Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, and translational research is needed to better understand mechanisms whereby the left ventricle responds to injury. Mouse models of heart disease have provided valuable insights into mechanisms that occur during cardiac aging and in response to a variety of pathologies. Assessing cardiovascular physiological responses to injury or insult is an important and necessary component of this research. With increasing consideration for rigor and reproducibility, the goal of this guidelines review is to provide best practice information regarding how to accurately measure cardiac physiology in animal models. In this article, we define guidelines for measuring cardiac physiology in mice as the most commonly used animal model in cardiovascular research.