A Dunedin police request inviting the public to choose a name for their latest K9 crime-fighting recruit has been an off-the-leash success.
Nearly 24,000 people had commented by late last night on the Dunedin Police Facebook page since the force on Monday afternoon asked for help to name the pure-bred German shepherd.
Sergeant Craig Baron, of the Dunedin Dog Section, said police had been taken aback by the level of interest in naming the 8-week-old puppy.
The puppy, who comes from the New Zealand police dog breeding programme at Trentham, must have a name starting with ''K''.
That has inspired imaginative suggestions such as ''Kodak, he is very photogenic'', and ''Karma, cos it always comes back to bite you''.
Some names are inspired by others: celebrity Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West, movie star Kevin Bacon, All Black Jerome Kaino, the Rolling Stones' ''Keef''[Richards] or the crime-fighting vehicle from Knight Rider, KITT.
Maori names such as kuri (dog), kaha (strength) and kaitiaki (guardian) were also popular.
But who let these dog names out? Krispy Kreme, Krim Reaper and Kimdotcom.
The appeal will close on Friday at 4pm, leaving Sgt Baron and a Dunedin team to decide on the top five names.
The final choice will be made by the New Zealand police dog breeding programme manager.
''It's got to be a suitable name a dog can easily respond to,'' Sgt Baron said.
When the puppy was older, he would go through a routine training programme which would include obedience training, searching and tracking and criminal work.
''Once he's completed his training, he's most likely to be based in either Dunedin or Invercargill, but it's always possible he could work anywhere in the country,'' he said.
