Puddles appears 66 times at rank 1577 on male pets. This is a classic physical-observation name, usually applied to a puppy who had difficulty with housetraining, that became the permanent registered name because the nickname stuck before a better one was found. Registry artifact and affectionate nickname converge here.
The Housetraining Name
Puddles belongs to a small category of pet names that are inside jokes about early behavior turned into permanent records. Most owners find the story charming enough that they keep the name rather than replace it with something more dignified. It's most common on small breeds where housetraining takes longer: Chihuahuas and dachshunds are among the harder breeds to housetrain.
The Clown Connection
Puddles the Clown, the viral sad-clown singer who became a YouTube phenomenon in the mid-2010s, adds an unexpected pop-culture layer. Owners aware of this association may be invoking it intentionally. The character's melancholy grandeur is an odd but functional register for a dog name. See also Bingo and Pogo in adjacent clown-coded name territory.
The Counter-Reading
Puddles is the kind of name that makes vets smile on first encounter. It's warm, unpretentious, and honest about how it was chosen. The main counter is dignity: some dogs grow into names their puppyhood didn't deserve. Puddles doesn't offer much room for that evolution.