15/09/2026
How do different dog behaviors impact heart rate variability? 🐕
While HRV is increasingly used to assess canine health and well-being, short-term reference values for everyday dog behaviors have historically been lacking.
A study by Päivi Berg et al. addresses this gap by establishing short-term reference ranges for HR and HRV across five typical behaviors: resting, playing, panting, spontaneous sniffing, and searching for food.
Key findings from the study:
• Behavioral differentiation: Vagal-reflective metrics like RMSSD and HF power proved to be the most sensitive parameters for distinguishing between different behavioral states.
• Emotional arousal vs. physical activity: During food searching, RMSSD was significantly lower than during spontaneous sniffing—even though activity levels were identical—demonstrating how emotional arousal independently influences HRV.
• Baseline variations: Resting voluntarily produced exceptionally high HRV values, highlighting the contrast between calm, natural states and restrained measurements.
The study highlights how HRV data can help us better understand canine behavior, emotions, and physical responses, with potential use in both research and monitoring dog wellbeing.
📖 Read the full study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159125003983