Name the Puppy Contest Winners

INNISFAIL, Alberta, April 4, 2011 – Young Canadians have come to the rescue and provided 10 RCMP puppies with names. We are pleased to announce the winning entries for this year’s “Name the Puppy” contest, held by the RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre (PDSTC), “Depot” Division, in Innisfail, Alberta.

For 10 years, children across Canada have been providing names for RCMP Police Service Dogs. This year, 3,197 entries were submitted with some great names representing the noble character of the German Shepherds used as general duty police dogs by the RCMP. Submissions had to begin with the letter “D”.

For multiple entries of the same name, the committee selected one winner by draw. The winners and their successful entries are:

• Dief: Rachel Tobin, age 12, Witless Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Drey: Mitchell Morrison, age 10, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Dale: Kayla Morehouse, age 9, Lake George, New Brunswick
• Dragon: Christie Kwong, age 10, Montreal, Quebec
• Deacon: Meghan Hickey, age 8, Oshawa, Ontario
• Dene: Daniel Len, age 10, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
• Diego: Holt Wood, age 13, Rivers, Manitoba
• Doc: Meegan Hood, age 8, Carnduff, Saskatchewan
• Deuce: Caleb Peretic, age 16, Edmonton, Alberta
• Dane: Alexandra Robertson, age 9, Revelstoke, British Columbia

The winners will each receive an 8×10-inch laminated photograph of their officially named puppy, an official RCMP ball cap, a plush dog named "Justice” after the first puppy from our breeding program that graduated as a RCMP service dog, and a certificate.

On behalf of the PDSTC staff, we would like to thank all who entered the contest and express our sincere appreciation for their efforts. Please note that other entries will also be used to name future puppies.

The RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre, “Depot” Division, is the national training centre in for all RCMP police dog teams. Currently, there are 135 multi-purpose operational dog teams in Canada and 24 specialty dogs that detect narcotics or explosives. The RCMP Police Service Dog Breeding Program has produced over 140 working dogs that have been in service with the RCMP, 98 working dogs with other agencies and 38 breeding females for the program.

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For more information:

Corporal Scott Chapman
NCO i/c Breeding Program
Phone: 403-227-3346