The name Golden Retriever comes from their love of fetching and retrieving items.
But Finley Molloy, a dog from Canandaigua, New York, prefers to collect the marbles in his mouth rather than retrieve them one by one. Golden Retrievers usually have a lot in their mouths, but Finley took it one step further by setting a Guinness World Record for the most tennis balls in one mouth.
Let’s see how this Golden Dog broke the world record for putting so many balls in his mouth…
Official Guinness World Record Holder
A dog with a tennis ball in its mouth is the official Guinness record holder
The Molloy family from New York acquired Finley as a puppy in 2014. When Finley was two years old, his family noticed that he loved tennis balls and would carry them in his mouth.
By the age of two he could fit four tennis balls in his mouth, but this number increased as he got older.
Erin Molloy, Finley’s owner, told Guinness World Records, “My dad would throw him a tennis ball, he’d catch it, drop it, then wait for my dad to throw another. Rather than bringing just one ball back to my dad, he brought back all six! He’s been a ball hoarder for quite some time now.”
You read it right!
The amazing Finley broke the Guinness World Record for holding 6 tennis balls in his mouth, which is one more than the previous record holder. [1]
Augie, a fellow Golden Retriever, was the previous holder of the world record in 2013, with five balls held in his mouth. [2]
When Erin learned about the previous record of five balls, she immediately applied on the Guinness World Record website for the new record.
It took some time, but finally, on 23 February 2020, Finley was awarded with the certificate of “The Most Tennis Balls Held In The Mouth By A Dog”.
In the description, they wrote: “Finley is a golden retriever who loves to swim, play fetch, and chase the occasional animal that wanders into his backyard.”
Finley loves his balls so much, and you can clearly see it.
While in the process of becoming the official record holder, Finley became quite famous on Instagram, gaining over 47.6K followers.
For Finley’s sixth birthday, the family had a birthday cake made in theme with his new record title.
“I hope people look at Finley and see pure joy, and really understand that he’s the happiest dog. He not only brings joy to his family, but people all over the world,” Erin said in an interview for Guinness World Record.
Finley’s record was finally published in the Guinness World Records book in 2022. It has a picture of him smiling with six balls in his mouth.
The whole family is super proud of their boy, and they just can’t hide their excitement. “Every time my Mom sees the Guinness book in the store, she opens it to my page for everyone to see,” Finley shared on his Instagram.
Finley is now rightfully retired, but he still enjoys playing fetch, carrying his balls, swimming, and relaxing. Guinness World Record has published this video that features Finley, as well as other dogs that hold Guinness World Records.
