Muscles tensed as the whirl of the lure filled the air alongside excited pants of dogs of various ages and sizes. Just under that was the soft thump of tails hitting soft grass.
“Ready… tally ho!” Underneath an awning, a woman stepped back, letting go of a lanky Irish Wolfhound. From the other end of the track were calls of, “Come here, Shay! Good girl! Come here!”
But rather than launching down the track like others at 405 FastCat & K9 Speedway that hot Saturday morning, Shay took a leisurely lope, not showing much interest in the bunny zipping away. She made it partway before stopping and sniffing the grass growing on the other side of the fence.
Racing to the end of the track wasn’t exactly the day’s purpose. Shay was one of several dogs and their owners participating in a Fast Cat 101 seminar. Pattie Sears and Greg Mc-Millan, the track’s owners, host them a couple of times a month, introducing dog owners to the sport.
Started in 2018 by the American Kennel Club (AKC), Fast Cat is a timed 100-yard dash open to all dog breeds, even mixed breeds. The dogs compete against themselves, following a lure called the bunny. Titles are earned based on points received for each official run.
As a relatively new sport, tracks are not widely available in Oklahoma, so Sears and McMillian, who work with dogs, transformed one of their pastures into 405 FastCat & K9 Speedway. Sears said they’ve been competing in Fast Cat for about three years, but this is the first year they started hosting events.
“It’s just a lot of fun. I’ve been competitively showing my Frenchies all across the United States since about 2013. And, you know, it’s just kind of not a friendly sport, I’ll say,” she said. “Where Fast Cat, it’s kind of like a tailgate party for people with dogs.”
McMillan added that it’s a blast for the dogs as well.
Sears said they would drive to Kansas and Arkansas to compete, with the closest track in Oklahoma located in Vinita.
“It’s like, well, why don’t we set something up? We can run it right alongside our horse pasture,” Sears said. “We’ve got the room. Just set it up, buy the equipment and invite people out.”
The mother-son duo is making more improvements to allow night runs, including a blacklight event for fun.
They are also looking to host events that aren’t through AKC. McMillan said they usually have around 55 to 80 entries for official runs, though they try to keep seminars smaller.
“That way, we can have some quality one-on-one time,” McMillan said. “The dogs can learn what their owners are wanting them to be able to do. A lot of dogs, once they figure out what it is, just take off and love it.”
Sears added that it requires very little training, and they’ve had dogs earn a title in their first weekend of racing.
Dog owners in the region are happy there’s a track located more centrally.
Tiffany Gentry, who lives in McLoud, said she found out about the track while browsing the AKC website for events to compete in with her two-yearold Australian Shepard, Yera.
“I noticed that this club popped up, and I was reading it, and I’m just like Chandler… Chandler’s really close,” she said.
Gentry said she’s been competing at the track since it opened and loves the people who put it on. She also volunteers when she’s at events and said McMillan and Sears have been great about listening to people who come out and making adjustments to improve the track.
Kelly Rosson from Oklahoma City added that it’s been amazing to see all the work put into the track to make it safe. She has three dogs that run Fast Cat - bulldog Georgia Grace, greyhound Jasper and whippet Remy. Georgia Grace is currently the fastest bulldog in Oklahoma.
So far, she’s made it to every event at 405 FastCat & K9 Speedway.
“They try their best and make sure they don’t overlap when another group is having a Fast Cat event,” she said. “It’s a respect thing. And then everybody in our state gets to run their dogs more often than what we’ve had in the past.”