# My dogs heartbeat- should I be worried



## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

I have Dexter my 8 month old, at work with me today. When he's here he sleeps alot. Not much else to do. He's on the thin side since he has HD. 

Because he's thin I can see his heartbeat. I've noticed it beats 3 times, then 2, then 3, then 2. Is this normal? Or should I make an appt with the vet.?


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Dogs can have what's called sinus arrhythmia. The heart beats faster when they inhale and slows when they exhale. 

It's normal. Can't say that's what your dog has. A Vet could listen and decide, but often it's only present when the dog relaxed. I hear it a lot in sedated animals. 

It never hurts to have a professional listen, so please don't take my word on your dogs cardiac health. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

gsdsar said:


> Dogs can have what's called sinus arrhythmia. The heart beats faster when they inhale and slows when they exhale.
> 
> It's normal. Can't say that's what your dog has. A Vet could listen and decide, but often it's only present when the dog relaxed. I hear it a lot in sedated animals.
> 
> ...



Thank you so much. I called my vet this morning and explained to him what I saw and what I read here and he agrees with you that it sounds like sinus arrythmia . He said I should wait a few more weeks to come in and have him looked at because he just had his bordetella vaccine last week and some times the vaccines cause this. I tried to research it ( this vet is newer to me because I moved last year and its too far for me to drive to my old vet for my 14 yr old shih tzu's heart medicines and Dexters adequan) but I don't see anything saying that vaccines cause temporary or permanent heart problems. Could he be correct in what he's telling me?


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## Rainer (Feb 15, 2012)

I've noticed the same thing with Rainer. It doesn't seem to affect him. 

He developed a (very) slight murmur on the left side of his heart, but his surgeon (bloat) said that may just be because of the re-direction of blood flow when his stomach twisted - he did not have a murmur before his bloat surgery. The surgeon didn't notice anything else with his heart.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

I'm so glad Rainer is doing well after having bloat. Bloat scares me. In fact that's one of the reasons why I had Dexter with me at work. He had a tummy ache that morning. I think he may have got into some trash ( trash behind my work. usually he stays inside but this day he snuck out while i was at my desk i only found out because i see him coming back in through the front door and the next day i find his chew toy right by the trash.)I took him to work with me so that I could keep an eye on him in case it was bloat. That's when I noticed his heart beat. He's on the thin side so I can see it pounding in his chest. Maybe I need to feed him more. He's 27 " and weighs about 79 to 81 pounds.

Does Rainer still have the murmur or was it temporary after the surgery?


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## Rainer (Feb 15, 2012)

Thank you  He bloated about 6.5 months ago. Scariest thing I've had to go through with him. Thank God he survived and is happy and healthy again!

Rainer is about the same height/weight as Dexter. I like keeping him lean so as to keep the stress off of his joints. I figure it's better for him to be lean than have excess weight/stress on his bones. A definite plus to keeping him lean was I was really able to see his stomach swell up and knew for sure he was bloating (+ some other symptoms).

I haven't had the murmur checked out since the vet said it was nothing to worry about, so I'm not too sure. The surgeon reeeeeally had to listen for it though. It would probably be undetectable in a routine check.

The 3-2 rhythm seems to be a normal thing in big dogs (from the quick Google search I did, lol). I actually like resting my head on his chest and listening to his heart beat (Is that weird? haha). As long as it's a constant rhythm that matches his in-and-out breath I think he'll be ok


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

Rainer said:


> Thank you  He bloated about 6.5 months ago. Scariest thing I've had to go through with him. Thank God he survived and is happy and healthy again!
> 
> Rainer is about the same height/weight as Dexter. I like keeping him lean so as to keep the stress off of his joints. I figure it's better for him to be lean than have excess weight/stress on his bones. A definite plus to keeping him lean was I was really able to see his stomach swell up and knew for sure he was bloating (+ some other symptoms).
> 
> ...


People that seem to know german shepherds know right away he's a puppy and comment on how long and lean he is. Others say he's skinny..lol.. You can't please everyone. But yes, I would be able to tell right away if he bloated. 

I don't think any of the dog people here think its weird you listen to your dogs heart beat. In fact alot of my friends at the hospital say its good for you. That alot of their patients heart rates go down when they are relaxing with the therapy dogs that go there. One told me there was research done that showed electrical impulses between hearts that were close to one another. :wub: if that's true then its good for both you and Rainer.


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## Rainer (Feb 15, 2012)

I think most people are used to seeing fat dogs so they think we're starving our dogs when they're actually at a healthy weight. I get comments about how skinny Rai is, but their dogs look like they could lose a few lbs. 

I read about the change in heart beats too in proximity to another heart. I think that's so cool! 

Good luck with Dexter


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