How Ellee Got Her Name

Ellee is my beautiful chocolate standard poodle that runs on the Amour Agility Team...She has a lovely full tail!  I had never seen a chocolate standard, or one with a full tail, before I met her!  She draws attention where ever we go!!!  Most people have neve seen a standard poodle work a a service dog either! Ellee is certqainly unique, which is why I wanted to find the perfect name for her---

Here is a little info about how she got her name! 
(I would like to point out that I found it easy to name my children, and all my other dogs--and my favorite dog was named Sir Orion of Jubalation---called Jubal--my favorite dog name ever! Giant gentle sweet loving black lab) 

Ellee is sweet, mellow, and independent--and naming her was very hard for me.  When I got word I would be getting her instead of the red or brown male I had picked out a name for, I was thrilled, as Marcie had hoped for another girl.   I started thinking of names the whole trip to Missouri--but none seemed right when I saw that curious, nosey, sweet, easy going, funny little hairy ball of rich chocolate fur.  Funny face!!!
Her real name is "Element of Love",  and I call her Ellee. I kept picking names based on chocolate, but names like Godiva and Truffle and Kiss and so many others were taken by people with brown dogs that we know, ran into at competitions, or they just didn't fit her.  There were even a few we tried that people could not pronounce or kept forgetting....and I was trying to tie in some form of the word love, to match Marcie's Amour in her dog's names for the team work in agility.....so I kept thinking and rethinking the name....and while I was busy picking names to try, she was being called Ellee by my family---and I kept  noticing the framed chemical periodic table hanging in our dining room----the chart brought back memories that my kids grew up joking about their father (a chemist) helping them learn the elements by calling out symbols and getting answers from what ever room he was in---like an echo. They yell out Fe and he yells back Iron, OR they call out Sodium and he yelled back Na. And so on. It was a game they played, they would show their friends how they "talked" to their dad, and play the game when they were bored, just to get a laugh--and when they had to study the table for a test!...So, on my chart, Le, is the symbol for Love...hence the name L-E --- which became "Element of Love" --  known as Ellee!   AND it is a form of a family name -- we have lots of Helens, Ellens, and Ellies, (even in Marcella's name) in our group. When we finally started using this name she would look at us with those GOLDEN eyes that so grab your attention---and she seemed to say, "You finally got it right!".  When we tried others she kinda ignored us.  It is a strong but girlish name.    The name Ellee may not be super original, but the way we got it was certainly roundabout crazy!



Now we also have a TOPANGA KRIS of KENT,in the family and I LOVE that name as well, it is my son's minischnauzer, who is a beautiful silvery color....My son and his wife have the smae initials, JKM, but her middle name is Krisitne and his is Kent....Topanga is just a beautiful girls name we all loved!!!  She was my first grandpuppy.... Boo and Topanga were great friends and I am not kidding, when Peek needed help getting up on the couch she would bark, Toganga would run in, and Peek would climb up on Toganga and onto the couch to lie down!
AND
I love the Tulla Joi name!   We had JUST adopted her, and as she was too smelly/dirty to drive several hours with in the car, we took her to a nearby groomer to just have her given a quick bath, than loaded her up in the car....in the time it took to bathe her, the girls (who had just returned from Ireland) had several ideas for names and just a few minutes in to the drive, Tulla Joi  was the one we all fell in love with for her--we added Lady because she was so elegant...though she could slide under a chair with the best of them--and Amour for the team.....Lady Tulla Joi of Amour was offically adopted!   Kodiak was chosen because Marcie had just returned from Alaska, and he looked like a puffy white cloud....Hence, Lord Kodiak McCloud of Amour.  And last, Sir Arllington Steele because she had just retruned from Washington DC and visited the cemetery, plus she worked in a steel mill and he was going to turn silvery steelish gray!   The use of a title for each one started with Princess PeekaBoo---she was so tiny when she jumped to see onto the couch--it was like she was playing peek-a-boo.  Then, the dignified way she acted prompted the vet to remark that she should be a Princess, because she acts like one!  Princess PeekaBoo won DIVA DOG OF CINCINNATI when she refused to drink unless they opened a fresh bottle of water and gave her a clean bowl that no other dog had touched.  When Marcella started agility we wore shirts that said Princess Peekaboo's Pack!  Then we changed to the Amour Agility Team title on our shirts because Tulla and Steele came pretty quick thereafter...and finally, Ellee. 

Now I tend to call the boys--Steele-Man, Kodi-Man  and Boldly-Man
And I call the girls---PeekAboo, TullaJoi and ElleeLove

Marcie refers to them more like---Steele, Kode, Bold, Boo, TJ and Elle

As long as I have given the names, I should mention our grandbunny is named Cinnabun, and she is a Cincinnati Bunny, as well as the beautiful brownish cinnamony color.  And there is our grandkitty, Graysie, who is a beautiful gray and white cat.  Our cats carries the family middle name of Cay.  That is all the names we have so far!!!