Heart Murmur

Question
I bought a 6 week old boxer pup last Saturday and took it for its first check up and jag today only to be told that it has a heart murmur. I do not know much about this condition and what it may mean for the dogs future, breading, life expectancy etc. If you could give me any information it would be much appreciated.

take Care
laura

Answer
Hi Laura,

Congratulations on your new puppy!

My concern, more than the heart murmur, is that a breeder allowed you to remove a pup from the litter at 6 weeks.  My suggestion is to do some research on puppy learning stages.  6-8 weeks is a critical learning time for a puppy as far as dog/dog interaction goes and it learns tons from it's littermates.  Those lessons will have to be taught by you now if you want a well-adjusted adult dog.

As far as the heart murmur goes...it doesn't mean anything yet.  It may mean you bought from an irresponsible breeder who didn't hear score the sire and dam.  It may mean you're puppy will have greater heart problems when it grows.  It also may disappear as the puppy ages.  Your vet will want to keep an eye on it and will check the status of the murmur in your subsequent visits.

Because your dog is a puppy yet, and an above average number of pups outgrow a murmur by 16 weeks, it would be silly for you to start to worry right now.  Follow any instructions your vet gave you...which probably weren't many.

Here are a couple good links:

http://www.boxerunderground.com/uk/puppyhandout_heart_mur.htm

http://www.boxerclubofcanada.com/shortjan.html