In February, we were introduced to Finley Malloy, a six-year-old Golden Retriever from Canandaigua. Him and his family have been on the mission to get recognized from the Guinness Book of World Records.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

When Finley was a puppy, his owners noticed his love of tennis balls.

"I look over and he's trotting over to me with four tennis balls in his mouth," Erin Molloy recalled. When she and her father would toss balls to Finley in their backyard, he would always try to gather as many as he could bring back. Soon, he was carrying five at once. Then soon later, that number changed to six. In the process of sharing Finley's ability with the world, Erin Molloy did some research and realized Finley had the current Guinness World Record holder beat: In 2003, a golden retriever from Texas set the record with five tennis balls.

The family had done their part trying to make the record known to the company, but came across very "strict" requirements when submitting videos and witness statements. It was a waiting game for them, until recently. After submitting various pieces of proof, Finley's family received an email last week confirming that all their hard work had paid off.

Finley is officially a Guinness World Record holder!

"It's just so exciting," Erin Molloy, Finley's human sister told USA Today. "When I look at him I'm like, 'I want to squeeze you, I love you so much!'"

Finley's humans aren't the only ones who love him either. He currently has close to 40 thousand followers on Instagram.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, this is the positive news that we were all on the lookout for. A big congratulations to the Malloy family!



Check out these 50 fascinating facts about dogs:

More From 96.9 WOUR