Golden Retriever Sets World Record for Most Tennis Balls in His Mouth According to Guinness

(Courtesy of Finley Molloy)

Six-year-old dog Finley might look like a garden-variety golden retriever at first glance. However, this impressive pooch entered the Guinness Book of World Records in the spring of 2020.

The accomplished retriever from Canandaigua, New York, set the record for “most tennis balls held in the mouth by a dog,” according to Guinness. His human family, Cherie and Rob Molloy, and their adult daughter, Erin, were naturally incredibly proud of their pup’s accomplishment.

“The joy he brings to us is one thing,” Finley’s owner Cherie Molloy told Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. “But he brings joy to people all over the world.”

(Video courtesy of Finley Molloy)

The Molloy family never set out to raise a record holder. When Erin Malloy brought Finley, then just a 10-week-old puppy, home from college, it took a while before they started to notice that he was crazy about tennis balls.

The family observed him fetching not just one ball but as many as he could fit in his mouth at once, Erin said. When he was 2 years old, he was already accomplishing near-record feats. “I look over and he’s trotting over to me with four tennis balls in his mouth,” Erin recalled.

From there, the family realized that if they kept throwing him more, Finley would somehow find a way to make space for them. Before long, he was besting the previous record holder, a dog from Texas that could hold five at a time, as reported by the Democrat & Chronicle.

(Courtesy of Finley Molloy)

It took a long time for Finley’s human family to get all the documentation done so that he could be officially awarded the record. “It’s just so exciting,” Erin Molloy told USA Today. “When I look at him I’m like, ‘I want to squeeze you, I love you so much!’”

When the family finally got the news from Guinness, after a year-long process, they threw Finley a party, including friends and a cake from a local bakery. “He got pretty excited when all of our neighbors were outside his front yard,” Erin explained. “Obviously, he’s staying humble, but I think he’s pretty pumped.”

(Courtesy of Finley Molloy)

Even before being officially awarded the Guinness record, Finley had already amassed quite a large following on social media. Erin had created an Instagram account for him and his antics: @finnyboymolloy.

Just by virtue of his winning smile and amazing abilities, he has amassed a following of over 37,000 humans. In addition to his feat of stuffing six tennis balls at a time in his mouth, one of Finley’s most endearing and most popular tricks also involves fetching.

The trick involves getting on his back and holding a tennis ball in the air with his front legs, dropping it to the ground, and then pouncing on it—a game of fetch with no humans required.

(Video courtesy of Finley Molloy)

To those who wonder if Finley was put up to the task by his humans, a quick perusal of his photos and videos reveal a one-track mind: this dog was born to retrieve tennis balls. “We’ve never forced him to do any of that,” Cherie shared.

While his record has brought him increased notoriety, it hasn’t changed his simple pleasures. “He lives the life of a king,” Cherie said, and pictures of Finley tearing into a giant cake made in his honor certainly seem to confirm it.

(Courtesy of Finley Molloy)