A typical Spanish Water Dog tops out around 22.6 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 28.33 mph. Right in line with the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Spanish Water Dogs outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 0.5 mph.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 65 Spanish Water Dogs, a typical Spanish Water Dog tops out at 22.6 mph, and half of them run faster than 23.7 mph. That makes the Spanish Water Dog the 85th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
23 Spanish Water Dogs have topped 25 mph, but none has reached 30 yet.
Among the most popular Herding breeds, the typical Spanish Water Dog is faster than 4 of 8. The Belgian Malinois is the quickest of the bunch at 26.9 mph, and the Miniature American Shepherd (22.4 mph) runs closest to the Spanish Water Dog. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 4.2 mph gap to the Belgian Malinois is about 1.42 seconds.
Copper's Laci holds the fastest consistent run by any Spanish Water Dog: 28.33 mph at the Greater Los Angeles Scent Work Club in California on May 30, 2022. That's 100 yards in 7.22 seconds.
AKC's results also show Lija's I Can Make You Famous At Rivendell at 28.73 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 20.96 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 Spanish Water Dog is Indigo, with a best of 26.84 mph over 209 logged runs.
Spanish Water Dogs come in more than one Fast CAT height group. 21 measured over 18 inches and averaged 22.4 mph; 43 measured 12 to 18 inches and averaged 22.7 mph. Smaller dogs earn extra points per mph toward their titles, so the shorter ones rack up titles faster.
Florida has the most Spanish Water Dog runs, 349 of them, followed by Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey. The fastest Spanish Water Dog run in Florida is 26.36 mph.
Any AKC-registered Spanish Water Dog 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.