TacoMo explained ;0)

Where did the word TacoMo come from? It's really a nonsensical hybrid of our 2 dogs names.  I've realized as more and more people encounter the word, that I did not spell it very well phonetically either. I pronounce it Talk-aMo, most others see it as Talk-Oh-Mo. So even though it's a word I created, I must accept when others say it the way it makes sense to. ;0)
When we got our first puppy 8 years ago (yikes!) in 2005, I knew I'd have to use my creativity and originality to come up with a name no one else had given to their dog before.  We received pictures of that cute little girl at 3 days old, and you could clearly see her tri-color coat.  We went for a walk on the bike path and were trying to think up a name. I thought of all the inspirations out there that many people use, favorite sports teams, movie characters names, food, etc.  Rick and I are absolute food addicts so it came to the candies and desserts section (as of course she was destined to be a sweetie pie). Thinking of her colors, Oreo came to mind, but it was a name I'd definitely heard used before. Now even still what I came up with does not accurately represent her colors.  I tend to say she is Marshmallow-white, Graham Cracker-Caramel, and Dark Chocolate- Black/Brown, did you catch where I was headed? She was a little S'more! Therefore to customize her name further, she became Smorzy. 

Who the heck actually calls her that these days? By now almost no one. I'd read somewhere after having had her for a few months that dogs don't process the sound of the letter 'S' at the beginning of words very well. We kind of used that as an excuse to drop it when calling her name, and though she is technically still Smorzy, she became Morzy. 

If you're familiar with her story, you know by now that she was a naughty little puppy.  We found ourselves too often saying "No, No!" (Absolutely inconsistent with our now educated dog training practices) and Morzy hasn't always slid off of the tongue so easily. Her name then was often shortened and mixed in with the sentence "MoMo, No No!" It's an incredibly silly adventure her name took, but she is referred to quite often as Mo (or Morzy in daddy's serious tone of voice) which contributes to her half of the Taco-Mo name.

I have definitely shared Rico Suave's story of life, and his path to Taco is still much shorter.  He became Rico Suave because of his gorgeous long eyelashes (now that we know his DNA includes Cocker Spaniel it makes a lot of sense).  We lived in Texas at the time and surely we ate a lot of Mexican food, but I actually started out calling him Pico Paco as a nickname (weird and ridiculous, I know).  Somehow that morphed into Rico Pico Paco Taco.  Taco is now his official term of endearment, but he also goes by his given name as well as my baby puppy (yes at 7 1/2 years old he's still my puppy), Puppa, Taco Broccoli, etc.

Not long after we had Rico and his nickname shifted to Taco, we'd have to spout out both names to call them in or away from something. By accident we each said Tac uh? Mo when we weren't sure who's name we were calling.  Once we realized we were both doing it, it was funny and we often used it on purpose.  It became a word in our vocabulary.

Before I had even graduated with my diploma I had long thought about what the name of my eventual business would be.  A lot of things crossed my mind, but once I thought of applying that silly nickname to my dog training, it clicked.  I'm hopeful we'll have many more years with these 2 sweet and crazy dogs, but beyond that we'll never forget what an impact they've had on us, and all they've taught us.

TacoMo Fur-ever!

Both of our dogs respond to multiple nicknames as I'm sure yours do too. Feel free to share!