A typical West Highland White Terrier tops out around 16.1 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 25.50 mph. 6.6 mph slower than the typical dog (22.7 mph). Even a typical West Highland White Terrier would beat most people in a 100-yard sprint.
Based on the best Fast CAT run of 369 West Highland White Terriers, a typical West Highland White Terrier tops out at 16.1 mph, and half of them run faster than 16.2 mph. That makes the West Highland White Terrier the 204th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
3 West Highland White Terriers have topped 25 mph, but none has reached 30 yet.
Among the most popular Terrier breeds, the typical West Highland White Terrier is the slowest of the 9. The American Staffordshire Terrier is the quickest of the bunch at 24.0 mph, and the Cairn Terrier (17.8 mph) runs closest to the West Highland White Terrier. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 7.9 mph gap to the American Staffordshire Terrier is about 4.20 seconds.
Borgo's Lily Marlene holds the fastest consistent run by any West Highland White Terrier: 25.50 mph at the Cedar Rapids Kennel Association in Iowa on July 15, 2022. That's 100 yards in 8.02 seconds.
AKC's results also show Hanna's Iona Abbey at 26.95 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 23.57 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 West Highland White Terrier is EZ, with a best of 17.65 mph over 6 logged runs.
A little. The typical West Highland White Terrier ran 15.2 mph in 2017 (28 dogs) and 15.9 mph in 2025 (127 dogs). As more everyday pets join in, the average moves around.
Pennsylvania has the most West Highland White Terrier runs, 1,262 of them, followed by New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina. The fastest West Highland White Terrier run in Pennsylvania is 21.00 mph.
Short legs don't stop anyone from having a blast. Any AKC-registered West Highland White Terrier over 12 months old can enter, small dogs earn twice the points per mph toward their titles, and the crowd always cheers loudest for the little ones. Have someone your dog will run to waiting past the finish line.
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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.