Before settling on a dog's name, it's always best to imagine yourself shouting it out in public before committing to it. But one woman has been left scratching her head after her dog rejected her name, choosing to only respond to her "silly nickname" instead.
Taking to Reddit, the dog owner explained how her dog's official name Molly but her harmless nickname for the pup had backfired. Describing the ordeal, the woman explained that she has started to dread taking her dog on walks in public places as she is forced to scream out the nickname in front of other people when she is trying to get her pooch's attention.
She explained: "My dog's name is Molly but for some odd reason when I was younger I used to address her as 'my little poopy pants' and the name stuck.
"I don't even know where that came from, perhaps she had just soiled the carpet at the time.
"It's been a while - she's 10 now.
"She now thinks her name is Poopy Pants, and only obeys commands if you use that term.
"If she runs off outside and I want to retrieve her, I have to open the door and yell 'POOPY PANTS! COME HERE!'
"This is going to be great for my reputation when I go for a new job, I'm sure. '
"They'll be like, 'Oh look! It's the weird woman who named her dog Poopy Pants'."
In an attempt to make their dog walks less embarrassing, she is trying to undo her training to get her dog to respond to Molly.
"You can gradually teach a dog a new name by saying them in rapid succession one after the other," she added.
"This is odd though because most of the time I do say Molly, but Poopy Pants seems to stick in her head more."
While most users couldn't help but laugh at the woman's situation, others shared the embarrassing nicknames they've given their own pets.
One user said: "My cat is Blitz at the vet, and Dumbass or Fat Lard at home. He's a big big sweetie."
Another user added: "I nicknamed my dog Lil Fluffy-butt or Floofy Booty. It would be funny if that was her registered name"
A third user said: "I know someone who named their dog Nipples. He said, 'I thought it would be funny to be in a park and yell for Nipples'.
"So I said to my toddler 'Hey this is Nipples, isn't she a pretty dog' and I look up and the entire room is looking at me embarrassed.
"He said quietly, 'We call her Nips'. Like I'M the crazy one."
Does your dog have a funny or embarrassing name? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
