Everybody Loves Raymond Orr Else, an 8-month-old Akita, was among the 10 nominees selected for the Wacky Dog Name competition. (supplied photo)
By Sydney Leyerle
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
A Bowling Green dog has become a finalist in Nationwide’s Wacky Dog Name competition.
Everybody Loves Raymond Orr Else, an 8-month-old Akita, was among the 10 nominees selected for the Wacky Dog Name competition. Nominees are selected from across the country and the winner will be announced on June 13.
Brad Eckhart, Raymond’s owner, said the name comes from a mix of the fictional character, Ray Donovan, and two of the Boston Bruins’ defensemen, Raymond Bourque and Bobby Orr.
With a love for Boston, Eckhart said he likes to name his animals after people or places from the city as he sees it as a tranquil place with lots of history.
Raymond isn’t Eckhart’s only dog with an interesting name. He and his wife have another Akita named Tessie, in reference to the Dropkick Murphey song and the Boston Red Sox. They’ve also had two Akitas named Chewbacca and Fenway Baahk.
Akitas are a unique and uncommon dog breed. Eckart said they are very loyal animals and often have a strong love for their families.
“They’re very empathetic,” he said. “They work very well on a service capacity.”
Raymond is currently in training to become a service animal. Once completed, he will stay in the family and become Eckhart’s service dog. Eckhart’s other Akita, Tessie, has already been trained as a service animal and is his wife’s official service dog.
“I think it’s just that loyalty, intelligence and that emotional intelligence that they bring to the table and a lot of dogs do that for people,” he said. “Akitas are very stubborn and independent as well. So they’re really, when they give you their time you’ve earned it. And that’s the key thing with Akitas when you’re training them. You’ve got to earn their respect.”
Having formerly been in the military, Eckhart said he realized how good Akitas could be at taking care of people when he came home from serving. He said his former Akita, Fenway, who recently passed, would wake him when he was having nightmares.
Fenway had no service training, but Eckhart said he could tell when people were anxious and would lean on them to try and comfort them.
“They very much read the room and so that’s just the nature of them,” he said. “You really got to challenge them, you got to give them a job and they really just love people.”
Raymond also goes by the names Ray Ray and Sweet Baby Ray, which Eckhart said comes from him being a sweet and loyal dog.
“I’m really optimistic,” Eckhart said. “I think he’s (Raymond) got a lot of charisma. And I think he’s going to be not only good as a service dog, but I think he’s also going to be a pretty good therapy dog.”
To vote for Raymond and Eckhart, visit https://www.petinsurance.com/wackypetnames/2023-dog-names/everybody-loves-raymond-orr-else/.
