Registered: Jan 2005
Location: N.W. Indiana
Posts: 1077

Seems more and more dogs have low thyroid these days. Something's causing it cause numbers are way up on dogs on thyroid medicine. Any suggestions? Tell us your thyroid stories and treatments.

__________________

Dave Trumbo II
Kouts, IN
219-309-9257
Home of :
"GR NT CH TBO's Lucy Lawless"

R.I.P. :
"GR NT CH Chief Executive"
"GR NT CH Trumbos Lady"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2012
Location: athens tn.
Posts: 315

What are the common symptoms when dogs suffer from this?

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Pendleton, IN
Posts: 1365

Probably a lot of it has to do with genetics and line breeding.

I see a lot of people using it as an excuse as to why their dog look like a turd for a few weeks. Although I believe having low thyroid can effect the performance of a dog, I do not believe it is truly a measurement of performance. Meaning I have heard hunters (not Vets or any scientific literature) say a hound has to run a t4 of 2.5 or higher. Hogwash.

My Vet is a pretty smart guy (much smarter than me) and is actively involved in trainng and research at one of the top Vet schools in the country. His take on low thyroid in dogs is this. #1 its the most over diagnosed disease in canines. He says if a Vet is treating more than 1% of his practice for hypothyroid, he or she is over treating the disease. #2 a low T4 is not sufficient enough testing to diagnose and begin treatment for low thyroid. He suggest a Thyroid Panel and at the very least a free T4, TSH, and T4 by ED (which is a more sensitive measure of free T4). I will try to link a few helpful web pages.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2005
Location: N.W. Indiana
Posts: 1077

Most say overheating and sluggish. Lose there mouth and nose.

__________________

Dave Trumbo II
Kouts, IN
219-309-9257
Home of :
"GR NT CH TBO's Lucy Lawless"

R.I.P. :
"GR NT CH Chief Executive"
"GR NT CH Trumbos Lady"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2011
Location: Winfield WV
Posts: 507

Had a vet tell me that the thyroid is located behind the wind pipe if the levels are low it causes the thyroid to enlarge therefore puts pressure on the wind pipe which causes problems for the dog to breath when very actice. So say you take your dog hunting it has thyroid problems it runs for a couple hours and trees... it isn't getting enough oxygen into its system to maintain its energy level... so starts to slow down.. the next day it just lays around and sleeps all day you try to take it again the next night and it acts like it doesn't even want to go hunting.. and the third is even worse... you put the dog up for a couple days and it sort of has some of its energy back.. it was able to lay around and get its blood oxygen levels where they need to be once again... it make since to me that if the thyroid is acting up and putting pressure on the wind pipe and the dog isnt treeing that hard it is having to catch its breath in there so can't bark every breath... gets hung up on a track because it is trying to get more oxygen into its system by breathing through its mouth instead of using its nose.. so I can see why the thyroid can effect the way the dog hunts...

__________________
Toler's Kanawha River Kennels

Home of:
GRCH GRNITECH 'PR' LB Red Hot Sweat "Rock" HTX (R.I.P ROCK, 1/27/13)
Former Home of PKC CH AKC CGN GRNITECH CH 'PR' Toler's TriColor Taz
2013 UKC World Qualified
2013 PKC World Qualified
2013/2014 AKC World Qualified
2013 WV State AKC Champion
2014 Ohio State AKC Champion
2014 WV State AKC Youth Champion

PROUD SUPPORTER OF:
E-TOWN KENNELS & SUPPLY
http://www.etownkennelssupply.com/default.html

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2013
Location: Iowa
Posts: 363

iread these adds every day. I see more of a thyroid problem in the wipeout line of dogs. Why is that?

