Help name the new puppy with the Lethbridge Police Service, June 15, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

By Mario Cabradilla

Help name the new puppy with the Lethbridge Police Service K9 Unit

Jun 15, 2022 | 4:10 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) is holding a naming contest for a puppy that is the newest member of the LPS K9 Unit.

The puppy is a 12-week-old Belgian Malinois. The LPS says it came from an Alberta breeder with a lineage that includes a history of police work.

The Name the Puppy contest will be open to children ages four to 14 who reside in the city of Lethbridge. The LPS is encouraging young participants to be original and imaginative, while keeping in mind that the puppy will be a working police dog, not a pet.

The LPS says the name must be one or two syllables and contain no more than nine letters. Each child can only submit one entry.

Drawings or other artwork included with submissions are welcomed by the LPS, but they are not mandatory and will not impact the selection process.

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A panel of K9 officers will choose the winning name, and the winner will get the chance to meet the puppy. Other prizes will include a photo and a Malinois plush.

The LPS says the puppy is currently with Constable Braylon Hyggen with the LPS K9 Unit, and PSD Myke, a 7.5-year-old Malinois. LPS officials say the puppy already knows some basic commands and is confident around the other police dogs in service.

LPS Cst. Braylon Hyggen and the new puppy with the LPS K9 Unit, June 15, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

K9 units play a vital role in the police service. Cst. Hyggen says police dogs help track down suspects who may be difficult to find.

“When somebody leaves a scene of a crime, we’re able to track them, do area searches, compound searches, search buildings, and a lot of times, if they’re hiding and they have a hiding place that is good, then we won’t be able to locate them with a person. So, the dogs can go in and use their nose and their sense of smell and be able to locate them for us,” says Hyggen.

Cst. Hyggen says there are currently four K9 teams, and the puppy will become the fifth police dog in the unit.

The naming contest will be open until July 4, 2022, and participants can fill out a form at the front desk of the police station during business hours to submit their entries.

Entries can also be submitted online by visiting the LPS website: Name the Puppy Contest.

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