When you see your pet dog running around your garden and house with lightning speed, we often wonder how fast a Greyhound would be. Many of these dog breeds share very similar physical traits like long legs or slender bodies. For centuries these dogs have been trained and developed for sports, hunting, or other activities.
Like the Greyhound and Saluki, the fastest dog breeds in the world are highly energetic and require proper exercise for both mental and physical stimulation. In comparison to human beings, dogs are speedy. Usain Bolt, the Olympian, has recorded the highest human speed, which is 28 mph, where Greyhound has recorded a rate of 45 mph. Listed below are the top 10 fastest dog breeds in the world. Check below to see if your dog has made it to the list or not.
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Top 8 Fastest Dog Breed In The World:
Greyhound:
Research has made Greyhounds grab the first position in the list of fastest dog breeds in the world. Gentle and quite intelligent Greyhound is born with powerful, long legs, flexible spine, deep chest, and slim body, which allows them to reach an incredible speed of 45 mph that is 72 km per hour. They can reach this speed within the range of 30 meters! Male greyhounds are about 71 to 76 CM tall, with an average weight of 27 to 40 kg.
Compared to male Greyhounds, female Greyhounds are smaller in height; they grow up to 66 to 71 cm with an average weight of 25 to 34 kg. There are about 30 different recognized combinations, which are black, red, white, and more. Greyhounds are born to have short fur and are dolichocephalic, which means that their skull is relatively long compared to its width.
Saluki:
Saluki is one of the swiftest dog breeds globally, but it is also one of the oldest. Researchers have traced their routes back to the Egyptian times where dogs resemble their appearance depicted on tombs built around 2100 BC. Salukis were the royal dogs for Egyptians, who trained them for hunting wild animals because of their endurance and speed. The fun fact about Salukis is that they hunt by their sight rather than their scent, which gave them the nickname sighthounds. They grow up to 58-71 cm with an average weight of 16-29 kg.
In comparison to Greyhound, Salukis are slightly slower, with a speed of 42.8 mph. But Salukis are faster than Greyhounds when we compare them over distance. Saluki can run up to 800 meters, which is 0.5 miles, because of the remarkable stamina and heavily padded feet.
Afghan Hound:
Afghan hounds have to grab the third position in the list of fastest dog breeds worldwide. This dog breed is closely related to Saluki. The roots of Afghan hounds have been traced back to pre-Christian times when they were highly trained and developed to hunt wild animals. In today’s world, this breed is popularly used as show dogs because of their distinctive long coat and tall structure.
Purebred Afghan hounds are descendants of dogs brought to Great Britain in the 1920s by King Amanullah from the Afghan royal family as a present. The Afghan hound can grow up to 61-74 cm in height with an average weight of 20-27 kg. Keeping aside their appearance, Afghan hounds are one of the most athletic dog breeds. Afghan hounds can run at a speed of 40 mph.
Vizsla:
Vizsla dog breed originated from Hungry and is classed as Pointer. The first written reference of Vizsla was seen in the illustrated Vienna Chronicle, which was prepared by King Henry I of Hungary’s order by the Carmelite Friars in 1357. Vizsla were the companions of Hungarian barons and Warlords.
During that time, this dog breed was held in high esteem because of their hunting and athletic abilities. During the Hungarian revolution, Turkish occupation, World war 1 and 2, this breed almost became extinct. It was believed that only a dozen purebred Vizsla survived through World war.
Talking about the features, they have very short fur coats or no undercoat, making them suitable for living outside. They have a very light and robust body with defined muscles that make them capable of running at a speed of 40mph. The Vizsla is a dog (multi-sized) with an average height of 58-69cm with an average weight of 20-30kg.
Ibizan Hound:
Fifth on the list, we have an Ibizan hound with a top speed of 40 mph, which is similar to the Afghan hound and Vizsla. These hounds originated from the island of Eivissa. They were also used in some areas of Spain and France for hunting down rabbits and other small games. Due to its ability and extreme speed, the Ibizan hound can hunt on all types of terrain by working with all three senses: sight, scent, and sound.
Female Ibizan hound is often used for the hunt as they are considered to be better at this task. This dog breed is considered to be one of the elegant and agile breeds with very athletic features. With large upright ears, lean and long necks, Ibizan hounds are considered to be very athletic. These hounds grow up to 56-74 cm tall with an average weight of 20-29 kg.
Jack Russell Terrier:
You might get fooled by its small structure, but Jack Russell is one of the fastest dogs on the planet. This breed originated in England. They were trained and developed for fox hunting. The Jack Russell terrier we see today was first bred by Reverend John Russell, a dog and a hunting enthusiastic born in 1795.
Their origin was also traced back to the now extinct English white terrier. This dog breed is quite hard-working, sturdy, and tenacious with an athletic build of 25-28 cm in height with an average weight of 6-8 kg. Although small in structure, the Jack Russell terrier can travel at a speed of 38 mph.
Dalmatian:
This medium-sized dog breed is known for its unique black and liver-spotted coat. The fun fact about Dalmatians is that the spots on their coat are not visible during their birth. Puppies of Dalmatians are born with a plain white coat. The spots usually start occurring after ten days. The exact history of their origin is still unknown, but Croatia is considered to be the breed’s country of origin.
A Dalmatian was spotted in a painting which was painted in early 1600, and they were also described as Canis Dalmaticus in the church chronicles which was written by Bishop Petar Bakić. Dalmatian is very well known for their well-defined muscular body; they grow up to be 48-61cm tall with an average weight of 20-34kg. Dalmatians can run at the speed of 34 mph because of their high endurance and excellent stamina.
Borzoi:
This 8th fastest dog breed is also known as the Russian wolfhound. Borzoi originally descended from the dogs which were brought to Russia from Central Asian countries. Their appearance is quite similar to Greyhound, which is the fastest dog breed on the planet, apart from this they are also a member of the sighthound family. Borzoi has a silky flat coat, which is a soft undercoat that sheds during summers and gets thick during winters. Male borzois grow up to 75-85 cm with a typical weight of 34-48kg, whereas female borzois are smaller in comparison to male as they grow up to only 68-78cm with a typical weight of 25-41kg. Borzois were trained and bred to play many games and develop a very powerful instinct that would be quite helpful in chasing animals that run away from them. Trained and developed for speed and endurance, the Borzoi has a top speed of 36mph.
