201 pounds of dog hair fill largest fur ball (and no, it’s not found in your couch)

If you think your dog can shed… well then, come on down to Texas!

Volunteers gathered for the Mighty Texas Dog Walk in Austin, Texas, USA started their day with a massive stroll with their pooches, and ended it by brushing their dogs and depositing the discarded fur into a giant bowl. 

And when all was said and done, they collected 201 pounds (91.1 kg) of dog fur in the orb, creating an oddly beautiful piece of art called the “Fur-O-Sphere” that earned the participants a Guinness World Records title for heaviest ball of dog hair.

Why? Put simply – just for fun!

“It’s a fun concept because it’s simple and visual and disgusting, and people like that,” Sheri Soltes told the Austin American-Statesman.

Soltes is the founder of Texas Hearing and Service Dogs, a non-profit located in Austin TX, who host an annual dog walk to fundraise for their services. The organization thought their record attempt would be an engaging way to get people involved, who might not be able to participate in the dog walk event.

And participate people did – tens of thousands of dogs showed up to the walk, and over 8,000 were brushed under the watch of on-site veterinarians. 

Partakers put their pup’s fur into plastic baggies, which were counted by event officials, before owners took turns dumping the hair into the bowl. Over time, it began to fill up, in splotchy shades of black, brown, grey, and white, a giant physical representation of all the well cared-for pups in Austin and the goodwill of their owners.

Still, best to stay away if you’re allergic to fur.