I walk my dog because she loves being outdoors. The fresh air, all the new smells, it’s like she is greeting an old friend each time we go outside.
But can you imagine what walking 38 dogs must be like? Well Canadian Mitchell Rudy got a chance to not only walk that many dogs, but break a Guinness World Record. He led the pack of well-behaved dogs on a trek for a little over half a mile.
Rudy beat the previous record of 36 dogs set in Goesan, South Korea. Rudy flew to South Korea to visit the Korean K9 Rescue shelter and use their rescues to attempt his record-breaking walk, as well as raise awareness of what Korean dogs have been through. There’s a lot of stigma around rescues,” Rudy said. “They’re great animals, they deserve a good home, they just need a little bit of love.” The shelter works to place dogs for adoption by Americans in the United States.
Mitchell Rudy during his Guinness World Record dog-walking feat last month in South Korea. Photo courtesy of Bonk
It all started, Rudy said, when he was trying to come up with a way to help shelter animals. A friend tossed out an idea about possibly walking 40 dogs. “How hard could it be, (we thought),” Rudy said. Those were words he would soon come to regret, if only slightly. Once Rudy arrived in South Korea, he began walking with the 40 dogs each day, trying to get them used to walking with him, as well as in such a large group.
The hope, Rudy said, was that the record-breaking walk, hosted by the Jungwon University in Chungcheongbuk-do, would help some of the dogs get adopted. During his first attempt at walking the dogs, Rudy said it was an crazy experience. “Keep in mind that I’ve never walked more than two at a time,” he said. “I learned pretty quickly that going from two to 20 to 40 was a really big deal.” It wasn’t easy at first.
Picture a lot of dogs barking and pulling in all different directions, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what it was like,” Rudy said. “It was as chaotic and difficult as you can imagine.”
On the day of the record-breaking walk, two dogs had to take a break because of having trouble in the heat. “We ended up with 38 dogs because it was a hot day, and two of them were having a few issues,” Rudy said. “I could still beat the world record by two.”
Rudy during his Guinness World Record dog-walking feat last month in South Korea. Photo courtesy of Bonk
I was happy and excited, too. But my arms felt like they were on fire,” he said.
And a month later, Guinness called to let him know he had beaten the previous world record. And the best part? So far 10 of the dogs have been adopted, with more people calling to ask about the other 28 dogs. Rudy said he’d be open to do another challenge. “Find me someone who can fit 40 cats on leashes and I’ll give it a shot,” he said.
Sources: Washington Post | UPI
