Java didn't make the cut as a service dog. Guinness World Records says that's turned out fine for everyone involved.
The five-year-old black Labrador retriever was originally trained by Canine Companions, a nonprofit that raises service dogs for people with disabilities, but wasn't matched with a placement. Her owner, Lisa Rickards — a 46-year-old graphic designer who has raised several dogs for the program, including Java's mother and grandmother — adopted her back as a pet instead. Java now knows more than 200 commands and tricks, Rickards says, including sorting colors, dropping coins into a piggy bank and detecting gluten in food.
Eight pegs, one minute
Her newest title: most clothes pegs placed on a washing line by a dog in one minute. Java picked up each peg, pried it open with her mouth, pressed it onto the line and let go so it latched — eight times inside 60 seconds, enough to set the Guinness record outright.
I joke that Java is fully caffeinated and absolutely lives up to her name.
Lisa Rickards, Java's owner
Rickards says she was inspired to chase a record after meeting Olga Jones, another trainer whose dogs Bonnie and Simba hold multiple Guinness titles, through the Dog Talent Association. For Java, she adds, the training barely registers as work: "For her, training isn't something she has to do." Rickards recalled her own reaction when the attempt succeeded on the first real try: "Wait — we actually did it!"
Java hasn't entirely left service work behind — she now visits fire stations as a certified first-responder therapy dog. Guinness published the record on Nov. 4, part of a steady stream of animal-talent titles the organization verifies each month, from tongue length to bottle-cap removal, that it says draw millions of attempts from the public every year.
