OBJECTIVE: To determine heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) after IV administration of 3 doses of atropine to clinically normal, large-breed adult dogs. ANIMALS: 6 mixed-breed dogs, weighing between 23 and 50 kg. PROCEDURE: Continuous ECG were recorded prior to and following IV administration of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution and 0.02, 0.04, and 0.06 mg of atropine/kg of body weight. Heart rate and HRV within sympathetic and parasympathetic domains were determined, using customized software, and responses to treatments were compared. Each dog received all treatments with > or = 2 days between treatments. RESULTS: HR increased and HRV within the parasympathetic domain decreased after all atropine treatments, compared with pretreatment values. Heart rate was significantly higher after administration of 0.06 mg of atropine/kg than after 0.02 mg/kg but was not different from HR after administration of 0.04 mg/kg. Five of 6 dogs given the 0.04 or 0.06 mg/kg dose attained HR > 135 beats/min, but only 1 of 6 dogs given the 0.02 mg/kg dose attained a HR > 135 beats/min. Heart rate variability within the parasympathetic domain decreased significantly from pretreatment values after all atropine treatments. Atropine doses of 0.04 and 0.06 mg/kg induced significantly lower HRV than did the 0.02 mg/kg dose, but HRV after the higher doses were not different from each other. HRV within the sympathetic domain after any treatment did not change from pretreatment values. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: IV administration of 0.04 or 0.06 mg of atropine/kg increased HR and induced complete parasympathetic blockade in clinically normal, large-breed adult dogs.