Most guide dogs are specially bred, and for administrative reasons, some guide dog schools ensure that all dogs from the same litter have names that start with the same first letter, and that names in their program are not repeated within a few years.

In most cases... no. The dog you get will have been loved and adored by a family for over a year. The dog will have undergone intense training under the name they have. Some people have changed the names, but as a puppy raiser, I feel like it's a slap in the face to the sacrifice I have made to give you a year of my life so that you can have a highly trained dog that works for you. Sometimes people have to change the name, like when a family member and the dog have the same name. Still... try not to go into it thinking you are going to change the dog's name.

Different schools have different policies on naming dogs. I've never heard of the eventual handler being able to name their dog. By the time you get to meet the dog it's already been through a lot of training and has an established name that it answers to.

You can always have plenty of nicknames. It’s a dog. A name is just a .series of sounds that mean you are talking to them

No, though you could train it to respond. Our previous guide responded to the word "Xbox" due to us using voice commands on our Kinect.