The typical dog tops out at 22.7 mph. The fastest dog in Fast CAT history, a Whippet named Jammin' Afternoon Tea At Chartwell, averages 40.99 mph over her best three runs.
Easily. The typical dog in Fast CAT runs 22.7 mph. Most adults sprinting flat out manage around 15 mph, so an ordinary pet dog beats an ordinary person over 100 yards by about 4.6 seconds.
Even Usain Bolt only touched about 27.8 mph at the fastest point of his 100-meter world record. More than 3,500 dogs have run faster than 30 mph in Fast CAT. Where people win is distance: humans are built to keep going for miles in the heat, long after a sprinting dog has stopped.
Speed comes down to stride length and how often a dog can repeat it. The fastest breeds run with a double-suspension gallop: twice in every stride all four feet leave the ground, once stretched out and once tucked under the body. A flexible spine works like a spring, adding length to every stride.
Add a deep chest for big lungs and a big heart, long legs, a narrow waist and very little body fat, and you get the sighthound build. That's why sighthounds average 27.5 mph in Fast CAT, while every other breed together averages 22.3 mph.
Usually, yes. Fast CAT measures every dog at the shoulder, and speed lines up with size: dogs over 18 inches average 24.1 mph, dogs from 12 to 18 inches average 21.6 mph, and dogs under 12 inches average 17.0 mph.
That's why Fast CAT gives smaller dogs a handicap on points toward titles: a dog under 12 inches earns twice the points per mph of a big dog. The clock still records their real speed, and plenty of small dogs post runs that would embarrass a Lab. Take Marilyn, a 10-inch Papillon on Dash-Hound, whose best is 24.73 mph, faster than the typical dog of any size. Halo, a 10-inch Rat Terrier, has hit 24.91 mph.
Not really, but far more of them are running. In 2016, 1,429 dogs ran Fast CAT. In 2025 it was 31,785. The typical dog's best run has held between 22.6 and 23.2 mph the whole time.
AKC lists mixed breeds as All American Dogs, and they're one of the biggest groups in Fast CAT, with 14,841 dogs timed. The typical All American Dog runs 23.4 mph, and the fastest consistent run is 36.92 mph. On Dash-Hound, Mighty has topped out at 33.98 mph over 47 runs. Truth has run Fast CAT 230 times, with a best of 33.26 mph.
Speeds from AKC Fast CAT results. Photographers: spotted your work? Tell us at [email protected] and we'll credit it or take it down.