Tachypnea in dogs means breathing faster than normal. After a run or on a hot afternoon, that is expected. While your dog is asleep, it is not: most healthy dogs take fewer than 30 breaths a minute when sleeping, and a rate that stays above that is a reason to call your vet.
The harder question is whether fast breathing is a quick call or a drive to the clinic right now. Here is how to tell, how to count your dog's breathing the way veterinary cardiologists teach it, and what usually causes it.
Go to a vet now if your dog has any of these
Fast breathing plus any one of these signs is an emergency. Don't wait to see if it settles.
- Blue, gray or very pale gums (or tongue).
- Visible effort to breathe: the ribs and belly heave with every breath, or each breath looks long and drawn out.
- Breathing with the mouth open while resting in a cool room, when your dog hasn't been exercising.
- Standing or sitting with the neck stretched out and elbows pointing outward, unwilling to lie down or settle.
- Collapse, fainting or sudden weakness.
- Noisy, rasping breathing that is new.
- Fast breathing after choking, trauma (such as being hit by a car), a hot day or a swollen belly.
Call the clinic or emergency hospital on the way so the team can have oxygen ready. Keep your dog as calm and cool as you can during the trip, because stress makes a struggling dog work even harder to breathe. Your veterinarian would much rather see a dog that turns out to be fine than one that waited too long.
What is tachypnea in dogs?
Tachypnea is the medical word for a fast breathing rate (tachy- means fast, -pnea means breathing). It describes a number, not a disease. A dog can be tachypneic because it just chased a ball, because it is hot or nervous, or because something is wrong with its heart, lungs or blood.
That is why the setting matters so much. Fast breathing during play is normal. Fast breathing while your dog is lying quietly in a cool room, or asleep, is the version vets want to hear about.
Tachypnea vs dyspnea: tachypnea is breathing fast. Dyspnea (dys- means difficult) is breathing that takes effort. A dog can have one without the other, but dyspnea is always an emergency.
Normal breathing, panting, tachypnea or dyspnea?
What you see | What it usually means | What to do | |
|---|---|---|---|
Normal resting breathing | Quiet, easy breaths; chest gently rises and falls; mouth usually closed | A relaxed dog; most sleep at well under 30 breaths a minute | Nothing. Learn your dog's normal number |
Panting | Fast, shallow, open-mouth breathing with the tongue out, after exercise, heat or excitement | Cooling down (dogs cool themselves by panting) or excitement | Should ease within minutes of rest in a cool spot. Heavy panting that doesn't ease in the heat can be heatstroke: go now |
Tachypnea | Breathing rate higher than normal, especially when resting or asleep, without obvious effort | Can be heat, stress or pain, but also heart or lung disease | Count the sleeping rate. If it stays above 30, call your vet the same day |
Dyspnea | Labored breathing: heaving chest and belly, stretched neck, elbows out, open mouth at rest, blue or pale gums | Not enough air getting in: heart failure, lung or airway disease, obstruction | Emergency. Go now and call ahead |
A healthy dog at rest breathes with little visible movement: the chest rises and falls gently and there is no extra push from the belly. Flat-faced breeds are the exception for noise, which we cover below.
How to count your dog's sleeping breathing rate
The sleeping breathing rate is one of the easiest health checks you can do at home, and it is the number veterinary cardiologists ask owners of dogs with heart disease to track. The method below follows the client instructions from the Texas A&M and University of Missouri cardiology services. For the normal ranges awake and asleep, see our guide to the normal dog respiratory rate.
- Wait until your dog is sound asleep (best) or resting calmly in a comfortable, cool room. Not right after exercise, not while dreaming or twitching, and not when the room is hot.
- Watch the chest. One breath is one full rise and fall of the chest.
- Count for 30 seconds and double it, or count for a full minute. Some cardiology teams teach 15 seconds multiplied by 4.
- Write it down with the date and time. A notes app or a calendar works.
- Repeat once a day for about a week to learn your dog's normal number. If your dog has heart disease, your vet will tell you how often to keep counting.