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2012
Location: McRae Ar
Posts: 3701

I am beginning to wander if they even know what a hounds thyroid level is supposed to be. Almost all of them come back as a .6 T4 and the first thing they do is slap them on meds. They did it to my female. She was treeing coons as good as she ever had and looked fine. They started her on the pills and she went down hill. Her coat started looking bad her performance in the woods was up and down. This has went on for almost a year. I stopped giving her the meds. Her coat looks good now and her performance is back to what it should be. I'm thinking a lot of dogs are being diagnosed with it when they shouldn't be.

The flip side to it is if they do have a problem then it is genetic and there is more than one stud dog that have been diagnosed with it. Maybe it needs to be a question that is asked when you are trying to figure out what to breed too.

__________________
Michael Rosamond
Sunspot Lights
936-827-6309
http://www.sunspotlights.com/
When brightness matters!!

Home Of:
PKC Ch, Grch Grnch 2008 Tx state champion They call me Crazy Betty

PKC SCh CH Grnch They call me Howler too

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2013
Location:
Posts: 226

Maybe the government should start checking peoples thyroids . There is a lot of lazy , non working low energy people out there . Hell instead of Obama care give every body free thyroid meds . Would be cheaper than free health care , housing and so on.


On serious note I have hunted with dogs that have been on thyroid meds . The dogs owners stated unless your really hunting the dog hard , like night after night you would never notice a problem

Last edited by purk on 06-07-2014 at 06:33 PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2012
Location: SE MN
Posts: 412

I know of at least 2 popular strains of walkers that carry thyroid issues. Doesn't seem to hurt their ability but I think several behavior issues & sometimes the slumps dogs go through are directly related to thyroid issues that are often overlooked.
Sometimes it goes unnoticed and sometimes the owners are content with having to treat it.
Personally there are a couple lines I always stayed clear of because I didn't want to increase my odds of having to deal with it, at times that's difficult as popular as some of those lines are. Personally if people wouldn't line breed on them it might not be so prevalent.
I'm glad I'm not in the market for a hound anymore. Nearly every walker dog my buddies have bought over the last few years either has thyroid issues, or carries the lines that do, or has tick disease issues.

__________________
Wild Sky Kennels
___________________________
Home of at least one decent dog....

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2012
Location: SE MN
Posts: 412

quote:

---

Originally posted by joey
I am beginning to wander if they even know what a hounds thyroid level is supposed to be. Almost all of them come back as a .6 T4 and the first thing they do is slap them on meds. They did it to my female. She was treeing coons as good as she ever had and looked fine. They started her on the pills and she went down hill. Her coat started looking bad her performance in the woods was up and down. This has went on for almost a year. I stopped giving her the meds. Her coat looks good now and her performance is back to what it should be. I'm thinking a lot of dogs are being diagnosed with it when they shouldn't be.

The flip side to it is if they do have a problem then it is genetic and there is more than one stud dog that have been diagnosed with it. Maybe it needs to be a question that is asked when you are trying to figure out what to breed too.

---

__________________
Wild Sky Kennels
___________________________
Home of at least one decent dog....

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2003
Location: North GA
Posts: 14388

Excuse for one looking like crap. A majority of the time anyhow. Some really do have a problem.

__________________
Michael Ghorley

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Feb 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 636

Mine was a big hunting, get treed somewhere type of dog! He went from that, to a 100yd. dog, look for something easy to tree, and do a lot of standing around. Took him to a vet, and he was skeptical about a low thyroid, but tested anyway. My dogs was at .2! I take a thyroid pill everyday of my life, and I decided there was no reason why I should be on them, so I quit taking them for about 2 months. In that 2 month period, I almost lost my job, wife couldn't stand to be around me, and I had zero energy! Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get back on my meds. The wife still can't stand to be around me, but that may be another problem. LOL Oh, and by the way, after about 2 or 3 weeks on his meds, my dog got back to normal.

