My youngest daughter, now 30 years old, had an interesting technique for naming her pets when she was young. She would consider things she admired or loved, then name the animal after that. It made for interesting conversation, as well as curious glances from neighbors when the cat she'd named "Shannon"—after her oldest sister's friend, whom she adored—got out at night. Neighbors who didn't know us well surely wondered about the child who required our nightly shouts to return home.

When our youngest went off to college and my husband and I rescued an abandoned puppy, we wanted our daughter to still feel she had a hand in the doings at home despite being hundreds of miles away. So we allowed her to name the pup. Following her standby pet-naming technique, our daughter considered the Caramel Macchiato coffee drinks she'd been consuming between classes and how the coloring of our new dog perfectly matched the creamy, tan, and brown of her favorite caffeine kick.

"Caramel Macchiato!" she gleefully gave us the name.

Being unwilling to back down on our promise...