A German shepherd puppy tilts its head to the side. (CNW Group/Royal Canadian Mounted Police Media Relations and Issues Management)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

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RCMP share winners of Name the Puppies contest

Apr 20, 2025 | 1:00 PM

The RCMP have announced the winners of its annual Name the puppies contest.

The RCMP canine training facility is located in Innisfail, Alberta, just south of Red Deer.

The contest, which ran in February and March, invited kids aged 4-14 to submit name suggestions for the first 13 puppies born at that facility in 2025.

“Choosing names for our future Police Service Dogs is a very important role. 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,” said Inspector Shawn Boutin, officer in charge, RCMP Police Dog Services.

“From all of us at PDSTC, we’d like to congratulate all winners and thank all participants for taking part in this year’s contest. We appreciate your involvement to help us name future police service dogs of the RCMP, and most of all hope you had fun.”

This year, all names had to start with the letter ‘A,’ with RCMP receiving over 10,000 entries.

The winners are:

• Ace – Maxime Bellencourt (Yukon)
• Argo – Rachael Marche (Newfoundland & Labrador)
• Arctic – Emmett Campbell (Prince Edward Island)
• Anouk – Madison Zamrykut (Manitoba)
• Action – Chance Jerome (Alberta)
• Agent – Samuel Bailey (Quebec)
• Atim – Brianne Bell (Saskatchewan)
• Ash – Quentin Qammaniq (Nunavut)
• August – Nora Boken (Northwest Territories)
• Anchor – Elisa Zirtilides (British Columbia)
• Alfie – Duncan Hansford (Nova Scotia)
• Adler – Denny Dewar (Ontario)
• Addy – Paisley Leger (New Brunswick)

Each of the 13 winners — one from each province and territory — will receive a laminated 8×10-inch photo of the pup they named, a plush dog named Justice and an RCMP water bottle.

While there can only be 13 winners, names not selected for the contest will be considered for other puppies born during the year. For entries of the same name, a draw determined the winner.

There will also be three public demonstrations taking place at PDSTC in 2025. Those are happening at 10 a.m. on June 11, July 9 and August 13, and run for about one hour. No registration is required. For location, click here.