respiratory arrhythmia Boxer dog

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I have a one year old Boxer who has always had a repsiratory arrhythmia. She does not have a murmur, and is a very active puppy. She is solid muscle like most Boxers. She was seen by the Vet several times this year for routine check ups etc/, and they asked if I noticed the "resp. arrhythmia", and I did, as she sleeps right on top of us at times, so you can feel the heart being irregular. I am a nurse and once or twice I tried (difficult in a Boxer puppy) to assess her when awake, and you cant notice it like when she is asleep. I had another Boxer and I never noticed this. Can you explain what this is in a dog? I feel stupid to keep asking the Vet, who said it is common. Thanks.

[strongy]

Hello please help, my cousin has a 10 year old boxer dog with heart disease, the vet has advised him to put her to sleep as nothing can be done for her, Gizmo (the dog) weighs 19.5 kg and is still running around, she has no problem eating, passing urine and her bowels are fine,she climbs stairs ok,barks everything seems normal, it seems to me if a dog or human had severe heart problems they wouldn't want to move around much, probably just lay about and she is not doing this, she has always had a heart murmur since she was a pup and occasionally faints, the vet says her heart sounds like running horses and she has been panting a bit more than normal. Are there any medicines or alternative medicines that you sugget that may help her many thaks for your time Jason

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Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. She seems otherwise healthy and very active, so I think shes o.k. But its interesting that it is normal in dogs. Which is what the Vets have said also. Ill certainly keep it in the back of my mind as she gets older.  
      Thanks very much for your time!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Hello, this is Dr. Cheng writing.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia is normal in most dogs and results from decreased vagal activity during inspiration and increased vagal activity during expiration.   It is only significant if it does not synchronize with your dog’s heart rate.

In your dogs case I do not know whether this correlates with heart disease.  You would probably notice dyspnea, exercise intolerance, wheezing, syncope (fainting), or other heart or pulmonary disease related symptoms it this were the case.

However since approximately 10% of all domestic animals do have some form of cardiovascular disease perhaps your dog should undergo a complete cardiovascular evaluation including echocardiogram, chest X-Rays, pulse pressures and electrocardiogram.

Thanks