A typical Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier tops out around 22.0 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 27.98 mph. 0.7 mph slower than the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 0.2 mph.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 180 Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers, a typical Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier tops out at 22.0 mph, and half of them run faster than 23.0 mph. That makes the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier the 103rd fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
32 Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers have topped 25 mph, but none has reached 30 yet.
Among the most popular Terrier breeds, the typical Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is faster than 5 of 8. The American Staffordshire Terrier is the quickest of the bunch at 24.0 mph, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (22.5 mph) runs closest to the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 2.1 mph gap to the American Staffordshire Terrier is about 0.79 seconds.
Sir Ringo Bonham holds the fastest consistent run by any Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier: 27.98 mph at the Medina Kennel Club in Ohio on August 16, 2020. That's 100 yards in 7.31 seconds.
AKC's results also show Doubloons Razzmataz at 29.73 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 23.03 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 Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier is Greighdy, with a best of 23.27 mph over 16 logged runs.
Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers come in more than one Fast CAT height group. 78 measured over 18 inches and averaged 21.4 mph; 102 measured 12 to 18 inches and averaged 22.4 mph. Smaller dogs earn extra points per mph toward their titles, so the shorter ones rack up titles faster.
Not really, but more are running. In 2019, 25 Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers ran Fast CAT, typically at 22.3 mph. In 2025 it was 52 dogs at 22.4 mph.
Ohio has the most Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier runs, 408 of them, followed by Wisconsin, New Jersey, Michigan. The fastest Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier run in Ohio is 27.98 mph.
Any AKC-registered Soft Coated Wheaten 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.