Azawakh
#8 · AKC Fast CAT · Volt
Dogs
AKC's 2025 Fast CAT best-of-breed sheet says 27.342 mph for Valentino, a Italian greyhound, over 100 yards in 7.481 seconds.
An italian greyhound can run 27.342 mph (44.0 km/h), an official figure.
Top speed
Published as 27.342 mphPublished as 27.342 mphPublished as 27.342 mph
AKC Fast CAT best-of-breed tabulation, 2025. Italian greyhound Valentino, owned by Elizabeth Garfitt. Time 7.481 seconds for 100 yards. The sheet's Speed in MPH cell is 27.342. Handicap 1.5 is a points multiplier, not a speed. This is a course average, not a stride peak, and it is not the greyhound's 1,201 feet (366 m) Guinness race.
In context
Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.
Quick answers
An italian greyhound can run 27.342 mph (44.0 km/h), an official figure.
Italian greyhound is labeled Official. Ratified by a governing body such as the FIA, World Athletics or Guinness World Records.
The figure cites American Kennel Club, “2025 Fast CAT best of breed winners.”
Italian greyhound is 11th of 14 on Fastest Dog Breeds.
Mechanism
AKC's 2025 Fast CAT sheet says 27.342 mph for Valentino, a Italian greyhound, over 100 yards in 7.481 seconds. The mph is that course average. It is not the greyhound's 1,201 feet (366 meter) race.
Fast CAT times a straight 100 yards while the dog chases a lure. Valentino's 7.481 seconds is the clock, and 27.342 mph is 100 yards divided by that time. A radar on one stride is not the sheet. An Italian greyhound is a small sighthound. Valentino's 27.342 mph is the 2025 breed best on the 100-yard course. The racing greyhound's 1,201 feet (366 meter) record is a larger dog and a longer track.
Star Title's greyhound record is 1,201 feet (366 meters) in 19.57 seconds. Valentino's 100 yards is a shorter, different test, so the 27.342 mph is not averaged into that record and the greyhound's 41.8 mph (67.32 km/h) is not copied onto this breed.
Provenance
Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.
AKC Fast CAT best-of-breed tabulation, 2025. Italian greyhound Valentino, owned by Elizabeth Garfitt. Time 7.481 seconds for 100 yards. The sheet's Speed in MPH cell is 27.342. Handicap 1.5 is a points multiplier, not a speed. This is a course average, not a stride peak, and it is not the greyhound's 1,201 feet (366 m) Guinness race.
The 2026 invitational, where it names this breed, was a later heat and is not this rank.
Reference
Context
AKC's 2025 best-of-breed sheet says 27.342 mph for Valentino, a Italian greyhound. The time on that row is 7.481 seconds. Fast CAT is a 100-yard lure chase, and the regulations say the time is converted to miles per hour. The figure is the Speed in MPH cell. The handicap column is how points are scaled, and it is not a separate figure as a speed.
That 27.342 mph is an average over the 100 yards. It is not a radar reading of one stride. The greyhound's Guinness mark is a longer race and a different number, so this row does not replace it. A later invitational heat, when the 2026 article names one, is extra detail and not the figure.
Head to head
Italian greyhound vs Rhodesian ridgeback
2% slower44.9km/h27.894mph12.5m/s24.2kn
Italian greyhound vs Pharaoh hound
1% faster43.8km/h27.189mph12.2m/s23.6kn
Italian greyhound vs Belgian sheepdog
2% slower45.1km/h28.016mph12.5m/s24.3kn
Italian greyhound vs Dalmatian
1% faster43.6km/h27.121mph12.1m/s23.6kn
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