What the number means
- Under 30 breaths a minute while asleep: normal for most dogs. In a study of 114 healthy adult dogs counted at home, the average sleeping rate was 13 breaths a minute and no dog averaged more than 23. Dogs also breathe a little faster when awake and resting than when asleep.
- Consistently above 30 while asleep: call your vet. That is the rule the Texas A&M cardiology service gives owners: recount a few times over the next couple of hours, and contact the vet that day if the rate stays above about 30. Some other cardiology services draw the line a little higher, at 35 to 40 breaths a minute. If your dog has a heart diagnosis, go by the number your own vet gives you.
- A steady climb from your dog's own normal, even below 30, is worth a call, especially in a dog with a heart murmur. The University of Missouri cardiology team asks owners to call if the rate rises 20 to 30 percent or more over three days in a row.
- A high count plus coughing, effort, restlessness at night, weakness or a poor appetite: treat it as urgent and call now. After hours, go to an emergency hospital.
Why it matters: a rising sleeping rate is often the first sign that fluid is building up in or around the lungs from congestive heart failure (the heart can no longer keep up with what the body needs). The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine guidelines for mitral valve disease, the most common heart disease in dogs, rank an increase in resting breathing rate above a dog's baseline as the best predictor that heart failure is about to get worse. If your dog has been told it has a heart murmur, this count is worth learning now.
Why is my dog breathing fast?
Causes fall into three rough groups. Some are part of daily life; others need a vet the same day; a few are emergencies.
Everyday reasons (should settle with rest)
- Exercise and play. Breathing slows within minutes of resting in a cool place.
- Heat. Dogs sweat very little and rely on panting to shed heat.
- Excitement, fear or anxiety, such as fireworks, thunderstorms or the car ride to the clinic. Breathing settles once the trigger is gone. If noise anxiety is a regular problem, ask your vet what can help.
- Dreaming. A burst of fast breathing with twitching paws during sleep is normal. Count again when your dog is sleeping quietly.
Medical causes (call your vet)
- Heart disease, such as mitral valve disease or dilated cardiomyopathy. Fast breathing at rest, coughing, tiring easily and restless nights are classic signs as heart failure develops.
- Lung and airway disease: pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, and fluid or infection around the lungs.
- Pain. Dogs in pain often breathe fast or pant at rest.
- Anemia. With fewer red blood cells to carry oxygen, the body breathes faster to compensate.
- Some hormonal diseases, which can make a dog breathe fast without any lung problem.
- Heartworm disease, which affects the heart and lungs. Ask your vet about heartworm prevention and testing.
Emergencies (go now)
- Heatstroke. Heavy panting, drooling, vomiting, weakness or collapse on a hot day or after exercise. Start cooling your dog with cool water and drive to the vet now. Heatstroke needs hospital care even if your dog seems to recover.
- Choking or something stuck in the throat.
- Congestive heart failure with labored breathing.
- Trauma, such as being hit by a car, even if there are no visible wounds.
- Bloat (gastric dilatation-volvulus): a swollen belly, retching without bringing anything up and restlessness. Read more about GDV in dogs.
- Tick paralysis, where a toxin in the saliva of certain ticks causes a paralysis that can reach the muscles used for breathing.
- Near-drowning.
Fast breathing in flat-faced breeds
Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingese, Boston Terriers and other brachycephalic (short-nosed) breeds often breathe noisily, snore and pant more than other dogs. Their short skull squeezes the same soft tissue into a smaller space.
The resulting condition is called brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS). According to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, it combines narrow nostrils, an overly long soft palate and small tissue pouches in the throat (everted laryngeal saccules) that get pulled into the airway. Some dogs also have a narrow windpipe or a collapsing larynx.
Owners notice loud breathing (especially on the in-breath), gagging or retching, poor tolerance for exercise, and trouble in hot or humid weather. Severely affected dogs can turn blue or collapse after exertion or in the heat, and they are at higher risk of heatstroke. Noise may be "normal for the breed", but effort, blue gums or collapse are never normal. Surgery to open the nostrils and shorten the soft palate is the main treatment, so talk to your vet early if you own one of these breeds.
