A typical Gordon Setter tops out around 22.4 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 28.57 mph. Right in line with the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Gordon Setters outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 0.8 mph.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 153 Gordon Setters, a typical Gordon Setter tops out at 22.4 mph, and half of them run faster than 23.0 mph. That makes the Gordon Setter the 90th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
Only 1 Gordon Setter has ever broken 30 mph, and 31 have topped 25 mph.
Among the most popular Sporting breeds, the typical Gordon Setter is faster than 1 of 8. The Vizsla is the quickest of the bunch at 24.9 mph, and the English Springer Spaniel (22.2 mph) runs closest to the Gordon Setter. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 2.4 mph gap to the Vizsla is about 0.89 seconds.
Glenwood's Twirly Girl Fiona holds the fastest consistent run by any Gordon Setter: 28.57 mph at the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club of America in Pennsylvania on October 25, 2024. That's 100 yards in 7.16 seconds.
AKC's results also show Gordon Glen's Sir Tobin at 30.56 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 27.49 mph. A jump that big is usually a timing or typing error, so we flag it rather than crown it.
Not really, but more are running. In 2021, 25 Gordon Setters ran Fast CAT, typically at 21.6 mph. In 2025 it was 56 dogs at 22.2 mph.
Ohio has the most Gordon Setter runs, 446 of them, followed by Texas, Wisconsin, Florida. The fastest Gordon Setter run in Ohio is 30.56 mph.
Any AKC-registered Gordon Setter 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.