We dog people can be a funny bunch. We tend to take umbrage at the butchering of our chosen breed’s name, (Pyuli? Please! It’s Poo-lee, emphasis on the first syllable said very quickly), but find great hilarity in sharing epic examples of the public getting it wrong (a few of our favorites: Rockweiler, Burmese Mountain Dog, Shar-pee (like the marker pen), and Lay-on-burger). We welcome your own contributions and hope you post them below.

That said, let’s discuss how to say the Löwchen‘s name. Most English speakers pronounce it in a way that rhymes with “how-chen.” The name of the breed, however, is a German word that means ‘little lion.’  The double dots over the “o” in  Löwchen is called an umlaut, and it signals a particular pronunciation that’s more of a long ‘u’ mashed with an “er” sound.  Add to this the fact that in German, a “w” which pronounced like a “v”, and Löwchen is more properly pronounced as “Luerv-chen.” To complicate matters, different dialects may say the ‘ch’ sound differently ranging from a soft ‘h’ to a hard ‘k’ or ‘ch’ sound.  We think you’re safe by saying “Luerv-chen,” but please, never  ‘Low-chin’ or ‘Lo-tion.’

Löwchen by @sylvanmystlowchen appears courtesy of the #AKC