__________________
From the great philosopher, Ron White, "you can`t fix stupid"
The 9 most terrifying words, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help"........Ronald Reagan





Bruce Profitt

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2010
Location: jamestown,pa
Posts: 612

quote:

---

Originally posted by brogy
I know of at least 2 popular strains of walkers that carry thyroid issues. Doesn't seem to hurt their ability but I think several behavior issues & sometimes the slumps dogs go through are directly related to thyroid issues that are often overlooked.
Sometimes it goes unnoticed and sometimes the owners are content with having to treat it.
Personally there are a couple lines I always stayed clear of because I didn't want to increase my odds of having to deal with it, at times that's difficult as popular as some of those lines are. Personally if people wouldn't line breed on them it might not be so prevalent.
I'm glad I'm not in the market for a hound anymore. Nearly every walker dog my buddies have bought over the last few years either has thyroid issues, or carries the lines that do, or has tick disease issues.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2012
Location: SE MN
Posts: 412

I have to correct myself... One of the lines that is known to have thyroid issues was already mentioned by someone else. The other that I had in mind suffers from seizures not thyroid. Might not be one in the same. Either way, some top hounds from those lines but I've seen or known of enough issues with the two lines that I personally would not want to line breed on either but it is being done all the time.

__________________
Wild Sky Kennels
___________________________
Home of at least one decent dog....

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Feb 2012
Location: Rockwell, NC
Posts: 268

Believe it or not if a vet tech draws blood into a serum separator tube (black and red top) instead of a plain red top tube the test will be way way off. Unfortunately a lot of vet techs draw the blood and don't know that a serum separator or gel tube literally eats hormones. Most vets do not monitor the drawing. This mistake at the vet office is the single most common error in any type of hormone test. Including progesterone. I have heard of a rash of errors by an endocrinologist friend of mine. So next time ask them to make sure they use a red top tube. It seems like something you shouldn't have to check but you do.

__________________
"The Frozen Semen Specialist"
CCH GRCH 'PR' Brushy Mtn Dust To Diamonds
BMOS SETW Days 'PR' Knockhill Fast Freddy

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2008
Location: Midway Tn
Posts: 419

I believe my male has a thyroid problem but for one reason only. I hunted him hard after being laid up for about a month to get him ready for a hunt. After about two weeks of hunting he just got to where he didn't want to eat and got weak and lazy. I gave him a day or two off a week to rest but the more I hunted him the worse he looked. It was during winter so I know he wasn't overheating. I laid him up for a week before the hunt and he acted normal and even won the hunt.

__________________
David Gunter

The Old Dog

Gunters Hardwoods Hank - Walker - Cumberland River Marvin x Peppermint Pepper

Girly Girl - Feist - Super Sport x Gannons Heidi

The Pups

Gunters Sweet Tn Kandy Kane - Redbone - Kodak x Ruby

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2012
Location: burnt district MO/KS border
Posts: 787

Mostly its just something that's WAY over diagnosed...sort of the "new fad"/new excuse of hounds for the last several years.

there is also something to be said for the fact that a lot of the ones who realy have it are never known because there coffie shop coonhunter handlers never accualy put them in the woods enough to notice.

mostly it shows up in some dogs who are "wired 440"........and I have wondered if sometimes it might be the reason they ARE wired 440....runs super high (and the cause of the supercharge) then crashes (after a long period of hard hard hunting)

but mostly I think its just the new fad/excuse.

The vet I use for hounds also treats most of the other comp dogs in this area.......when a dog I used to hunt started acting "off" ( turns out he had some issues with tick diseases) first thing almost all of the local hunters said was "thyroid".......so I take him to the vet to get some tests done and tell him one guy in particular (who has done pretty well with his walkers) mentioned it might be a thyroid issue and if he (vet) thought we should check it too.......

his exact words were " **** (not going to say his name) has thyroid on the dam brain...he thinks every dang dog has a thyroid issue.."

that same guy treats just about every dog he owns for "thyroid" issues to this day.

