RCMP puppies named in national contest

The RCMP’s newest – and cutest – recruits have finally been named.

Thirteen German Shepard puppies born at the RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre in Innisfail, Alberta have been named by boys and girls representing every province and territory in Canada.

The centre provides training for all RCMP police dog teams, and is home to a police dog breeding program accounting for 93 per cent of the German Shepherds currently working with Mounties.   

After holding a public Name the Puppy contest, the training centre received 16,000 entries.

The only requirement – all names had to start with the letter J. For multiple entries of the same name, winners were selected at random.

Lucas Anthony from Battleford provided the winning entry from Saskatchewan, with the name Jett.

He, along with 12 others, now get to enjoy bragging rights along with some RCMP goodies and an adorable laminated photo of the puppy they named.

RCMP service dogs help search for missing or lost people, track and take down criminals and act in a number of ways to detect explosives, evidence and drugs.

The winning entries are:

• Jango: Shayola Cochrane (Whitehorse, Yukon)
• Jolt: Amelie Pardy (Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L.)
• Jade: Travis MacDonald (Kensington, P.E.I.)
• Jorgia: Ally Gates (Treherne, Man.)
• Jude: Lacey Eldridge (Condor, Alta.)
• Jix: Mathis Paumier (Montreal, Que.)
• Jett: Lucas Anthony (Battleford, Sask.)
• Jax: Daniel Machmer (Pangnirtung, Nunavut)
• Juno: Meagan Lee (Yellowknife, N.W.T.)
• Java: Sydney Bryson (Kamloops, B.C.)
• Jinx: Lola Kirincich (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• Jazz: Matthew Stewardson (Thunder Bay, Ont.)
• Jake: Dylan Boudreau (Le Goulet, N.B.)