Java the Labrador pegs washing on a line and earns a Guinness record
· BehindLines newsroom
A 5-year-old black Labrador named Java has earned a Guinness World Record for the most clothes pegs put on a washing line by a dog in one minute. The news was published on 4 November by the UPI agency.
Java belongs to Lisa Rickards, 46, a dog trainer in Missouri. According to UPI, the attempt took place on 21 March in Kansas City, and the dog placed eight pegs on the line within the time limit. A local station, KCTV, had announced the try a few days earlier, on 17 March: it wrote that Java would be the first dog in the world to attempt the challenge and that Guinness required at least five pegs, a threshold set because the category was new.
The animal's path is unusual. According to UPI, Java was first trained as a service dog by the organisation Canine Companions, with Ms Rickards raising and socialising her for her first eighteen months. Judged a poor fit for the programme, she was taken back by her handler as a pet, and the pair turned to canine sports and tricks. According to KCTV, Java became International Trick Dog Champion in 2023, and her trainer calls her the smartest of more than fifteen dogs she has trained. UPI also quotes Ms Rickards describing her dog as "fully caffeinated" and good at "social learning".
What remains unknown: the UPI article does not say when Guinness validated the record or whether there was a previous holder, and we did not consult the official record page. KCTV's March text gives Java's age as four, against five in the November article.