He walked 38 dogs at once: ‘My arms felt like they were on fire’

Mitchell Rudy was kicking around some ideas about helping shelter animals when somebody asked him, "Would you be willing to walk 40 dogs at one time?”

It seemed a little crazy, but he could break the dog walking Guinness World Record if he could do it for a kilometer, which is a little more than a half mile.

The previous record was 36 dogs, set by Maria Harman of Australia in 2018.

"We decided we’d go for 40,” said Rudy, 28, who lives in Calgary, Alberta. "How hard could it be?”

As it turned out, plenty.

He decided to attempt it with dogs from Korean K9 Rescue, a nonprofit that finds homes in the United States for stray and abused dogs from South Korea, many of which are rescued from meat farms and puppy mills. Legislation was passed earlier this year to ban the dog meat trade, but it won’t be enforced until 2027.

In August, Rudy and several co-workers from Bonk, a blockchain collective, flew to South Korea to get to know the dogs for about a week. Rudy practiced walking with them every day ahead of the Sept. 5 event, which organizers decided to do at Jungwon University in Chungcheongbuk-do.

Rudy, left, celebrates with the dogs and volunteers. Photo credit: Bonk

"Some South Korean dog trainers had worked with the dogs for several weeks before I arrived, to get them comfortable walking together,” said Rudy, 28, who does not have a dog of his own because of his hectic schedule.

All of the dogs had been rescued from bad situations and nursed back to health by Korean K9 Rescue volunteers, he said. He hoped to get some of them adopted.

On his first day of training, he said, he decided to try walking all 40 dogs at once, even though he’d initially planned to start with a few at a time.

"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.”

"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,” he added. "It was as chaotic and difficult as you can imagine.”

He and the trainers decided it would be best to hold 20 leashes in each hand and keep the smaller dogs on the inside to give the larger dogs more walking space.

"We also figured out the appropriate leash length for each dog,” Rudy said. "The smallest dog was about six pounds, and it went up from there.”

Between them all, "it was like getting on the rowing machine and doing a 900-pound pull,” he said.

On the big day, all of the dogs except two were lined up at the university’s golf course and volunteers helped Rudy to gather up the leashes and grip them tightly in each hand.

"We ended up with 38 dogs because it was a hot day, and two of them were having a few issues,” he said. "I could still beat the world record by two.”

As he and the dogs headed out across the grass that morning, friends cheered and a representative from Guinness monitored and recorded the attempt.

"I walked at a fairly brisk pace, but not too fast and not too slow,” Rudy said. "I kept talking and reassuring them they were good dogs, and they could do it.”

The dogs were barking at birds and planes, but fortunately, none of them wanted to stop for a bathroom break, he said.

When he reached the finish line 12 minutes later, "you could tell the dogs were really happy and excited at the accomplishment,” he said. "I was happy and excited, too. But my arms felt like they were on fire.”

In mid-October, he received official word from Guinness that he’d broken the dog-walking record.

"It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t do it alone,” Rudy said. "All of the trainers and organizers played a big part.”

The best part of it, though, was to learn that 10 of the dogs have been adopted so far, and people are still inquiring about the others, he said.

Gina Kim-Sadiku, executive director of Korean K9 Rescue, said she’s grateful to Rudy for taking up the challenge.

"He demonstrated an extraordinary connection with our dogs, guiding them through clear communication and a deep empathy for their unique spirits and personalities,” she said.

Rudy said his arms were sore for days from the experience, but he’d be up for another challenge if one came along.

"Find me someone who can fit 40 cats on leashes and I’ll give it a shot,” he said.