제품2026-09-106분 분량

How to Read Your Dog's Resting Heart Rate Every Day

A four-step routine for how to read your dog's resting heart rate: set a baseline, scan the daily graph, watch the two-week trend, and bring the record to your vet.

제품

How to Read Your Dog's Resting Heart Rate Every Day

The number shows up in the app every morning, and most owners cannot tell whether it is high or low. Search for it and you get a table of normal ranges, but nothing about reading your own dog's graph. This article breaks a dog resting heart rate routine into four steps: set a baseline, scan the daily graph, watch the two-week trend, and bring the record to your vet. What follows is general guidance on observation. Any judgment about your individual dog belongs to the veterinarian who examines them.

A small dog asleep on a bright living room sofa with an owner sitting beside it, illustrating how to read a dog's resting heart rate

Key takeaways

  • Resting heart rate is the beats per minute measured while a dog is still or asleep.
  • Medium and large dogs commonly sit at 60 to 100 beats per minute at rest, and small dogs at 100 to 140 (American Red Cross, Pet First Aid).
  • Larger dogs tend to have slower heart rates, so a single number cannot cover every breed (MSD Veterinary Manual).
  • A 14-day average and the direction it is heading tell you more than any single day's number.
  • Look at resting respiratory rate and activity alongside heart rate rather than heart rate on its own.

What resting heart rate is and why you check it daily

Resting heart rate is the beats per minute measured while a dog is awake but still, or asleep. Heart rate during a walk or when a visitor arrives swings too much to compare across days. Only values taken under similar conditions let you put yesterday and today side by side.

You check daily to learn what normal looks like for your dog, not to catch problems. Without that, a number on the screen tells you nothing about whether it is high for this particular dog.

The normal range depends on size and age

The normal resting heart rate range shifts with body size. The American Red Cross pet first aid guidance lists 60 to 100 beats per minute for medium and large dogs, and 100 to 140 for small dogs. The MSD Veterinary Manual describes the sinoatrial node in a resting dog firing at roughly 60 to 120 times per minute, and notes that larger dogs tend toward slower rates.

130 beats per minute in a 3kg Maltese and 130 in a 30kg retriever do not mean the same thing. For the ranges themselves, see Resting Heart Rate in Dogs: Normal Ranges and Why They Matter.

Step 1. Set your dog's baseline

A baseline is the average of at least 14 days of resting heart rate readings. One or two days of data move with the weather, a visitor, or a clinic trip. Over two weeks those days blend together and the dog's ordinary level shows through.

Leave out unusual stretches when you set the baseline: illness, post-surgery recovery, the days right after a move. If those readings go in, the line itself sits too high, and a real change later will not stand out.

Why 14 days instead of one

A single day's number depends heavily on when it was taken. Heart rate right after waking differs from heart rate in deep sleep, even in the same dog. Two weeks of readings absorb that time-of-day spread into the average.

Step 2. How to scan the daily graph

Read the daily graph in this order: the low point during sleep, the daily average, then any spikes.

  1. Check whether the lowest overnight value looks like it usually does.
  2. Compare the daily average to the baseline. Do not memorize the difference in beats; just note whether the line sits high or low.
  3. If there is a spike, think back to what happened at that hour. A walk, the doorbell, or a warm room usually explains it.

An owner on a sofa looking at a phone while a small dog dozes nearby, checking a dog's resting heart rate graph for the day

Why the readings look jagged

An uneven resting heart rate is usually normal. In a comfortably resting dog, the heart speeds up on inhalation and slows on exhalation, a pattern called respiratory sinus arrhythmia that the MSD Veterinary Manual describes as a normal finding in dogs. Add shifts in posture, where the device sits, and light sleep, and the line turns into a sawtooth. So read the band, not any single point.

Step 3. Spot changes in the two-week trend

Watch the direction of the 7 to 14 day moving average rather than a single day. A 20-beat jump yesterday that came back today usually reflects something that happened that day. A slow climb over ten days that stays above the usual band is worth writing down.

This article suggests calling your clinic with the record if the rate stays noticeably above the baseline for three days or more. Three days is not a clinical threshold. We picked it so that owners do not keep putting the call off.

Why heart rate and respiratory rate belong together

A change in respiratory rate alongside heart rate tells you more than heart rate moving alone. In a survey by Rishniw and colleagues published in Research in Veterinary Science in 2012, sleeping respiratory rates in healthy adult dogs averaged about 15 breaths per minute, and nearly every dog stayed under 30. The 2019 ACVIM consensus guidelines on mitral valve disease also treat home-measured sleeping and resting respiratory rates as something to follow (Keene et al., 2019). Keep the respiratory rate graph next to the heart rate graph. For the ranges, see Normal Respiratory Rate in Dogs.

