13 RCMP puppy names start with 'P', and not one of them is Pfizer

The winning names will be given to 13 German shepherds born at the RCMP Dog Training Centre in 2021

CALGARY — One could be named after the greatest NFL quarterback not named Tom. (Peyton) One could be named after an Alberta political icon. (Preston). Another could be named after one of the most famous characters of musical theatre (Phantom).

Another is perhaps named after a condiment (Pepper), while yet another might be named in honour of a design style that reigned supreme when Crosby, Stills and Nash were young (Paisley).

That’s a sampling of some of the winning names selected by the RCMP in their 2021 Name the Puppy contest.

The whole baker’s dozen of barking baby German shepherds will be trained at the RCMP Police Dog Training Centre in Innisfail, Alta., the training centre for all RCMP dogs in Canada.

The pups might be cute, but police dogs also play a significant role within the RCMP, working on the frontlines. Their jobs include searching for missing people, tracking and apprehending criminals, removing illegal drugs from the streets, detecting explosives and searching for evidence.

Over 20,000 kids submitted names, from which the RCMP chose 13, to give to 13 dogs born in 2021.

“I was amazed by the level of participation from across Canada. This is my first year as the head of the Police Dog Service Training Centre and I'm extremely proud that our contest reached so many children,” said Insp. Alana MacLeod, the officer in charge of RCMP police dog services.

Here’s a list of all 13 winning names, all of which had to start with the letter ‘P’:

●     Paisley – Jaden Jones (Val-des-Monts, Quebec)

●     Pax – Mathias Levesque (Saint-André, New Brunswick)

●     Pepper – Leanna Kautuq (Clyde River, Nunavut)

●     Peyak – Kinsley Thomas (Wabowden, Manitoba)

●     Peyton – Peyton Short (Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador)

●     Phantom – Hunter Kamphuis (Mermaid, Prince Edward Island)

●     Phazer – Darius Brevick (Prince George, British Columbia)

●     Phelan – Emmet Blake (St. Catharines, Ontario)

●     Piper – Jersey Ganes (Sherwood Park, Alberta)

●     Pixel – Adele Mcneely (Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories)

●     Polly – Aviendha Clark (Whitehorse, Yukon)

●     Preston – Michael Hill (Kentville, Nova Scotia)

●     Pria – Zach Ross (White City, Saskatchewan)

Each winner gets an 8x10 photo of the pup they named, a stuffy called Justice and an RCMP water bottle.

For those who like a little lead time, all the pups in the 2022 contest must feature a name that starts with the letter R.