Puppy has heart murmur?

Bought a puppy for my bro about a week and a half ago. Boxer puppy. Anyways, he took the puppy in yesterday for its first checkup, and the vet said she could hear a faint murmur (she did not offer a grade) and indicated that she will monitor it when he comes back in in a couple of weeks for the next series of vaccinations. She said not to worry as they usually go away in puppies. Puppy barely turned 8 weeks this past weekend. I called the breeder and he said he had all his puppies checked out by a vet and the vet never indicated this to him. He said if anything comes up fatal, or if it doesn't heal let him know and he would work something out.

The vet my bro took the puppy to also indicated that the puppy looked too lean. I thought the puppy was built just right. So I don't know. Differing oppions between two vets and a breeder. Either way, my bro loves the dog and is going to keep it...

Anyone else have this murmur issue? Thanks.

Not with our boxers, but my second Mastiff pup had what they thought was one. Turned out it was a defective valve, and I had to return him to the breeder.

But even my vet said that if it was a murmur, 90% of the time they do out grow them, so I really hope that is the case for your brothers puppy.

BTW, really glad that the surprise went over so well!

Is it a bad thing, a heart murmur?

Obviously, it's not ideal, but there are different grades. I think my vet told me, that if they are going to out grow them, it should be gone by 3 months of age? I don't think if it is gone by then, it does any damage to the puppy. Is it eating normally? Sleeping too much? (Hard to gauge with a puppy, I know.)

reply to post by pityocamptes


I have never owned a dog, but murmurs can have various causes. One of them is cardiomyopathy. On the other hand, things might not be as serious as all that, so dont throw a fit yet.