As the owner of two polysyllabic pooches, I must defend the practice of giving nice names to dogs, more than just a grunt in their direction. The third dog has a mono-syllable name, and came already named enough so I couldn't start calling him something else (though the name I had in mind is close enough sounding that he might not notice - it doesn't matter what I call him as long as I call him in time for dinner, right?)