What is your pet’s name and why did you give them that name?

Posted 26Jul2017.

Kagogi Notfood.

Five years ago, this guy was wandering around the outside of my apartment building. We bonded… sort of: he stubbornly remained outside the exterior door to the building while I went in my apartment to look for something and see if he got bored and left.

He didn’t… and I was sort of stuck with a dog determined to claim me as his owner. At the time, my work schedule wasn’t conducive to anything other than neglect for pets and plants, but I had just started to date this amazing Russian pianist… and she immediately realized that I actually did want to keep him and offered to help take care of him (also known as the highly effective “give me a key to your apartment and the dog doesn’t get hurt” tactic).

His name was actually of his choosing. We were on the way to the vet to see if he was chipped, and I knew that they were going to ask for a name. He was looking out the window at the scenery when I started going through a list of common dog names to see if any provoked a reaction; each name was quietly ignored. Out of a messed-up sense of humor, and in the same tone as all the other names, I called out “Kagogi.”

Head turned, ears up, and complete attention.

Kagogi it was… and since then, it has prompted questions of how, why, and “What the hell were you thinking??” but it always elicits a laugh – especially from our Korean neighbors. He’s extremely well behaved (except if he gets a weird vibe from someone) and I jokingly attest his proper manners/attitude to my habit of periodically reminding him that I know where the potatoes and large pot are.

Since then, I have gained a loyal companion and an amazing Russian pianist for a wife…