Dogs are family. They provide companionship, along with unconditional love and affection. Don't believe it? Just ask yourself this: "when was the last time my spouse met me at the door, absolutely thrilled that I was finally home?"

Dogs are special. They have unique personalities and they never sweat the small stuff. The like to sniff the small stuff, and the big stuff, and the private stuff...but that's another story.

The names we give our dogs says a lot about our relationship with them. A tough rugged guy with a black lab retriever is likely to name his dog "MAX". It is, in fact the number one most popular dog name for 2017, according to Rover, the dog walking website.

The  top 10 male dog names for 2017 are:

  1. Max
  2. Charlie
  3. Cooper
  4. Buddy
  5. Jack
  6. Rocky
  7. Oliver
  8. Bear
  9. Duke
  10. Tucker

For females, Bella comes in at number one followed by Lucy, Daisy, Luna, Lola, Sadie, Molly, Maggie, Bailey, and Sophie.

Remember, with cold weather coming up to keep your pets warm and inside. They'll love you for that!

And if you have room in your home for a rescue pet, we have a terrific local operation at Last Hope Animal Rescue that will make adoption quick and easy.

More From 98.1 KHAK