Whippet good boy: Calgary dog breaks own balloon-popping record

A Calgary canine world record holder has doggone broken his own record.

Toby the whippet holds the Guinness World Record for fastest time to pop 100 balloons by a dog.

The nine-year-old purebred first broke the record in March at the Shawnessy YMCA with a time of 36.25 seconds, beating the previous record holder — Twinkle the Jack Russell terrier — by 2.83 seconds.

But now, the cream-coloured dog can boast he burst 100 balloons in 28.22 seconds — trouncing his old record by 20 per cent.

"We wanted to make him officially amazing for his ninth birthday, which his first world record was, and then he beat his time and they announced it on my birthday, which is today," Toby's human, Christie Springs, told the Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday.

Watch Toby break his first world record.

Springs said they first got a glimpse of Toby's balloon-popping prowess on a walk when they discovered a balloon caught on a frost fence.

"We thought it was really entertaining, so the next time we just took balloons with us and then blew up a couple of them," Springs said.

"Those balloons were loose so having them pinned down is a luxury, for sure."

It now takes a team of three volunteers 90 minutes to prepare Toby's balloon board for his world-record trials.

The balloons are first inflated using a shop vac. They are then attached to a cardboard sheet through a hole. For Toby's safety, the balloon tails are then duct taped to the cardboard, which is taped to the floor. To finish it all off, mats are taped to the floor around the board, in case Toby slips around.

"I have the confidence this time will stand for quite a while. I think it might take another whippet to break the record, because they are so fast," Springs said.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener