My dog breathes fast and heavy when resting, should I be worried?

I recommend that you have your dog examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible. A dog at rest takes about 10 to 30 breaths per minutes. Breathing at a faster rate may indicate fever, pain, anxiety, or a problem with the lungs or chest. Rapid, labored breathing is indicative of congestive heart failure and/or lung disease, shock, heat stroke, dehydration, and ketoacidosis associated with diabetes, kidney failure, and some tyes of poisonings.

The increased respiratory rate could be from him dissipating heat but it could also be pathological. I cannot tell you for sure just based on your description. I suggest you take a video of him breathing heavy at rest and then take him in to your vet for an examination. Show the vet the video and see what they think. The vet will take that video combined with their examination findings and let you know if it seems like his breathing is normal or abnormal. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I would recommend that you have Rousey checked out by a vet. Breathing that quickly is not normal. While sleeping, she should breathe less than 20 times in a minute. Increased respiratory rate at night could indicate heart or lung disease, anemia, or pneumonia. If she has fractured ribs, she could benefit from pain medications. She should probably also be checked for intestinal parasites, which are easily picked up while hanging out on the streets.

Hi there. Your description of Jackie is disturbing. Labored breathing is abnormal at rest in a normal setting. My recommendation is to take him in to the vet-the will perform a physical exam and more than likely recommend x rays to check his heart and lungs for signs of disease. In a young dog such as yours, anxiety can also play a role. I hope this helps. My best to you and Jax.

I would recommend to monitor him closely for the next 4-6hours in case signs become more consistent. The presentation you described should not be a problem at all, especially if there are no other signs with it.

A dog the size of an Australian Shepherd should normally not breathe more than about 15 to 30 breaths per minute. If a dog breathes faster than that there could be various reasons: it is hot, the dog is hot, and since dogs cannot sweat but via their tongue, they would lose body heat via the tongue and panting. If it is cool and the dog breathes fast, then there could be a disease or untoward condition causing this (fever, respiratory infection, heart condition, pain). So unless you think the dog is hot, I suggest you take him to a veterinarian for an exam.

If this breathing heavy is only occurring when Tater is resting, it could be that he is dreaming and his breathing is changing in response to the dreams. Dogs dream and they can show behaviors such as barking, leg movement, and breathing changes in response to their dreams. Given that he is fine otherwise, I would monitor him for now, but certainly it's okay to have him seen by a vet just in case to make sure everything is ok health wish with him :-)