Canandaigua, New York - Is there anything more adorable than a dog running around trying to fetch balls in the yard? Well, what if that pup stuffed an unseemly number of those very same balls into its mouth?

Running around the back garden with your dog or heading off to the park is always bound to be a touching and wonderful time. One of the best games to play during such times, of course, is fetch – it's fun, entertaining, and helps keep your dog well exercised.

How many balls can a dog hold in its mouth at once, though? Well, this animal world record holder certainly has an answer for you.

Finley holds a world record for having managed to hold six tennis balls in his mouth all at once. The achievement was made by the good boy golden retriever back in 2020, having previously been sighted with six in his mouth as early as 2017. Hailing from Canandaigua, New York, this remarkable doggo is well worth meeting.

Along with the help of his favorite human, Erin Molloy, Finley managed to show off his true talents and his greatest passion when he held six balls in his mouth and managed to score himself his very own Guinness World Record. It was the ultimate game of fetch, and he clearly won!

The effort managed to beat the previous record of five balls held in the mouth, which was set by a golden retriever called Augie way back in 2003. Since the achievement, and due to the overwhelming cuteness of Finley himself, he is now one of the world's most famous dogs and has a very healthy following on Instagram.

It is unlikely that Finley will ever try and beat his own record, and go for a seventh ball. After all, it gets to a point where it gets genuinely dangerous. As his owner Erin said, "We might just stick to this one, we are one for one with Guinness World Records!"

Finley has been working with the Molloy family on building his ball-holding abilities since he moved into their home in 2014. He has always loved to play games and chase animals or go for swims in the summer, but there's one game he could never get enough of: fetch.

A few years after he began his fetching career, he was spotted carrying so many balls in his mouth that you'd almost expect him to be hurting himself. From this moment onwards, his humans knew that they had something not only adorable and cuddly on their hands – but something extraordinary.

"My dad would throw him a tennis ball, he'd catch it, drop it, then wait for my dad to throw another," explained Erin Molloy. "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!"

Having continued to do this for years, Erin was curious as to whether there could be some reward or accolade in store for her darling doggo, ripe and ready for the perfect pooch that held such a special place in her heart. She found out that the previous record was only five balls, and she applied.

"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."

Whether it's a cricket or a tennis ball, the ability to hold six in your mouth at once will never be a world record to turn your nose up at. Unless you manage it yourself, though, that would give you a reasonable excuse.