The RCMP has revealed the 13 winning names for its annual Name the Puppy contest, selected from more than 14,000 online entries submitted by children across Canada.
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The national contest, which ran from Feb. 25 to March 26, invited children aged 4 to 14 to suggest names for the first 13 German shepherd puppies born at the Police Dog Service Training Centre (PDSTC) in Innisfail in 2026.
This year’s rules required all submissions to begin with the letter “B.”
“Choosing names for our future police service dogs is a very important role,” Insp. Shawn Boutin, officer in charge of RCMP police dog services, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have kids from across the country help us with this and it is always a highlight to see the submissions start pouring in.”
The 13 selected winners, representing every Canadian province and territory, include:
- Beckett – Georgia Hannay (British Columbia)
- Brynn – Vera Scheyk (Alberta)
- Bolt – Kaiden Farrell (Saskatchewan)
- Bodhi – Parker Beaton (Manitoba)
- Billie – Eliya Brannan (Ontario)
- Balou – Tommy De Sève (Quebec)
- Bandit – Violet Davenport (New Brunswick)
- Banjo – Noah Hobson (Nova Scotia)
- Blitz – Felix Johnston (P.E.I.)
- Briar – Michelle Colbourne (Newfoundland and Labrador)
- Bounty – Vivian Elias-Maring (Yukon)
- Bravo – Levi Longmire (Northwest Territories)
- Bruno – John Tunguaq (Nunavut)
Each young winner will receive a laminated eight-by-10-inch photograph of the puppy they named, an RCMP water bottle and a plush dog named Justice.
For instances where the same name was submitted multiple times, the final winner was chosen through a random draw. The RCMP noted that names not selected for the contest will still be considered for other puppies born at the training centre later this year.
Organizers are already looking ahead to next year’s crop of canine recruits, announcing that all entries for the 2027 contest must start with the letter “C.”
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