Fur Sure: A Creative Pet Name Book by Debbie Harding

Questions and Answers

Are you looking for the perfect, creative pet name?

Fur Sure is my unique pet-name book—a full-color, illustrated gift book and pet naming guide packed with more than 1,200 clever ideas, whimsical illustrations, humorous captions, quotes, charming stories, themed categories, and note pages for your own pet-name explorations.  It was created to help you find a name that fits both your pet and your personality just right. Fur Sure is not just a list of names. It is an immersive, creative pet-naming experience for animal lovers, families, breeders, rescue volunteers, and anyone searching for a name that feels meant to be.

Who is the book for?

Fur Sure is for new pet owners, dog lovers, cat lovers, families, breeders, rescue volunteers, veterinarians, groomers, shop owners, homeschoolers, homesteaders, and anyone who loves animals.

Whether you are naming your own dog, cat, rabbit, bird, horse, or other beloved companion—or looking for the perfect gift for a pet lover—Fur Sure offers a joyful way to explore creative pet names, unique name ideas, and meaningful possibilities.

What type of pet is this book for?

There are names in Fur Sure that fit just about any animal in your home, on your farm, or close to your heart: dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, rats, birds, reptiles, horses, llamas, cows, donkeys, and more.

If an animal is part of your family and heart, there is a place for them in Fur Sure.

How can you get a copy of Fur Sure?

This full-color pet naming guide is available here on my website as a signed gift edition, which includes a special Biscuit bookmark inspired by my little white dog, who is featured in one of the stories.

Visit Fur Sure in my website Gallery Store and make your purchase from any sample page.

Fur Sure is also available for quick delivery at Amazon.com. Search for Debbie Harding Fur Sure.

What kind of names are in the Fur Sure book?

A key theme of Fur Sure is the unusual, unique pet name—the one that takes you by surprise and makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Inside this creative pet name book, you will find humorous words from past English usage, funny-sounding names, hobby-inspired names, food names, nature names, literary names, music names, science names, travel names, and themed pet names drawn from all kinds of interests and personalities.

Fur Sure is a pet-naming treasury filled with smiles, surprises, and ideas that can capture your imagination—and delight anyone who hears you call out your pet’s name. These are creative, quirky names that all kinds of animals can wear with pride: dogs, cats, birds, rodents, reptiles, fish, farm animals, exotic animals, and more.

But that is not all. Fur Sure also includes names that feel familiar, comfortable, warm, and homey. Every pet owner’s taste and personality can find a reflection somewhere in the pages of this creative pet name book.

Why is Fur Sure different from other pet name books?

Many pet name books simply offer lists of names and leave it there—columns of names displayed on plain white pages.

Fur Sure is delightfully more than that. This illustrated pet naming guide presents over 1,200 unique names artfully woven together with colorful full-page features, whimsical illustrations, stories, quotes, humor, captions, and note pages. It is a wonderful adventure of discovery.

This pet name book is visually delightful, emotionally satisfying, and clever in its presentation. It is part naming guide, part illustrated gift book, and part keepsake—a book you can return to again and again, making new discoveries and filling the note pages with your own imaginative ideas.

Fur Sure turns naming your pet into a treasure hunt of ideas, making the search for the perfect pet name almost as much fun as sharing your life with the pet who will wear it.

How will Fur Sure help you find the perfect pet name?

Naming a pet should be more than choosing a word from a long and tedious list. Fur Sure invites you into a fun exploration of themes, stories, pictures, emotions, and ideas that can help you zero in on the special qualities that describe both you and your unique companion.

You can browse categories that organize your thoughts, then discover hundreds upon hundreds of clever names with descriptions and imaginative rationales. You may find a name that fits your beloved friend because of their size, personality, color, quirks, favorite habits, or the things you love.

You can feel the drama unfold and imagine yourself in the action as you read the charming and humorous pet-naming stories. You can be inspired by heartfelt and wise quotes from voices of the past who shared their love of animals. You can visualize your pet in the whimsical illustrations and smile-worthy captions that may remind you of your own memorable pet moments.

Along the way, you may even become your own pet-name enthusiast, using the note pages to collect favorite names and ideas for your current special someone—or for the animals occupying a sweet little space in your dreams.

What is the story behind my collection?

Years ago, I heard a funny little word and thought, “Gee, that would make a great pet name.” It wasn’t long before another possible name made me smile, and then another. So the list began.

Once my mind was tuned to the idea of finding pet names, they began popping out at me everywhere. I would happen upon a strange and wonderful word, and it would find a home on my list. Before long, there were hundreds of possible pet names waiting there.

“I wonder what I could do with all of this?” I thought.

That is when I decided to turn the collection into a book.

I started right away: alphabetizing, creating categories, and adding even more unique names to the originals. I wrote stories to share some of my favorite pet-naming adventures, along with stories from family and friends. I enlisted AI as my illustrator and began creating colorful, whimsical pictures that tell the story of our unique animals.

Some of the images inspired captions, and bits of humor were born. I also had spaces on the pages that were perfect for more inspiration, so I began searching for quotes to support the surrounding ideas and themes.

What started as a simple, quirky habit of writing down names turned into a huge creative journey that lasted more than a year and a half.

What are my favorite pet names?

