Study of spontaneous congestive heart failure in the dog.

• The dog has been widely used in experimental procedures designed to approximate congestive failure of the circulatory system. It is not generally realized that many dogs are affected by spontaneous heart disease that resembles human congestive failure and other forms of human heart disease. Although the life span of dogs is relatively short in comparison to that of man, the more rapid aging process allows chronic as well as acute circulatory failure to develop. These conditions are more commonly found in house pets and hunting dogs, as contrasted to pound dogs with relatively shorter life spans. These considerations prompted us to describe our studies of spontaneously occurring heart disease in dogs.