What your vet will do
A dog struggling to breathe is stabilized first. Tests can wait: handling and stress can make breathing worse, so the team usually starts with oxygen and may give a sedative to calm your dog.
Once your dog is stable, your vet will ask about the history (when it started, whether it is worse at night, any coughing or collapse) and examine the gums, heart and lungs. Your notes on the sleeping breathing rate help here. Tests depend on what the exam suggests and may include:
- Pulse oximetry or a blood gas to measure oxygen in the blood.
- Chest X-rays, the main test for heart size, fluid and lung disease.
- Blood tests, including a heartworm test.
- Ultrasound of the chest and heart (echocardiography), and an ECG for heart rhythm.
- Airway tests such as a scope of the throat and airways or an airway wash, which collects fluid and cells from the lungs, usually under anesthesia.
- Sampling fluid or a mass to look at the cells.
Tachypnea is a sign, not a diagnosis, so treatment depends on the cause. Fluid in the lungs from heart failure is usually treated with a diuretic and heart medicines; pneumonia may need hospital care and antibiotics; fluid around the lungs may need to be drained; anxiety may call for behavior work and sometimes medication. Your veterinarian chooses the medicine and the dose.
Helping a dog with breathing trouble at home
None of these replace a vet visit for a dog with tachypnea or labored breathing. Once your vet has a plan, these help:
- Keep your home cool and your dog out of the midday heat in summer.
- Keep the air clean. No smoking indoors, and go easy on incense, scented candles and sprays around your dog.
- Give every medicine exactly as prescribed, and don't stop or change it without talking to your vet.
- Keep counting the sleeping breathing rate if your vet asked you to, and bring your log to rechecks.
- Keep your dog at a healthy weight and exercise at the level your vet recommends.
- Keep up with heartworm prevention your vet advises.
- Plan for noisy holidays like the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve: a quiet room, and a talk with your vet ahead of time if your dog panics.
Quick answers
Why is my dog breathing fast while sleeping?
Brief fast breathing during a dream is normal. Steady fast breathing during quiet sleep, above 30 breaths a minute, is not, and can be an early sign of heart or lung disease. Recount over a couple of hours and call your vet if it stays high.
My dog is breathing fast but acting normal. Should I worry?
If your dog has just been active, is hot or excited, give it a few minutes of rest in a cool room and count again. Fast breathing at rest that doesn't settle deserves a call to your vet, even if your dog seems otherwise fine.
Do puppies breathe faster than adult dogs?
The under-30 sleeping rule comes from studies of adult dogs, so ask your vet what is normal for your puppy. Busy breathing during a dream is fine at any age. Effort, blue gums or fast breathing that doesn't settle are still reasons to see a vet.
Is fast breathing an emergency?
Fast breathing on its own, in a dog that is otherwise bright, usually means a same-day call. Fast breathing with effort, blue or pale gums, collapse or an open mouth at rest is an emergency.
Originally written by Helen Roberts. Updated by the I Love Veterinary editorial team.
Sources
- Texas A&M University Cardiology Service: Measuring Your Pet's Breathing Rate (client handout)
- University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center Cardiology: At-home monitoring of pets with heart disease
- Rocky Mountain Veterinary Cardiology: Sleeping respiratory rate (client handout)
- Rishniw M, et al. Sleeping respiratory rates in apparently healthy adult dogs. Res Vet Sci. 2012;93(2):965-969
- Ohad DG, et al. Sleeping and resting respiratory rates in dogs with subclinical heart disease. JAVMA. 2013;243(6):839-843
- Keene BW, et al. ACVIM consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2019;33(3):1127-1140
- Royal Veterinary College: Respiratory distress in cats and dogs
- Merck Veterinary Manual (Dog Owners): Introduction to Lung and Airway Disorders of Dogs
- American College of Veterinary Surgeons: Brachycephalic Syndrome
- Merck Veterinary Manual (Dog Owners): Tick Paralysis in Dogs
- Cornell University Riney Canine Health Center: Heatstroke, a medical emergency
This article is for general information and is not a substitute for advice from your veterinarian.
