In the early 1940s, Walt read the short story written by Ward Greene, "Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog", in Cosmopolitan magazine.[5] He thought Grant's story would be improved if Lady fell in love with a cynical dog character like the one in Greene's story and bought the rights to it.[6] The cynical dog had various names during development, including Homer, Rags, and Bozo, before "Tramp" was chosen.