# Fastest GSD?



## Oskar der Drachen

What is the fastest a GSD can go?

I have seen several speeds out of Bear, my 8 mo male. He is somewhere over 70lbs now, next checkup in two weeks.

Walk, Trot, Glide, Canter, Gallop, Chase, and tonight after something he saw in the distance, BTTWA. Balls-to-the-Wall Afterburner. I have never had a dog that moved that fast!

SO what's a GSD clock over the short to medium distance? Bear covered about 300 yards faster than I could visually track him in the dark. I saw him go past me, and then at the other end on a power turn under a streetlamp. as he decelerated, not a whole lot of time afterwards. 

He had to have seen something in the distance because he would have had any cat or rabbit in the straightaway.


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## wildo

When my dog was younger- about 3.5 years old, I had just gotten a new road bicycle and decided to let her chase me down a country road. I had a speedometer on the bike. She ran at 22mph for .95 miles. I'd imagine that's very fast for a GSD. They are not particularly built for long distance speed like that, and it really isn't wise to push them like that. 

In agility, Pimg is running in the 4 yards/sec range which is 8.2mph.


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## Liesje

Fastest in agility or just fast? Pan is training to run sub-4 seconds in flyball. His fastest official time is 4.009 which makes him the fastest U-fli GSD in North America (by over .2sec which is like hours in flyball time). I tried to out-run him on my bike and couldn't.


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## codmaster

If you think a GSD is fast, wait till you see a fast breed. A friend used to have Whippets with his GSD's and there was absolutely no comparison when they would run together.

OTOH, once you see a GSD run then the movies where you see a person running ahead of one (a K9 usually) for quite a distance, you quickly realize that is a movie fairy tale!


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## dogfaeries

codmaster said:


> If you think a GSD is fast, wait till you see a fast breed. A friend used to have Whippets with his GSD's and there was absolutely no comparison when they would run together.


We used to lure course several years ago, and the sighthounds can _fly_! 
My own Italian Greyhounds, when they were younger, could easily outrun my Doberman who was _not_ slow. 

My GSD Sage is pretty fast. She loves to play chase with the other GSDs at my breeders house. No one has even been close to catching up with her. I call her the "whippet".


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## Whiteshepherds

Liesje said:


> Fastest in agility or just fast? Pan is training to run sub-4 seconds in flyball. His fastest official time is 4.009 which makes him the fastest U-fli GSD in North America (by over .2sec which is like hours in flyball time). I tried to out-run him on my bike and couldn't.


Harley's mother was a fast dog. (flyball) Her best time was 4.01
It's pretty impressive to see how fast some of the larger dogs can run. (large compared to Whippets etc.) 

I hope Pan breaks into the 3. "somethings". You'll have to change his name from Pan to Lightening.


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## Oskar der Drachen

Liesje said:


> Fastest in agility or just fast? Pan is training to run sub-4 seconds in flyball. His fastest official time is 4.009 which makes him the fastest U-fli GSD in North America (by over .2sec which is like hours in flyball time). I tried to out-run him on my bike and couldn't.


I was asking about just plain straightaway speed, no corners or obstacles.

It would have to be a real desire to get up to speed. Bear has been fast on a ball chase compared to other dogs, but what I saw last night was *way* faster than he has gone after a ball.

So, straightaway speed? I started here as I didn't know where else to ask, suggestions on a forum?

Anecdotally, If I saw a GSD tearing towards me doing that kind of speed, I can well understand the mortal terror they could inspire in a fugitive. Oh yeah, there just ain't no way to evade that furry rocket with the teeth hanging out! :laugh:

Google says that top end sprint speed for a GSD has been clocked at between 30 and 35mph, I can well believe it.


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## IrishRose

My brother's GSD could run 29 mph in his prime, he is 9 years old now and can run 23 mph. I don't recall the time duration at that speed.


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## codmaster

From Internet:

*"The greyhound runs 50% faster than the fastest human, having been clocked at 39 mph. Remarkably, Greyhounds can also weigh almost 90 pounds, adding size and strength to their speed as well." *


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## codmaster

A List: (Note that the GSD is one of the fastest!)

1.The Greyhound is the fastest Dog in the world. The top speed approaches 45 mph. 

2. Whippet, top speed may approach 40 mph. 


3. Saluki top speed approaching 40 mph. 

4. Borzoi, AKA Russian Wolf Hound. 

5. Irish Wolf Hound *(HUGE DOG!)
*

6. The Pharaoh Hound. Despite its name, this dog comes from Malta 

7. Sloughi 

8. Azawakh 

9. Ibizan Hound similar in looks to the Pharaoh Hound, but comes from Ibiza, Spain. 

10. Borzoi 

11. *Doberman Pinscher 
*
12. Rhodesian Ridgeback 

13. Dalmatian. 

14. German Pinscher 

15. Cane Corso Mastiff (the Italian Stallion!) 

16. *German Shepherd* 

17. Wiemaraner( German Nazi dog-bird dog) 

18. Boxer 

19. The Belgian shepherds 

20. The Great Dane (Not really Dannish, but German) ​


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## IrishRose

IrishRose said:


> My brother's GSD could run 29 mph in his prime, he is 9 years old now and can run 23 mph. I don't recall the time duration at that speed.


