A Canadian man recently broke the dog-walking Guinness World Record by taking 38 pooches at once for 0.6 miles.
Mitchell Rudy, a 28-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, believed breaking that record would be easy and aimed to walk 40 dogs. Maria Harman from Australia established the previous record of 36 dogs in 2018.
“We decided we’d go for 40,” he said. “How hard could it be?”
However, he quickly realized that achieving this goal was a greater challenge than anticipated.
Mitchell broke the record using dogs from Korean K9 Rescue. This nonprofit organization helps find homes in the U.S. for stray and abused dogs from South Korea.
Many of these dogs are rescued from puppy mills and meat farms. While South Korea passed a law to ban the dog meat trade earlier this year, the law will not be enforced until 2027.
In August, Mitchell and colleagues from Bonk, a blockchain group, traveled to South Korea for a week to work with rescue dogs.
During this time, Mitchell practiced walking with the dogs daily to prepare for an event on September 5 at Jungwon University in Chungcheongbuk-do.
“Some South Korean dog trainers had worked with the dogs for several weeks before I arrived, to get them comfortable walking together,” said Mitchell , who does not own a dog due to his busy lifestyle.
Mitchell explained that all the dogs he worked with had been rescued from difficult situations and cared for by volunteers at Korean K9 Rescue. He hoped that some of these dogs would find new homes through adoption.
On his first training day, Mitchell decided to walk all 40 dogs at once, even though he initially planned to start with just a few.
He quickly discovered this was a significant challenge, as he had never walked more than two dogs.
Moving from walking two to 20 and then to 40 dogs was much harder than he had anticipated.
Mitchell described the scene as chaotic, with numerous dogs barking and pulling in different directions.
“It was as chaotic and difficult as you can imagine,” he quipped.
Mitchell and the trainers held 20 leashes in each hand to manage the chaos during training. They placed the smaller dogs inside to give the larger dogs more room to move.
Mitchell explained that they also adjusted the leash lengths for each dog, with the smallest weighing about six pounds. He compared the effort to a rowing machine, saying it felt like pulling 900 pounds.
On the event day, 38 dogs gathered at the university’s golf course, with only two unable to join. Volunteers assisted Mitchell in managing the leashes as they prepared for the record attempt.
Although the hot weather posed some challenges for a couple of the dogs, Mitchell stayed hopeful about breaking the world record by two dogs.
As Mitchell and the dogs started their walk that morning, friends cheered them on while a Guinness representative monitored the record attempt. Rudy maintained a steady pace, ensuring it was neither fast nor slow.
Throughout the journey, he encouraged the dogs, reassuring them that they were great companions and motivating them to continue.
The dogs barked at birds and planes during the walk, but fortunately, none needed a bathroom break.
After 12 minutes, Mitchell crossed the finish line and saw the dogs were happy and excited about their accomplishment. He shared their joy, though he admitted his arms were quite sore from holding the leashes.
In mid-October, Mitchell received official confirmation from Guinness that he had set a new Guinness World Record for walking the most dogs simultaneously.
“It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t do it alone,” Mitchell said. “All of the trainers and organizers played a big part.”
Meanwhile, Mitchell was pleased to discover that 10 dogs had been adopted, with many more people interested in adopting others.
Gina Kim-Sadiku, the executive director of Korean K9 Rescue, expressed her gratitude to Mitchell for accepting the challenge.
She emphasized his strong bond with the dogs, noting that he communicated clearly and understood their unique personalities.
She also admitted that they had limited time to prepare for the event. Still, she highlighted that the dogs’ solid training allowed them to achieve their goals of breaking the dog-walking Guinness World Record swiftly.
Meanwhile, Mitchell reported that he experienced soreness in his arms for several days after the event. Still, he is excited about possibly taking on another challenge in the future.
He playfully remarked that if anyone could find a way to leash 40 cats, he would be willing to give it a try.
Watch Mitchell as he breaks the dog-walking Guinness World Record below:
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