What is Fast CAT? A complete guide.
Fast CAT — short for Fast Coursing Ability Test— is the AKC's timed 100-yard dash for dogs. Any breed, any size, one straight sprint, and your dog's speed converts to points toward AKC titles. Here's how it works, who can play, and what to expect.
What is Fast CAT?
Fast CAT is a 100-yard sprint where your dog chases a lure (a white plastic bag, sometimes a squawker) in a straight line. There's no judging of form, no obstacles, and no turns — just a clean dash from a release point to the finish line.
It was introduced by AKC in 2016 as a more accessible companion to the older CAT (Coursing Ability Test), which uses a longer, turning course. Fast CAT's appeal is simple: every dog gets to run, every run produces a concrete number, and a handicap system levels the field across heights. Within a few years it became one of AKC's fastest-growing performance events.
Fast CAT events are held by AKC-licensed clubs (most lure-coursing clubs automatically qualify) and run weekends across the country. A typical event takes 30–60 seconds per dog including walk-up, with most dogs running once or twice in a day.
How Fast CAT scoring works
Three ingredients: time, handicap, and points.
- Time → MPH.Your dog's 100-yard time (in seconds) converts to MPH using AKC's published table. The math:
MPH = 204.545 ÷ seconds. An 8.00-second run is 25.57 MPH; a 6.50-second run is 31.47 MPH. - Height → handicap. Dogs are measured at the withers and assigned a multiplier:
- Points = MPH × handicap. A Whippet running 35 MPH (×1.0 handicap) earns 35 points. A Papillon running 20 MPH (×2.0 handicap) earns 40 points. The handicap is the great equalizer — small dogs absolutely can outpoint big dogs on a per-run basis.
Points accumulate over a dog's career and unlock titles. Need to run the math on a specific time? Use the Fast CAT calculators.
Fast CAT titles
Titles are awarded purely by accumulated points — no qualifying scores, no competition placements required. They appear as suffixes on your dog's registered name (e.g., Louie BCAT or Louie FCAT3).
Higher titles supersede lower ones. A dog at 1,500 points wears FCAT2 — the BCAT, DCAT, and FCAT it passed through aren't shown separately.
Full title threshold table
| Title | Points required |
|---|---|
| BCAT | 150 |
| DCAT | 500 |
| FCAT | 1,000 |
| FCAT2 | 1,500 |
| FCAT3 | 2,000 |
| FCAT4 | 2,500 |
| FCAT5 | 3,000 |
| FCAT6 | 3,500 |
| FCAT7 | 4,000 |
| FCAT8 | 4,500 |
| FCAT9 | 5,000 |
| FCAT10 | 5,500 |
What happens at a Fast CAT event?
Most events run on a single weekend day. The course is set up in an open field with the lure machine at one end. The day usually goes:
- Check-in. You hand over your pre-paid entry or register day-of with the trial secretary. The inspection committee briefly checks your dog for soundness and (if not already on file) measures their height.
- Test run. The event committee runs a test dog to make sure timing equipment, the lure, and personnel are all working.
- Your run.When your dog is called, walk them to the start. The huntmaster signals the lure, calls “tally-ho,” and you release. Your dog chases the bag the full 100 yards. Someone (often you) catches them at the finish.
- Result.Your time is read off the timing equipment (or averaged from two stopwatches at smaller events) and recorded on a paper run slip with the event number on it. Hold onto it — TallyCAT's scanner reads run slips directly into the app.
- Submission.The host club submits the day's results to AKC within 7 days. AKC processes and publishes them online, after which they count toward titles and rankings.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the sport itself. Looking for help with the TallyCAT app? See Support.
Official AKC resources
For authoritative answers, AKC publishes everything online:
