Congenital heart defects in dogs vary by breed and can cause life-limiting cardiac disease from puppyhood, making pre-purchase screening and breeding health testing essential welfare tools.
Congenital heart disease causes welfare compromise from birth, with severe defects causing exercise intolerance, breathing difficulty, and early death. Dogs with uncorrected PDA develop congestive heart failure typically before 1-2 years of age. Interventional correction — balloon valvuloplasty for pulmonic stenosis, surgical or catheter-based PDA occlusion — can restore near-normal life expectancy. The welfare responsibility rests on breeders screening breeding stock before mating, veterinarians examining puppies before sale, and buyers understanding the importance of cardiac certification in predisposed breeds. Breeding from affected animals or known carriers perpetuates preventable congenital disease.