A typical Flat-Coated Retriever tops out around 23.6 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 29.14 mph. 0.9 mph faster than the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Flat-Coated Retrievers outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 1.3 mph.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 459 Flat-Coated Retrievers, a typical Flat-Coated Retriever tops out at 23.6 mph, and half of them run faster than 24.4 mph. That makes the Flat-Coated Retriever the 52nd fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
Only 1 Flat-Coated Retriever has ever broken 30 mph, and 189 have topped 25 mph.
Among the most popular Sporting breeds, the typical Flat-Coated Retriever is faster than 4 of 8. The Vizsla is the quickest of the bunch at 24.9 mph, and the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (23.7 mph) runs closest to the Flat-Coated Retriever. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 1.3 mph gap to the Vizsla is about 0.44 seconds.
Blacfriar Spirit Of Zen Rayna Moss holds the fastest consistent run by any Flat-Coated Retriever: 29.14 mph at the Sunshine State Rhodesian Ridgeback Club in Florida on January 22, 2023. That's 100 yards in 7.02 seconds.
AKC's results also show Eaglewind's Sugarplum Fairy at 31.09 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 27.42 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 Flat-Coated Retriever is TICKER, with a best of 21.81 mph over 10 logged runs.
Not lately. The typical Flat-Coated Retriever ran 23.9 mph in 2018 (35 dogs) and 23.3 mph in 2025 (176 dogs). As more everyday pets join in, the average moves around.
Maryland has the most Flat-Coated Retriever runs, 910 of them, followed by Ohio, California, Florida. The fastest Flat-Coated Retriever run in Maryland is 28.02 mph.
Any AKC-registered Flat-Coated Retriever 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.