Kansas City Labrador Java sets world record for hanging clothes pegs on a washing line
Java, a five-year-old black Labrador from Kansas City, has a Guinness World Records title for putting eight clothes pegs on a washing line in one minute – opening each one with her mouth.
Finally, a dog who helps with the washing instead of stealing the socks.
Java, a five-year-old black Labrador from Kansas City, Missouri, has been awarded the Guinness World Records title for the most clothes pegs put on a washing line by a dog in one minute. Her total: eight.
Stock photo: a black Labrador (2022) – not Java. Photo: Flobbadob / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons).
It is fiddlier than it sounds. To count, Java had to pick up each spring-loaded peg, prise it open with her mouth, hold it up to the line and let go so it latched on. She set the record with her owner, Lisa Rickards, in Kansas City on 21 March, and Guinness World Records announced it this week.
Stock photo: clothes pegs on a washing line (2017). Photo: Deadstar / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons).
Java started life as a trainee service dog with Canine Companions, but was judged not quite right for the programme, so Rickards adopted her back as a pet and the pair switched to tricks and dog sports. Java now knows more than 200 cues and tricks – she can put coins in a piggy bank, identify colours and even detect gluten.
AI illustration – imagined scene. (Spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere in this picture.)
“I joke that Java is fully caffeinated and absolutely lives up to her name,” Rickards told Guinness World Records. She says she will sometimes leave the room after training and come back to find Java still hanging pegs on the line, or holding one in her mouth with her tail wagging.
AI illustration – Java does not actually drink coffee.
Reported by UPI (Ben Hooper, 4 Nov 2026), from Guinness World Records (Vicki Newman, 4 Nov 2026).