Step 4. How to bring the record to your vet

Before the appointment, screenshot the two-week graph and note the dates that looked off along with what was happening. A recorded graph passes along exactly what the values have been doing.

  • A screenshot of the last two weeks of resting heart rate
  • The stretch where recent values diverge from the baseline
  • Resting respiratory rate and activity over the same period
  • What happened on the days the values changed (food change, a new medication, a move, hot weather)

An owner showing a phone record to a veterinarian in a bright clinic room with a calm dog on the table

Running these four steps with Sense 1 Home

Sense 1 Home from cotons ai records heart rate, respiratory rate, HRV, and activity while a dog rests. Because the number changes with when you happen to measure, it picks out the stretches when the dog is actually resting and records those.

Measurement combines ballistocardiography (BCG) with a 6-axis IMU sensor. The device reads the faint vibration the heartbeat sends through the body and uses motion data to tell resting from moving. HRV is calculated as RMSSD, an index treated as related to parasympathetic activity (Task Force of the ESC/NASPE, 1996). For more on HRV, see What Is HRV in Dogs?.

In the app, the four steps look like this.

  1. Open the resting heart rate card on the home screen.
  2. Switch the range to two weeks and check the usual band.
  3. See whether today's value falls inside it.
  4. If it does not, open the respiratory rate and activity cards for the same period.

A record like this helps owners notice a change from the usual sooner. The values on their own cannot tell you what is wrong.

An owner checking a phone screen in a bright living room while a small dog rests nearby, reviewing a dog's resting heart rate in the app

When to call your veterinarian

Stop interpreting the graph and call the clinic if any of these apply.

  • Resting heart rate stays above the usual level for three days or more
  • Resting respiratory rate keeps running above 30 breaths per minute
  • Gums look pale or bluish
  • The dog is listless, refuses walks, or cannot settle down at night
  • Coughing, fainting, or a sudden drop in activity appear together

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to check my dog's resting heart rate every day?

Check your dog's resting heart rate daily, but you do not need to act on it daily. The point of looking every day is to learn the usual value by sight. Small day-to-day movement is ordinary. Respond to a pattern that runs for several days.

My dog's heart rate graph jumped. Should I go to the vet?

If your dog's heart rate graph jumped, first check what happened around that hour. A walk, a visitor, a warm room, or excitement are common causes. If it returns to the usual band the next day, keep watching; if it stays high for three days or more, call the clinic with the record.

How many days should a dog's average heart rate cover?

A dog's average heart rate should cover at least 14 days. A single day swings with the time of measurement and whatever happened that day. Two weeks of readings absorb that spread and reveal the dog's ordinary level.

Why are my dog's heart rate readings so uneven?

Uneven heart rate readings in dogs usually sit inside normal variation. In a comfortably resting dog, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, where the heart speeds up and slows with breathing, is common (MSD Veterinary Manual). Posture and device placement add to it. Read several days as a band rather than one point.

How much resting heart rate change is normal in a senior dog?

Resting heart rate in senior dogs varies so much between individuals that no single threshold works. As a dog ages, compare against that dog's own baseline rather than a printed range. If a changed state persists, talk to your veterinarian.

How do I show heart rate records to my vet?

The quickest way to show heart rate records is a screenshot of the two-week graph. Add a note with the dates that looked off and what happened on them. Have the resting respiratory rate and activity screens for the same period ready as well.

Should I look at heart rate and respiratory rate together?

Looking at heart rate and respiratory rate together works better than either alone. Both sitting above the usual level says more than heart rate rising by itself. Line up activity as well and you can describe the day far more concretely.

Summary

  • Reading a dog's resting heart rate comes down to four steps: set a baseline, scan the daily graph, watch the two-week trend, bring the record to your vet.
  • Resting heart rate is the beats per minute measured while a dog is resting or asleep.
  • Medium and large dogs commonly sit at 60 to 100 beats per minute at rest, small dogs at 100 to 140 (American Red Cross).
  • Set the baseline from at least 14 days of readings, leaving out stretches of illness.
  • Read the daily graph in order: overnight low, daily average, spikes.
  • If the rate stays above the usual level for three days or more, call the clinic with the record.

Closing

Reading a dog resting heart rate means knowing what is ordinary for your own dog. A printed normal range is a starting point, and the threshold you can actually use comes out of two weeks of your own records.

Open the Sense 1 Home app and look at your dog's last two weeks of resting heart rate first. Once you know the usual band, today's number makes sense much faster.

This article is for general information only and does not replace veterinary care. Sense 1 Home is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.

Sources

더 오래 곁에, 더 건강하게

오늘 알게 된 건강 신호, 매일 cotons ai로 곁에서 확인하세요