Naming new RCMP puppy 'really cool' for Conception Bay South girl
A young girl from Conception Bay South is one of 13 winners of this year's national RCMP Name the Puppy contest.
Eight-year-old Rayanna Etheridge submitted the name Lexi, inspired by her best friend Alexis.
The name is derived from the Greek Aléxandroş and means defender of man, making it all the more fitting for an RCMP pup in training.
"I'm really proud of the name that I chose," Rayanna said. She considered going with Lily or Leo, but ultimately stuck with her first choice.
Tuesday afternoon, Rayanna's school, Topsail Elementary, held a surprise assembly for her.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Peter Clark, the provincial branch's commanding officer, presented her with a laminated photograph of the puppy she named, a plush dog named Justice and an official RCMP baseball cap.
"I thought it was really cool," Rayanna said. "I was really surprised about it because I didn't think I was going to win."
Lexi the puppy couldn't make the special presentation herself, but Staff Sergeant Bill Frisby and his canine partner Grinch dropped by to congratulate Rayanna.
15,000 entries
In February, the RCMP put out a call for entries to name the first 13 puppies born at the RCMP's Police Dog Service Training Centre in Innisfail, Alberta this year. Canadian youth under the age of 14 had the month to submit their suggestions.
The centre received nearly 15,000 entries and selected one from each province and territory.
Just like in previous years, the names all had to start with the same letter of the alphabet.
These are the other 12 winning entries:
- Lance: Kayla Absi (Ottawa, Ontario).
- Lazer: Seth Reynolds (Saint John, New Brunswick).
- Lenyx: Jaxson Duke (Whitehorse, Yukon).
- Lilly: Kaitlyn Szulc ( Langley, British Columbia).
- Link: Jake Saunders (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories).
- Logan: Austyn Harper (Carseland, Alberta).
- Loki: Jackson McQuade Thomson (Iqaluit, Nunavut).
- Lola: Alex Bernard (Kensington, Prince Edward Island).
- Lucy: Saydee Hlagy (Outlook, Saskatchewan).
- Luke: Dennea Fitzner (The Pas, Manitoba).
- Luna: Fergus Porter (Antigonish, Nova Scotia).
- Lux: Arielle Provencher (Montreal, Quebec).
