A typical Rat Terrier tops out around 23.4 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 30.01 mph. 0.8 mph faster than the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Rat Terriers outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 2.2 mph.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 544 Rat Terriers, a typical Rat Terrier tops out at 23.4 mph, and half of them run faster than 24.3 mph. That makes the Rat Terrier the 60th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
Only 5 Rat Terriers have ever broken 30 mph, and 216 have topped 25 mph.
Among the most popular Terrier breeds, the typical Rat Terrier is faster than 7 of 8. The American Staffordshire Terrier is the quickest of the bunch at 24.0 mph. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 0.6 mph gap to the American Staffordshire Terrier is about 0.21 seconds.
I Kit You Not holds the fastest consistent run by any Rat Terrier: 30.01 mph at the Cascade Hound Association in Washington on October 13, 2018. That's 100 yards in 6.82 seconds.
AKC's results also show Meraki Distinctively Different @ River Ridge at 40.95 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 24.26 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 Rat Terrier is Joe, with a best of 28.25 mph over 12 logged runs.
A little. The typical Rat Terrier ran 22.6 mph in 2017 (48 dogs) and 23.8 mph in 2025 (194 dogs). As more everyday pets join in, the average moves around.
Maryland has the most Rat Terrier runs, 911 of them, followed by Washington, California, Florida. The fastest Rat Terrier run in Maryland is 27.64 mph.
Any AKC-registered Rat Terrier 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.