What's in a name?

Every Sunday morning, I help JP with Koumis, his dog. We meet come rain or shine on a field surrounded by woodland. I was asked to meet Koumis because she pulled on the lead and she was too friendly with other dogs which did not please the other dogs’ owners and which made her pull even more. We do basic obedience exercises and Koumis is really responding fast. She is very receptive and keen to learn although it takes her 20 minutes or so before she starts concentrating. She is walking to heel on the lead without pulling even when there is another dog nearby. We have just started walking to heel off the lead and she is doing really well. We also let her run off the lead. She loves that because she feels free. She does not realise it’s an obedience exercise like any other. She’s off the lead so she has to come back when JP calls her. And she does. He just has to call her name twice and she comes back. She runs up to other dogs and comes back straightaway when called for. Mind you, we have not yet come across the cows which graze on the field! I am really pleased with her – she is 6 after all - and so is JP. Koumis was very suspicious of me at first and nervous around me. She would bite my ankles as sheepdogs do when rounding up sheep or cattle. But by projecting a calm energy, she accepted me. She is so pleased to see me every Sunday morning that she jumps up with her four paws off the ground. She has an unusual name and this is what JP’s wife has to say about it: “Notre chienne berger allemand de 6 ans s'appelle Koumis, nom d'une boisson très répandue et appréciée par les nomades d'Asie centrale et de Mongolie, soit du lait de jument fermenté faiblement alcoolisé. Nous lui avons donné ce nom en souvenir de nos voyages dans ces beaux pays ».
Koumis is pronounced ku-miss. JP and Koumis live in Brussels.