Before we ever saw the litter for the first time and weeks before we brought our puppies home, the process of selecting suitable names began. Two of the first names to emerge and gain foothold, came from June. She began to refer to them as Elvis and Thelma Lou. She really wanted to name them Barney and Thelma Lou, after Barney Fife and his girlfriend, but her brother and his wife have a bijon friese named Barney, and it just wouldn't do to have two Barneys in the same family, simultaneously. We both liked Elvis and Thelma Lou, but we agreed that they were not cut in stone. We would continue to entertain other potential names. One night, June brought up the names Charlie and Lulabelle. I liked those names too. She was on a roll.
While she was growing up, June's family had two beagle puppies which they named Charlie and Lulabelle. Unfortunately, Lulabelle was hit by a car soon after coming to live with them, but Charlie had lived a full life and June loved him dearly. It was a sad day when Charlie died of natural causes at a ripe old age.
To give the nameset even more appeal, June had a favorite cousin, Julia, who was given the nickname Lulabelle early in her life. It had come from a child's attempt to pronounce Julia, and it stuck with her until she was almost in her teens. Where these two names were concerned, there were several connections from June's past that made the them strong contenders.
As I have said, I liked the names from the getgo. They had come up several times before I suddenly flashed on the fact that Charlie and Lula were the names of my daddy's mother and father, my grandparents (www.clanbreazeale.com). Another aspect was that the puppies mother was named 'Lucy'. My grandmother's middle name was Lucinda. What a coincidence! June had come up with the names without any input from me. Once I had made the association, I kept it to myself for a while, until I was sure that June was sold on them. She continued to use them and I don't remember any other names being given serious consideration, though June claimed that she was not totally persuaded, right on up to the day we brought the puppies home. She did not want to prematurely lock on to these names when other, more appealing names might be out there. As far as I was concerned, it was decided, but I did not come out strongly in favor for fear that it would put June in a position in which she felt compelled before she was ready. I don't think I had much to worry about. She was simply keeping her options open, just in case she wanted to go with Elvis and Thelma Lou afterall. Once we had the puppies, though, it was Charlie and Lulabelle all the way.
So, that is the background behind the naming of Charlie and Lulabelle. There are so many connections to names in our respective families that we feel that these names are perfect for our little charges.
Mick Breazeale