Boxers as a breed are pretty endearing dogs, but they can be heartbreakers, too. One of the diseases they’re prone to is a type of cardiomyopathy called ARVC for short, a heart disease that also affects people.

In humans and boxers alike, ARVC is often silent—in fact, the first sign may be sudden death. And most boxers with the disease aren’t diagnosed until they’re at least 5 years old and by then, they could have passed it on to their pups.

Diagnosis of boxer ARVC currently includes family history, analysis of data gathered by a heart monitor and findings from a heart ultrasound, or echocardiogram. But now, veterinary cardiologists are researching whether an antibody called anti-DSG2 is as common in boxers as in people with ARVC. If so, screening for that biomarker could enable lifesaving treatment much earlier in a dog’s life.