Christening the dog means ...

There are two or three issues here but I'm only really interested in one, but it's hard not to note the other. The one I'm least interested in, for the moment, is that a dog should get a service in church or possibly that the owner should have spent a thousand quid on the occasion. They are both 'commentable' topics but I don't really want to say much about them.

What I found intriguing is the evident meaning -even in the Torygraph- of the word 'Christening'. See here: "The local vicar, the Reverend David Fowler, blessed the dog in church but refused to actually christen the animal there. Instead the dog, its owner, vicar and guests retreated to a local hotel where the vicar placed his hands on the dog's head and declared the puppy be called Sheridan Smith."
It does seem to me that it seems to focus on 'naming'. I had been wondering whether this could turn out to be a story about 'animal baptism', but clearly not: so, next time someone rings asking for a Christening, perhaps one need not be so quick to assume that a baptism is called for ...

Dog gets elaborate church blessing - Telegraph