And he weighs 103 pounds. He is just very big boned/big bodied, not any fat on him.


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## fastdogs

great list, but I think the Irish Wolfhound is a little too high- they do not tend to be very fast- running with other sighthounds they are kind of like a draft horse. You might have to move them down among the non sighthound breeds. They've got size and instinct, but in re-creating the breed probably speed was lost. Scottish deerhounds are large dogs also, but tend to be more like a greyhound with wiry hair and would be up there with borzoi. Of course, like probably all dog breeds, there are show bred lines and performance lines, and there can be a big discrepancy in speed between the lines.
I race whippets and course jackrabbits for almost 30 years, and I'd move the ibizan above the pharaoh, and the sloughi and azawakh higher than the ibizan. 
Remember the speeds given for the greyhound, whippet, and saluki are averaged over specific distances- whippet is usually 150, 200, or 350 yards or meters. If you clocked them at the peak of their speed it would be even faster.
I had a garmin astro gps collar on one of my retired dogs (retired due to age and injury) and she still managed 34 mph for about 100 yards during a jackrabbit course. Salukis take longer to get to top speed, but will maintain speed for literally miles.


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## Liesje

In flyball I find the Whippets and Border Whippets (Border Collie x Whippet) to be the best "flyball dog". I think pound-for-pound, Whippets are the most impressive to me when it comes to speed. Of course flyball does involve some obstacles but unlike most other canine performance events it's a race, and you can just assume that the fastest flyball dogs would only be that much faster running on the flat. However Whippets don't seem to be as popular as I would think given their speed. Maybe it is their temperament? I've never owned one but I've seen some Border Whippets I'd take home!


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## fastdogs

I think many whippets just don't have a lot of ball drive, or the inclination to retrieve. I admire those who have trained whippets for flyball- I have dogs related to the most successful racing line flyball whippets (and the ones used in some of the border whip breeding), but mine could care less about retrieving a ball. So I think in many cases it's the owner, I really don't take the time to cultivate it when they're pups. Do a lot of GSDs do flyball?
"alsatians" are mentioned in some of the working lurcher books from England as being good crosses for working lurchers, because they have a good turn of speed for a herding breed. Some of the crosses are quite nice looking, I imagine they'd use a balanced (no extremes) dog in the cross. They need a dog that's easy to train, so they use the herding breed and add the speed with greyhound or deerhound.


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## Liesje

No, GSDs are pretty rare in flyball at least in my area. Most are just too big and/or too slow. At the tournaments I've been to so far, the only GSDs entered have been my own. However there are several other members of this forum training and racing GSDs. My 3 year old runs 4.5-5.2 seconds (he's not slow, and he's very correct and consistent, but that's not super-fast either) and the 21 month old runs 4.0 which is fast regardless of breed especially considering he's only been in two tournaments (and broken the breed record eleven times) and has trained for less than a year. We're hoping with more training - both him and me - he will run 3.8. Around here most people prefer Border Collies, Staffies, or the very popular "Border Staffy" sport cross breed. The "four-flat German Shepherd" attracts attention!


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## jlthorpe

I know this thread is old but I thought it interesting. I was messing around with my SAR K9 Bella today just to test her collar and to give her some exercise without having to train or work for once. I have a GPS collar that I use on her for work. I noted her top speed today at 33.8 and her average coming back to me was 25mph. I took a bike and ran her a mile and I couldn't keep up with her. lol


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## blackshep

codmaster, I'm not sure about that list, Mali's are way faster than GSD's in my experience. And a Cane Corso is faster than a GSD? I find that hard to believe, but I'm not as familiar with that breed.

We have a few GSD's that compete in flyball in our region, but they aren't super fast, so not going to be on the top competitive teams. 4.2-4.5 second dogs usually. They are too big and bulky.

Mali's are preferred over GSD's, but even they are a bit big.

Border Collie x Whippets are probably the fastest flyball mix that's popular right now, I just got a pup.  My one teammate with a full sibling to mine, his BC x Whippet ran a 3.450 is his fastest time, which is insanely fast.

Whippets don't seem to have a lot of drive unless the object is moving, so that's why they aren't as popular in flyball, because it can make training/motivating them difficult, although it can be done. The ones who want to run, are certainly fast!


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## blackshep

Too late to edit, I should also add, I am going by NAFA times, which are usually slower than U-Fli, because of the jump heights.


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## RiverDan

I don't have any specific numbers. But I roller blade behind Baron a couple times a week, and it's scary fast. I have gotten a 'speed wobble' a few times. It's the scariest and best time of my week.
The strength and speed of him impresses me all the time. Been doing a little Frisbee lately. The fact that he beats the Frisbee the it's destination impresses me.
I love German Shepherds. So impressive.


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## HOBY

*Sprint vs Top End*

I used to jog with a friend that had an Irish Wolfhound [huge] that was probably twice the size of Mac [WGWL/CzechWL] Dog. There was no way the IWH could out sprint Mac and there was no way Mac had a higher top end than the IWH. Mac could run in the low 30s MPH and was a dart in a sprint all 25+" and 82lbs. Mac ran, swam, hiked and biked with me. We did at least one or two of these exercises every day. At the end of a good run Mac would jump into my car through the driver side open window and land in the passenger side seat. Try doing that with your Wolf Hound.
RIP Mac Dog.


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