Merlin, Oz, Wizard

by Mary Louise
(Muncie, Indiana)

We had a yellow Lab named Merlin for nearly 12 years and lost him this August. Labs are so smart that it seems that some of the things they figure out are magical, and Merlin definitely was a wizard! He could open doors (regular round doorknobs) and baby gates - even taught our son how to open the baby gate when our son was about 8 months old.

When Merlin was 3, we got him a black Lab/German shepherd mix baby brother and named him Oz to continue the wizard theme. Little did we know that Oz was the perfect name for this guy - he's definitely the scared little man behind the curtain, terrified of everything and everyone, but barking and flashing those bright white teeth while backing away. He looks extremely intimidating, and we've had several workers refuse to set foot in the house unless he has been put up, which we find hilarious.

And yesterday we brought Oz a baby sister, a chocolate Lab who we named Magic about 2 hours ago. Unfotunately, the female wizards' names are pretty ugly (like Morag), and then it occurred to me that if I was looking for a magical name, why not Magic? Of course, now that we've figured it out, I found your site, and it's on the list!

Thanks for maintaining this site - I'll remember it for future use.