SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Our next story has big golden retriever energy, and by that, I mean 2,397 golden retrievers and their humans converging at a park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Monday morning to set a new, unofficial world record for the most golden retrievers in one spot.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
That's right. The idea came from a 10-year-old golden named Oli...
(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)
CHANG: ...Or more precisely, the idea came from a 28-year-old man named Fausto Duperre.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FAUSTO DUPERRE: (Speaking Spanish).
CHANG: That's him hyping the event on social media. Duperre is an actor, a cafe owner and a self-described pet-friendly content creator. He and his friend, Flavia Fittipaldi, have coordinated other gatherings of dogs before, but this one was, of course, way bigger.
DETROW: A few years ago, Duperre went to an event in Barcelona, in Spain, that gathered 150 goldens. He and Fittipaldi decided to look up where else this had happened.
FLAVIA FITTIPALDI: Vancouver held in the past the largest amount of golden retrievers gathered in one event. It was around 1,600.
DETROW: She says when they talked to the Argentine government about trying to permit a world record attempt, officials were all about it.
FITTIPALDI: They said that as long as we left everything in perfect conditions, there was nothing to be done. It was just go and enjoy.
CHANG: Now, gathering thousands of families and their pupperonis (ph) from across the country meant finding pet-friendly places for them to stay overnight. That was another big task to coordinate.
FITTIPALDI: People volunteer. Like, I have a house. Come with your dogs. How many are you? Stay with me. So that was really nice.
DETROW: Fittipaldi says there's something special about golden retrievers, that they're iconic for a reason.
FITTIPALDI: They are just big dogs, and hairy, and - but they are eternal kids. That's what you sense from them. They just want to play all the time. They are happy, upbeat. They like getting into pools. And swimming with golden retrievers is just beautiful to see.
DETROW: The AP reported you could hear these 2,000-plus dogs barking from miles away.
CHANG: And from the looks of the photos, everybody was such a good doggie. But we all know, photos sometimes lie.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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