A healthy dog’s heart rate falls between 60 and 160 beats per minute (BPM), depending on size. Smaller dogs have naturally faster heart rates than larger ones, and puppies run faster still. Knowing your dog’s normal range helps you spot problems early, whether you’re monitoring a heart condition or just checking on a dog that seems off.
Normal Heart Rate by Size
Dog heart rates vary significantly by body size. Smaller hearts pump less blood per beat, so they need to beat more often to keep up with the body’s demands. According to data from UC Davis’s California Veterinary Emergency Team, the resting ranges break down like this:
- Small dogs (under about 20 pounds): 100 to 160 BPM
- Medium dogs (roughly 20 to 60 pounds): 60 to 100 BPM
- Large dogs (over 60 pounds): 60 to 100 BPM, often toward the lower end
- Puppies: 120 to 160 BPM
Large and giant breeds like Great Danes or Mastiffs often sit comfortably in the 60 to 80 BPM range at rest. A Chihuahua at 150 BPM and a Labrador at 80 BPM are both perfectly normal. The key is knowing what’s typical for your individual dog, not just dogs in general.
Why Puppies Have Faster Heart Rates
Puppies typically have heart rates between 120 and 160 BPM, which can sound alarmingly fast if you’re not expecting it. Their hearts are small relative to their rapidly growing bodies, so they compensate with speed. As a puppy matures over the first year, its heart rate gradually slows to match the adult range for its size. By around 12 months, most dogs settle into their adult resting rate, though giant breeds may continue developing for longer.
How to Check Your Dog’s Heart Rate
The easiest place to feel a dog’s pulse is the femoral artery, located on the inner thigh where the hind leg meets the body. With your dog standing or lying on its side, press your fingertips gently into that area. Push until you can’t feel any pulsation, then slowly release pressure until you pick up a steady beat. Count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by four to get the BPM.
You can also place your hand directly on your dog’s chest, just behind the left elbow, to feel the heartbeat through the rib cage. This works especially well on lean or short-haired dogs. Whichever method you use, check when your dog is calm and resting, not right after a walk or play session. Activity, excitement, and even anxiety at the vet’s office can push the heart rate well above the resting range.
It’s worth checking your dog’s resting heart rate a few times when everything is normal. That gives you a personal baseline, so you’ll notice more quickly if something changes.
What Affects Heart Rate Beyond Size
Exercise is the most obvious factor. A dog’s heart rate can double or more during vigorous activity and should return to its resting range within a few minutes of stopping. If it stays elevated for 10 or more minutes after exercise ends, that can signal a fitness issue or an underlying problem.
Temperature matters too. Dogs don’t sweat efficiently, and when they overheat, their heart rate climbs as the body tries to circulate blood to the skin for cooling. Stress, pain, and fever all push the rate higher. On the other end, very fit or athletic dogs, particularly working breeds, may have resting rates at the low end of their range, similar to how trained human athletes develop slower resting pulses.
Sleep brings the heart rate down further. It’s normal for a sleeping dog’s heart to beat noticeably slower than when awake at rest, and you may even notice slight irregularities in rhythm during deep sleep. This is generally harmless. What matters is the rate when your dog is awake and relaxed.
When a Heart Rate Is Too Fast
In veterinary emergency triage, a heart rate above 180 BPM in a dog is flagged as dangerously fast. At that speed, the heart doesn’t have enough time between beats to fill properly with blood, which means less oxygen reaches the body with each pump. Common causes include pain, dehydration, blood loss, shock, and primary heart disease.
A persistently elevated heart rate at rest, even if it hasn’t hit 180, is worth paying attention to. If your small dog normally sits around 120 and you’re consistently finding it at 160 during calm moments, or your large dog has jumped from 70 to 120 without obvious reason, something may be driving that change. Pain that isn’t visible, fever, infection, and early heart disease can all present this way before other symptoms become obvious.
When a Heart Rate Is Too Slow
A resting heart rate below 60 BPM in a dog is considered abnormally slow. At that pace, the heart may not circulate enough blood to support normal activity. The most common signs owners notice are exercise intolerance (your dog tires faster than usual or refuses to keep walking), weakness, and episodes of collapse or fainting.
Some dogs with slow heart rates show no symptoms at all, especially large breeds that naturally run on the lower end. In those cases, treatment typically isn’t needed. The concern arises when the slow rate is paired with visible changes in energy or episodes of sudden weakness. A condition called sick sinus syndrome, where the heart’s natural pacemaker misfires, can cause the rate to swing between abnormally slow and abnormally fast, leading to unpredictable fainting spells.
Irregular Rhythms to Watch For
While checking your dog’s pulse, pay attention to rhythm as well as speed. A healthy heart beats in a steady, predictable pattern. Some dogs, especially brachycephalic breeds (those with flat faces), have a normal variation called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, where the heart speeds up slightly during inhalation and slows during exhalation. This is harmless.
What’s not normal is a heart that skips beats, pauses for noticeably long gaps, or feels chaotic and unpredictable. If you feel the pulse at the femoral artery while simultaneously feeling the chest and notice that some heartbeats don’t produce a corresponding pulse in the leg, that’s called a pulse deficit, and it typically indicates a significant arrhythmia. Combined with a rate above 180 or below 60, irregular rhythms warrant prompt veterinary evaluation, as they can signal conditions ranging from electrolyte imbalances to structural heart disease.