The most common cause of canine heart problems is valvular disease.^1,2Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) causes the mitral valve to thicken and become uneven, so the valve cannot form a perfect seal and blood leaks backwards in the wrong direction. MMVD more commonly affects small breeds,³ for example Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Boston Terriers, Chihuahuas, Fox Terriers, Miniature Pinschers, Poodles, Pekingese, Pomeranians and Whippets.

Key symptoms include a left apical systolic heart murmur resulting from mitral regurgitation.¹ MMVD is a progressive condition that leads to congestive heart failure in a substantial proportion of affected dogs,⁴ and, if left untreated, high mortality within 6–14 months of onset.⁵

In dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), heart muscle cells do not function properly. The heart dilates secondary to decreased function, enlarging and weakening with walls that are stretched and thin.  Dilation of the valve annulus causes leakage at the mitral valve resulting in a murmur. This disease progresses quickly. DCM more commonly affects large breeds,^6,7 for example Doberman Pinschers, Great Danes, Afghan Hounds, Boxers, Cocker Spaniels, Dalmations, Irish Wolfhounds, Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards and Scottish Deerhounds.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) in dogs refers to structural heart defects present at birth, often inherited or stemming from developmental issues. Although relatively uncommon (approx. 1.6% of dogs), CHD is serious, with commonly reported forms including e.g. pulmonic stenosis (PS), subaortic stenosis (SAS) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).⁸ Clinical signs include lethargy, exercise intolerance, coughing and syncope, typically appearing in puppies or young dogs.

A: The algorithm was developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eko Health. It has been trained and validated with input from renowned experts including Prof. Gerhard Wess, Prof. Jens Häggström, and Assoc. Prof. Ingrid Ljungvall. Valuable contributions were also received from Profs. Gordon and Scansen for expert sound annotation and consultancy. In total, almost 50 veterinary cardiologists across the EU and USA were involved, ensuring scientific rigor and clinical relevance.

A: Trained on thousands of expert-annotated heart sounds, CANINEBEAT® AI provides expert‑validated, AI‑supported assistance in everyday practice, helping clinicians detect and grade murmurs with greater confidence.

A: The specificity and sensitivity of CANINEBEAT® AI for detecting a murmur (yes vs no) related to structural heart disease is over 95%.

A: The CANINEBEAT® AI algorithm is ‘static’, which means it is trained on a fixed dataset provided by cardiologists and deployed without allowing open updates, so that the algorithm remains unchanged over time and delivers consistent and repeatable murmur assessments across every patient and every visit.

A: No. CANINEBEAT® AI does not replace diagnostic imaging. It is a supportive tool designed to aid veterinarians in the detection and grading of possible heart murmurs as part of the clinical examination. Decisions on further diagnostic steps, including whether and when to use imaging, remain entirely based on the veterinarian’s clinical judgement, the individual patient, and the overall clinical context.

A: CANINEBEAT® AI will be part of a solution coming soon that every veterinarian can use in clinic every day, to improve detection and communication of heart murmurs.

A: It is not currently on sale. It will be sold from the end of April onwards in specific regions of the world as part of an easy-to-use digital auscultation solution for every veterinarian.

A: Please ask your Boehringer Ingelheim representative for more information.

1. Atkins C, Bonagura J, Ettinger S, et al. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of canine chronic valvular heart disease. J Vet Intern Med. 2009;23:1142–1150.
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3. Rush JE. Chronic valvular heart disease in dogs. Proceedings from the 26th Annual Waltham Diets/OSU Symposium for the Treatment of Small Animal Cardiology; October 19–20, 2002.
4. Keene BW, Atkins CE, Bonagura JD, et al. ACVIM consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2019;33:1127–1140.
5. Borgarelli M and Buchanan JW. Historical review, epidemiology and natural history of degenerative mitral valve disease. J Vet Cardiol 2012;14(1):93–101.
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9. The Listen Study. 2026. Publication in submission.
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12. Rancier MA et al. Abstract 13244: Real world evaluation of an artificial intelligence enabled digital stethoscope for detecting undiagnosed valvular heart disease in primary care. Meeting Abstract: American Heart Association 2023 Scientific Sessions and the American Heart Association 2023 Resuscitation Science Symposium. Circulation. 2023;148 (Suppl 1).
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14. van Staveren MDB, Szatmari V. Detecting and recording cardiac murmurs in clinically healthy puppies in first opinion veterinary practice at the first health check. Acta Vet Scand 2020;62:37.
15. Mullowney D, Fuentes VL, Barfield D. Cardiac auscultation skills in final year veterinary students and recent veterinary graduates, referral hospital veterinary surgeons and veterinary cardiologists or cardiology residents. Vet Rec 2021;189:e305.
16. Christer Ahlström (2006). Processing of the Phonocardiographic Signal − Methods for the Intelligent Stethoscope. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköpings universitet, Sweden.