On December 11, 2020, Maryland's search and rescue dog, Philan, won the inaugural Racing Dog Race.
Photograph by MARK L. BAER, MLBAER PHOTOGRAPHY
Written by: LIZ LANGLEY
Let's get to know Phelan, a 4-year-old female search and rescue dog who just won the American Kennel Club's inaugural fastest dog race in The Nation.
The name of this slender, half-breed dog derives from the Irish word for "wolf". On December 11, in the AKC Fast CAT Invitational finals at the Orlando Convention Center, Philan ran 91.44 meters (100 yards) in 6.346 seconds, 52 kilometers per hour, and beat 130 other dogs.
Philan is a mixture of greyhounds, Russian wolfhounds and Scottish deer hounds, and is oat-colored. Its owners are Krista Shreet and Ted Koch from Kronesville, Maryland, who adopted it when Feren was 1 year old.
"We took it in, and it stole our hearts," Koch said.
Now, it's the fastest dog in the United States.
In two preliminary trials this year, the fastest dogs were selected from 129 competing breeds, including dachshunds and Dobermans.
The winners came to Orlando for the final race. The finals were divided into two categories: Fastest Dog USA, the fastest overall speed, and Speed of the Breed, which aims to select the fastest dog breed. The winner of the latter was a gray mini-poodle, the Elliot, whose owner was Deborah Burnett from Grecote, South Carolina.
The inaugural tournament is open to all registered dogs at the American Kennel Club, requiring a mixed breed like Feren to participate.
Each dog runs three times in 100 yards, and the final speed is the average of these three test runs. These competitions are also part of the National Championships of the American Kennel Club, where the club holds a series of competitions and agile trials each year to compete for the championship.
A few years ago, doug Ljungren, the club's executive vice president in charge of sporting events, saw his German hard-haired instruction hound chasing squirrels at home and came up with the idea of selecting the fastest dog. He wondered, "How fast can a dog run?" ”
Ljungren found a lot of data on dogs such as the Greyhound and the Greyhound, which breed for speed, but the other 190 breeds in the club had no data, so he came up with the idea of holding the first race. The competition event not only allows us to better understand the abilities of humanity's best friend, but also adds a highlight to the bleak year of 2020, Ljungren said.
He said in a statement that the COVID-19 pandemic and the lifestyle changes it has brought to life "have given us a new understanding of our relationship with dogs." ”
Speed comes first
The Greyhound is the fastest breed of domestic dog, running at speeds of up to 69 km/h. By comparison, Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt has a top speed of just 45 kilometers per hour. (Many consider dog racing to be a cruel and inhumane activity that is slowly ending in the United States.) ）
The 4-year-old mixed dog Feren became the fastest dog overall.
The Mini Poodle Elliott is the fastest of the breed.
Greyhounds are visual hunting dogs, they are long and thin, long legs and narrow heads, so they run very fast.
For centuries, people bred these dogs as hunting companions, they were agile and fast, responsible for chasing prey. The elegant long-eared slug Saluki Hound was the favorite hound of the Egyptian pharaohs. The miniature Greyhound-like Greyhound originated in Victorian England and was bred by coal miners who liked to race dogs but did not have the space and money to raise larger dogs. There are also Vichyra Hounds from Hungary, a red hound that is lightning fast, and whose ancestors are strong and agile, following the Magyar warriors and nobles.
These examples illustrate that "they are not purely for speed, but for a particular environment" and for a certain function in the human world, "in pursuit of speed," says Adam Boyko, a canine geneticist at Cornell University.
He also added that some smaller breeds, such as terriers and dachshunds, are also surprisingly fast because they are bred to quickly remove pests, such as rodents and other burrowing animals.
In the final on December 10, a poodle reached a speed of 20.87 kilometers per hour. The Chinese royal family will put this kind of dog in the sleeve, and for them, the speed is already good.
"We want to make sure it's fully loaded"
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to some changes to this year's American Kennel Club Championships, such as not allowing spectators in the stands. The rules for the fastest dog races have also been curtailed, with only one dog per breed group represented, compared to three originally planned, Ljungren said.
But in other ways, the pandemic has created more opportunities. For the first time, the club encouraged dog owners in the United States to send videos of their dogs completing agile training, and in the past 8 months, the club has received 15,000 videos.
Although unofficial, the video show allows those who are quarantined or unable to travel to feel the warmth of the club and share their love for their pets, Ljungren said. ”
As for Philan, its owner said it was the last game it would play in 2020. Everyone will go home, take a break, and welcome the upcoming festival.
"We want to make sure it's fully loaded," Koch joked.
(Translator: Sky4)