"The New Rolling Stones"

Well, here it goes…my first blog experience! To be honest, this is not a hobby I ever really saw myself getting into. I was introduced to blogging a few years ago when my mother-in-law decided to write a blog. She was working on her Master’s Degree in writing; therefore, when she decided to write a blog it made sense to me…she is a writer, so she can write a blog. I was a science major, so I would never write a blog, right? Well, no.  Here I am, writing a blog. I decided to write not because I am a great (or even good) writer, but because I wanted to document the journey that I am on.

I got the name for my blog, “The New Rolling Stones,” obviously because my husband’s name is Mick (or Mickey as I call him) and because we decided to call our new puppy, Jagger. However, the name Jagger happened by accident.

After we were engaged (which was in July of 2010), Mickey and I decided that we wanted a puppy. His parents have a six year old German Shorthaired Pointer (a bird hunting dog) named Ruger. Mickey and his dad love to hunt, so a hunting dog was perfect for their family. Mickey and I also loved Ruger’s disposition. He is so super sweet, eager to please, and very athletic. 

             (Ruger wearing his bowtie for my sister-in-law's wedding)

Together, Mickey and I decided that we too would love to own a German Shorthaired- Pointer of our own. His parents were friends with the breeder, so we got in contact with them. As luck would have it, they had a litter due to be born on September 10th! We put down a deposit and starting thinking of names for our new little baby.

        (Our sweet little guy at 4 weeks old...picture we received from the breeder)

We thought long and hard, and being creative (or so we thought) we decided to name the puppy Jaeger (like the alcohol) because it literally means “hunter” in German.

Once the litter was born and ready to come home, the breeder (located in Indiana) informed us that a family from our home town in Pennsylvania would be driving to Indiana to pick up their puppy from the litter and could bring home baby Jaeger for us. This worked our perfectly for us, so I flew home and went to pick up our puppy on October 31st, 2011.  When I arrived to the house the family was outside holding our puppy. I jumped out of the car and the woman holding him said “JAGGER has been such a good boy!” I was shocked when she called him Jagger, because we had told the breeder his name was JAEGER! I felt bad correcting her, so I played along and told her that we actually had not decided between “Jaeger” and “Jagger,” (when in reality Jagger was NEVER even THOUGHT of). When I told her we were undecided on his name, she gave me a lecture similar to this:

        

“PLEASE do not name your puppy Jaeger! It is such a common name for German Shorthairs, as it means “hunter” in German. I love the name Jagger, and it makes sense! Your husband is Mick, so you would have “Mick Jagger.”

         

When it was time to say goodbye, I took “baby J” and got into the car with him. I had a basket for him in the front seat, but he decided he would rather sit on my lap. 

I called Mickey right away (who was at our home in Florida), and exclaimed, “Mickey, they have been calling our puppy Jagger for three days! He will probably be so confused if I start calling him Jaeger! Plus they told me Jaeger was such a common name and that Jagger went perfectly because of Mick Jagger!”

There was a pause on the other line, and after thirty seconds Mickey said, “Okay, name him Jagger, I actually like that name better.”

After our conversation I hung up the phone and said, “Alright buddy, I guess your name is Jagger.”

AND that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we named our puppy…and how I came to name my blog, “The New Rolling Stones.”