A typical Newfoundland tops out around 18.1 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 25.96 mph. 4.6 mph slower than the typical dog (22.7 mph). Even a typical Newfoundland would beat most people in a 100-yard sprint.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 119 Newfoundlands, a typical Newfoundland tops out at 18.1 mph, and half of them run faster than 18.8 mph. That makes the Newfoundland the 181st fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
4 Newfoundlands have topped 25 mph, but none has reached 30 yet.
Among the most popular Working breeds, the typical Newfoundland is the slowest of the 9. The Boxer is the quickest of the bunch at 25.2 mph, and the Samoyed (21.4 mph) runs closest to the Newfoundland. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 7.0 mph gap to the Boxer is about 3.15 seconds.
Ebb Tide's Ensign Tugboat Teddy holds the fastest consistent run by any Newfoundland: 25.96 mph at the Rocky Mountain Irish Wolfhound Association in Colorado on June 12, 2022. That's 100 yards in 7.88 seconds.
AKC's results also show Bluemoon's Living The Life Of Zoe at 28.29 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 21.42 mph. A jump that big is usually a timing or typing error, so we flag it rather than crown it.
Not lately. The typical Newfoundland ran 17.6 mph in 2022 (39 dogs) and 16.9 mph in 2025 (27 dogs). As more everyday pets join in, the average moves around.
Wisconsin has the most Newfoundland runs, 222 of them, followed by Michigan, New York, Georgia. The fastest Newfoundland run in Wisconsin is 28.29 mph.
Any AKC-registered Newfoundland 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.