  

Na'ilah it is.  

My education continues.  I learn there are celebrities with this name: 

Nailah Porter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/9cpn

Nailah Blackman
https://twitter.com/nailahblackman

Nailah Thorbourne
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Nailah+Thorbourne