Understanding Fast CAT Titles: BCAT, DCAT, FCAT, and Beyond

Fast CAT is built around a simple ladder: every official run earns points, points accumulate over your dog's career, and crossing certain thresholds awards a title that becomes a permanent part of your dog's registered name. No qualifying scores, no placements required — just consistent runs.

This guide covers every Fast CAT title, exactly how points work, and how to plan your path to the next one.

What is Fast CAT?

Fast CAT stands for Fast Coursing Ability Test — the AKC's timed 100-yard sprint, introduced in 2016. Your dog chases a lure (a white plastic bag) the length of a football field with the end zones cut off. Time is recorded to the hundredth of a second.

For a complete primer on the sport, see our Fast CAT guide.

How points are calculated

Two ingredients combine into your score:

1. MPH from time: MPH = 204.545 ÷ time in seconds. An 8.00-second run is 25.57 MPH. 2. Height handicap: - 18 inches and over at the withers: ×1.0 - 12 inches up to 18 inches: ×1.5 - Under 12 inches: ×2.0

Final points = MPH × handicap. A Whippet running 35 MPH (×1.0) earns 35 points. A Papillon running 20 MPH (×2.0) earns 40 points. The handicap exists specifically so smaller dogs aren't permanently locked out by physics.

Run the math on a specific time with the Fast CAT calculator.

The complete title ladder

| Title | Points required | Approx. runs needed* | | --- | --- | --- | | BCAT | 150 | 4–5 | | DCAT | 500 | 13–18 | | FCAT | 1,000 | 27–35 | | FCAT2 | 1,500 | 40–55 | | FCAT3 | 2,000 | 55–70 | | FCAT4 | 2,500 | 67–90 | | FCAT5 | 3,000 | 80–110 | | FCAT6+ | +500 each | varies |

\Assumes a 30-MPH-class dog with a ×1.0 handicap. Smaller dogs with bigger handicaps earn more per run; slower or part-time competitors take longer.*

A few mechanical details worth knowing:

Higher titles supersede lower ones on a pedigree. A dog with FCAT3 doesn't show BCAT, DCAT, or FCAT — only the highest level.

After FCAT, every additional 500 points adds another level (FCAT2, FCAT3, FCAT4…). There's no published cap. The current highest titles in the wild are in the FCAT30+ range.

Points accumulate for life. A dog can earn BCAT at age 1 and FCAT at age 8. Many handlers split a Fast CAT season across years.

Fun runs do not count toward titles. Some events offer fun runs in addition to scored runs — those don't accrue points.

How titles appear on your dog's name

After a title is earned and AKC processes the paperwork, it appears as a suffix on the dog's registered name. Examples:

Sundancer's Lightning Strike BCAT

GCH CH Windsong's Captain Maverick CGC FCAT2

Louie FCAT (a hypothetical Italian Greyhound)

If your dog has other titles (CGC, conformation, agility), they all stack. The full registered name showing all suffixes is what appears in the AKC top-20 leaderboards — and that's how rankings list your dog.

Strategies for faster title progression

1. Track every run, not just the obvious ones

The biggest cause of slow title progression is "I forgot how many points I have." Logging runs in TallyCAT gives you an exact running total and a real-time projection of how many runs to your next title. The app uses your dog's actual average points per run (not a guess) to estimate.

2. Run more events

This is obvious but worth saying: more runs = more points. Every weekend in trial season has multiple Fast CAT trials within driving distance in most regions. Use the in-app event finder or AKC's event search to plan a few months out.

3. Optimize for your dog's best conditions

Dogs run faster in some conditions than others. Common patterns:

Cooler temps: Most dogs run their fastest times in 50–65°F weather. Hot, humid summer trials produce slower averages.

Morning vs. afternoon: Morning runs (cooler ground, fresher dog) usually beat afternoon runs.

First run vs. second run of the day: This one varies — some dogs warm up and run faster on their second run; others fade. Track both to learn your dog's pattern.

TallyCAT logs weather and ground conditions per run, so you can spot these patterns over time.

4. Make sure your measurement is accurate

If your dog is right at 18 inches at the withers (the boundary between ×1.5 and ×1.0), an accurate measurement can be worth dozens of points per title. Make sure you've been measured at an event when you're sure about the result.

For dogs at the 12-inch boundary (between ×2.0 and ×1.5), the same logic applies in the other direction.

5. Keep them happy

The fastest dogs are happy dogs. Frustrated dogs run slower. Skip a trial if your dog is clearly off, and don't push through injuries to chase a title — the title will still be there in three months.

When to celebrate

Hitting BCAT in your first season is genuinely fun. So is FCAT. So is every FCATn after that. The handlers in the FCAT20+ tier didn't get there by stressing about every run — they showed up consistently for years and let the points stack.

Track your progress in TallyCAT and the next title becomes a question of "when," not "if."

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Related reading:
• What is Fast CAT? A complete guide
• New to Fast CAT? A beginner's guide
• 5 tips for maximizing your dog's Fast CAT speed
• Live AKC Fast CAT leaderboards by breed