A typical Bearded Collie tops out around 21.2 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 27.57 mph. 1.5 mph slower than the typical dog (22.7 mph). Even a typical Bearded Collie would beat most people in a 100-yard sprint.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 247 Bearded Collies, a typical Bearded Collie tops out at 21.2 mph, and half of them run faster than 22.2 mph. That makes the Bearded Collie the 130th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
Only 2 Bearded Collies have ever broken 30 mph, and 39 have topped 25 mph.
Among the most popular Herding breeds, the typical Bearded Collie is faster than 3 of 8. The Belgian Malinois is the quickest of the bunch at 26.9 mph, and the Collie (20.4 mph) runs closest to the Bearded Collie. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 5.6 mph gap to the Belgian Malinois is about 2.01 seconds.
Lil'Clove Nutter Butter holds the fastest consistent run by any Bearded Collie: 27.57 mph at the Mid-Jersey Labrador Retriever Club in New Jersey on November 12, 2023. That's 100 yards in 7.42 seconds.
AKC's results also show Allaround Chantilly Lace at 33.31 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 25.04 mph. A jump that big is usually a timing or typing error, so we flag it rather than crown it.
On Dash-Hound, the fastest Bearded Collie is Wally, with a best of 21.99 mph over 89 logged runs.
Not really, but more are running. In 2021, 54 Bearded Collies ran Fast CAT, typically at 21.1 mph. In 2025 it was 96 dogs at 21.1 mph.
Texas has the most Bearded Collie runs, 701 of them, followed by New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio. The fastest Bearded Collie run in Texas is 33.31 mph.
Any AKC-registered Bearded Collie over 12 months old can enter, and your dog runs alone down a straight 100 yards. Most dogs figure out the lure fast. Have someone your dog will run to waiting past the finish line, because a dog that stops to check on you can lose a second or two.
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Speeds from AKC Fast CAT results. Photographers: spotted your work? Tell us at [email protected] and we'll credit it or take it down.