__________________
when policemen ignore the law, then there isn't any law. there's just a fight for survival.

*billy jack

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

Robert E. Lee

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Feb 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 636

Yeah, that's what I want to do, pay my vet $100 bucks to have him checked, give my dog 2 pills a day for life, just so I have an excuse when he trees slick!!!!!! Give me a break.

__________________
From the great philosopher, Ron White, "you can`t fix stupid"
The 9 most terrifying words, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help"........Ronald Reagan





Bruce Profitt

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2011
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 1309

Got ellichia {spelling?} from a tick.Infection in her body ended up making her thyroid go way down to .2
I'm sure the all doxy didn't help her body either.If I remember right she was on doxy 2 pills a day for 30 days.

She acted like she was 15yrs old until vet finally checked it.Never affected her mouth though.
After getting her thyroid numbers back up,she acts and hunts like before.Actually became real independent after getting back healthy.

__________________
'Pr' Grnitech Pkc Ch. Skuna River Midnight Moe
Skuna River Bark x Trackman's Famous Sassy{littermate to Cold Sweat}

'Pr' Nitech. Stylish Clover Shark Jill
Great White Shark x Brush Creek Patch
Queen of hunt TWBFA Walker Sectional.Franklin Co. Coonhunters{Oh.}2013.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2012
Location: McRae Ar
Posts: 3701

quote:

---

Originally posted by prostockpat
Got ellichia {spelling?} from a tick.Infection in her body ended up making her thyroid go way down to .2
I'm sure the all doxy didn't help her body either.If I remember right she was on doxy 2 pills a day for 30 days.

She acted like she was 15yrs old until vet finally checked it.Never affected her mouth though.
After getting her thyroid numbers back up,she acts and hunts like before.Actually became real independent after getting back healthy.

---

__________________
Michael Rosamond
Sunspot Lights
936-827-6309
http://www.sunspotlights.com/
When brightness matters!!

Home Of:
PKC Ch, Grch Grnch 2008 Tx state champion They call me Crazy Betty

PKC SCh CH Grnch They call me Howler too

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2011
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 1309

quote:

---

Originally posted by joey
Its an epidemic around here. The doxy usually gets rid of it but it comes back. Do you have a tick problem? Its normally a southern problem.

---

__________________
'Pr' Grnitech Pkc Ch. Skuna River Midnight Moe
Skuna River Bark x Trackman's Famous Sassy{littermate to Cold Sweat}

'Pr' Nitech. Stylish Clover Shark Jill
Great White Shark x Brush Creek Patch
Queen of hunt TWBFA Walker Sectional.Franklin Co. Coonhunters{Oh.}2013.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2012
Location: burnt district MO/KS border
Posts: 787

we tried the tetra and doxy treatments with loose, and nada. erlicia and RMSF. I had my vet bring in Imasol and it worked...think it was 2 shots total a few days or a week apart, I cant remember for sure now.

by then between the drugs and the diseases he was pretty run down.........but he came back to show us a steller night here and there for a cpl yrs after.

__________________
when policemen ignore the law, then there isn't any law. there's just a fight for survival.

*billy jack

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

Robert E. Lee

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2011
Location: CULLODEN WV
Posts: 705

wipeout and coma dogs have it the worse I have ben tould it is common in them it must be hereditary just what I was tould

__________________
MudRiverDogs
Home of: 2015-Purina Outstanding Nite Hunt Dog of the year
RIP GRCH GRNITECH PKC CH 'PR' ASHBY'S SALT RIVER DENNIS
GRCH GRNITECH PKC CH 'PR'KEATON'S MUD RIVER BIG MACK
GRCH GRNITECH PKC CH 'PR'CHARLEY CREEK LOTA HEART
GRNITECH'PR' KOCH'S FINAL DESTIONATION
GRNITECH'PR' CHARLEY CREEK BIG BUGSY
GRNITECH GRCH'PR'SMOKEY MTN MERCY

Doug Keaton
304-840-3943

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged