Does anyone else's lab have a really irregular heartbeat? I'm told it is normal, but Pongo's is all over the place. If he was human I'd take him straight to the doctor, but apparently it is very common in large dogs and nothing to worry about. The vet listens to his heart every time he's seen, and isn't worried. Any of your pups have similar?
Re: Irregular heartbeat Not that I've noticed, it would worry me I'm glad the vet says it's nothing to worry about !!!
Re: Irregular heartbeat Had forgotten, but years ago one of my GSPs had a heart like that, she lived to over 14 years old
Re: Irregular heartbeat I've noticed that it speeds up a bit when they breathe in and slows down a bit when they breathe out. Is that the kind of thing you have noticed?
Re: Irregular heartbeat I've noticed what Rachael describes but hadn't linked it to the breathing pattern.Dexter's can feel like it almost skips a beat ??? But in a regular pattern of you know what I mean ?he was checked by the vet only last week and they said he's as fit as a fiddle xxx
Re: Irregular heartbeat I've noticed the heart beat of a dog is not like ours. I've never really thought about it before as it's never been mentioned as a problem when my dogs have been checked by a vet so I've always assumed that's normal.
Re: Irregular heartbeat Should I buy a stethoscope? How are you all monitoring your dogs' hearts? Hope Pongo is ok, your vet seems to think so, that's great news.
Re: Irregular heartbeat You can just put your ear to their chest or else look for the pulse in the wrist region Keeping a check on vital signs like heartbeat, gum pinkness (very pale gums indicate blood loss), and temperature are good things to do but I can't say that I do it. Though I guess I do check gums when I clean teeth.
Re: Irregular heartbeat [quote author=Dexter link=topic=9511.msg137237#msg137237 date=1421324607] I've noticed what Rachael describes but hadn't linked it to the breathing pattern.Dexter's can feel like it almost skips a beat ??? But in a regular pattern of you know what I mean [/quote] Exactly this ;D I covered this on a a canine first aid course. As you measure the heart beat/pulse, you tend to notice they form a pattern or grouping of beats with the occasional pause. So it may count like 1, 2, 3 <pause> , 4 1, 2, 3 <pause>, 4 . I assume that's what the OP is referring to. This is absolutely fine and normal as long as the same pattern repeats over and over. So one grouping of beats in isolation may appear irregular, but it's only really irregular if it doesn't form part of a consistent repeating pattern. The rhythm shouldn't really change whether the dog is resting or in the middle of exercise, it'll just be faster or slower. The correct place to measure a dogs pulse without equipment is to apply finger pressure to the femoral artery. This is located in the hind legs on the inside of the thigh roughly in the middle, above the elbow. It's called he femoral artery as it runs down the femur. Takes quite a bit of practice to get used to finding this quickly!
Re: Irregular heartbeat A little further explanation if anyone is interested. Occasional missed beats can be to do with what we call 'high vagal tone'. Young, fit, healthy large dogs are the most commonly associated with high vagal tone it's a physiological atrioventricular block. The change in heart beat in line with breathing is also an adaptation of fit, active dogs. The heartbeat increases as the dog breaths in to make use of the influx of new oxygen and increase gas exchange. The heartbeat slows between breaths. This is called 'sinus arrhythmia' and human athletes have it too. Both Amber and I have a pronounced sinus arrhythmia (not sure why I have as I'm certainly not fit or sporty anymore). It was funny on a recent trip to the gp as the nurse practitioner noticed my arrythmia and suggested a full heart investigation to check it out. But I had my vet head on and laughed thinking if only fit dogs get sinus arrthymia then there was no reason to see it as anything other than positive in humans too.
