Finley the dog on Instagram© Instagram

Pet of the week: This dog broke world record for most tennis balls in his mouth

“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!”


Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
MAY 20, 2022 3:13 PM EDT

If there’s one thing we know about Golden Retrievers, is that they love to play and run around, especially when it involves tennis balls. Our pet of the week has just that and more!

Finley the Golden Retriever is known for being a local celebrity in Canandaigua, New York, as he has won a very special recognition for being the only dog in the world that can hold the most tennis balls in his mouth.

Finley the dog on Instagram© Instagram

His owners revealed that Finley has loved tennis balls since he was a puppy, and carried them around in his mouth since the age of two. However they were impressed when they noticed he started carrying six balls in his mouth.

“My dad would throw him a tennis ball, he’d catch it, drop it, then wait for my dad to throw another,” says his owner Erin Molloy.

And because he wanted to play with all of them at once, “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!”

© Instagram

After noticing his incredible achievement, his owner realized that another Golden Retriever had been recognized with a similar record in 2003 by the Guinness World Records, however the previous winner could only carry five balls.

Finley’s family submitted the achievement and were thrilled when he was recognized for “most tennis balls held in the mouth by a dog,” even throwing him a special party to celebrate his title.