A lot of my favorite names are in the Silly Sounding and Feel Good category. That was one of the categories that filled up the fastest. I love words that come to us from past English usage—words that may sound a little silly to our ears today, though they once had a perfectly ordinary place in conversation.

Do have a look at that category and laugh along with me.

I also greatly enjoyed finding names for Big and Mighty animals and Small and Delicate animals. Those are categories where it is easy to get stuck on the obvious names—and yes, I did include a few of those—but how about trying Gravitas for your massive dog, or Driblet for your diminutive mouse?

I had great fun hunting for words that describe those size characteristics in unusual ways, along with many other themes throughout the book. The truth is, my favorite name today might be different from my favorite name a month from now. Often, it depends on the wonderfully unique critter I am imagining at the moment.

Why would an artist write a pet name book?

My art is so much more than what I do in front of an easel.

Yes, I love to paint with pastels, but I have always enjoyed exploring new creative outlets. That is also reflected in my YouTube channel, Pastel Tapas, where I share the joy of the creative process—from the early discoveries I make while exploring the world to the finished piece of art.

I love discovering something I have never seen or experienced before, then making new connections from it. So it felt natural to bring together my love for animals, my love of words, and my growing interest in creative tools such as photography, graphic design, book design, digital editing, visual storytelling, publication design, and AI-assisted illustration.

All of those interests came together almost on their own as this unique pet naming book continued to take shape, and I became a visual storyteller.

Why didn’t I paint or draw all the images myself?

Fur Sure has more than 180 images. I would have loved to paint them all, but the reality is, I do not know that I would live long enough. Ha!

To paint that many images would have taken many years, and the inspiration for this book felt so immediate and exciting that I wanted to share it sooner rather than later. Plus, there is a real thrill in learning a new creative tool, and I certainly learned a lot while working with AI-assisted illustration.

It is not as easy as you might think. There is a process of “painting” the picture with words—choosing language that describes the image you have in your mind. AI generates an image based on those words, and then the description has to be adjusted, refined, reworded, and fine-tuned until the picture better follows the vision.

Creating more than 180 AI-assisted images took a tremendous amount of time. Each one went through many iterations until I tweaked it just right. Then I had to examine the results carefully for oddities and idiosyncrasies.

Sometimes I brought an image into my digital design program and made additional changes there—masking, deleting, erasing, pasting, and adjusting—to create an image that met my requirements.  It was a lot of time and thought, and I had such fun doing it.


I had AI generate 73 images of this, as I continued to fine-tune it
until I got the image that I loved.  That is a lot of tweaking Beethoven!

What surprised me most while writing Fur Sure?

I think I was most surprised by how completely this project held my attention. It seemed to have a life of its own, even though it took such a long time.

I kept working on it, often without knowing exactly where it was taking me. I would get lost in the world of designing images, and before I knew it, I had spent months creating clever and colorful pictures that tickled me. The imaginary animals themselves became little characters I grew to love.

The whimsical situations I could put these critters into really captured my imagination. Whether they were in a science lab conducting experiments or dressed in Renaissance clothing and dancing a jig, I loved visualizing each scene and then trying to express it clearly enough for the final image to match my vision.

Creating Fur Sure took far more effort and time than I originally imagined. There were many moments when I thought I was close to finishing, only to discover one more part that needed to be fine-tuned, corrected, or adjusted.

What do I hope readers experience when they open the book?

I picture a reader opening this inviting book and first being captivated by the layout and color. Fur Sure is a book to be experienced in different ways at different times.

On a first visit, you might simply explore the categories and enjoy the little discoveries tucked into each category’s picture heading. Many of those images are filled with motion and tell a story all their own.

Then there are the names themselves. You may find names that jump out at you, then read the description and rationale to imagine what kind of animal might wear that name well.

Let your eyes fall on the beautiful script that brings the quotes to life. Some are lighthearted, some are wise and wonderful, and all are there to inspire you. Read the stories and perhaps find yourself somewhere in their pages. Have you ever experienced anything similar? What pet-naming stories do you have?

Be sure to revisit Fur Sure often with a pencil in hand, ready to begin your own pet-name collecting journey on the note pages. This is a book to savor and enjoy over and over again.

What are other creative trails Fur Sure has taken?

For the fine artists out there, yes, I did paint a pastel of my little white dog, Biscuit, whose life inspired one of the stories in this pet naming book.

I filmed a demo of that painting process and plan to share it on my Patreon. I also hope to weave highlights from the demo into a Pastel Tapas video celebrating Biscuit’s life and the joy she brought to us, especially to my mother, who gave me Biscuit’s pet-naming story.

Since Fur Sure makes naming your pet a joy-filled experience, it has also been my pleasure to design Fur Sure merchandise that can carry the fun of pet naming into everyday life. You can find these items in my Etsy shop.

What is the future of Fur Sure?

I have lots of ideas for expanding Fur Sure, and I invite you to stay up to date by joining my website newsletter at the bottom of any page and by following me on social media.

DebbieHardingArt.Etsy.com
YouTube.com/@DebbieHardingPastelTapas
Facebook.com/DebbieHardingArt
Instagram.com/DebbieHardingFineArt
Pinterest.com
Patreon.com/DebbieHarding

Thank you for sharing in this adventure with me. It has been my delight, Fur Sure!