Registered: Sep 2012
Location:
Posts: 74

i wll try to keep this short, got a 2 year old male, bluetick smoky river and pop-a-top bred, has been hunted primarily by himself since january of this year, has looked really good, not perfect but good, has treed a pile of coon by himself in thin coon here in Oklahoma, have not hunted him much this summer due to heat and it being so dry, maybe once a week, i started trying to get him back in shape in mid-august hunting a couple times a week, he picked up where he left off , looked good for about two weeks, then i noticed he was taking longer to get treed, backtracking, would locate then move on, then come back to same tree, he seemed to get worse and acting more weird, he got to where you had to drag him out of the box, (he always has been a hard hunter) he might go 100 yards circle around and go back to truck, or go 200 yards and just stop in the woods and not do anything, he acted like he lost his mind!! this happened on 2 different occasions , only thing different is i did hunt him with another dog and he looked pretty good, but by himslef was a wreck. acted like he had no clue what to do.

,he looks and acts fine at home, no weight gain hair and coat are great , looks in great shape. i feed the Valu-Pack 24/20 red bag. had him on the Simparica-trio all summer.

took him to vet, they did all blood work for tick diseases, heartworm tests, intestinal worm tests.. all good except thyroid was .70, prescribed the thyroxine .8mg twice a day. what is yalls experience with thyroid dogs, does this sound similar? have the pills helped ? any diet changed needed? any substutute for the pills ?anyones opinion or comments would be great, just want my dog back like before.

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Registered: Jul 2012
Location: AR
Posts: 288

In my opinion thyroid dysfunction is way over diagnosed. I would lay him up for 3-4 weeks and put him on a better quality of dog food with chelated minerals and then try him again. If the dog is still not back to himself get a full thyroid panel done not just a t-4 test. I’ve been down this road and after rest and a full thyroid panel done the vet changed her mind on prescribing the pills.

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Registered: Feb 2015
Location: NW Arkansas
Posts: 1082

What I'm going to say is not very encouraging. My dog was about 2 1/2 and as nice as I ever had. Started acting exactly like you described your dog. Vet said very light reaction for Erlichia so we treated for that, didn't help. then tested for thyroid. Was .8 so we treated for that. And we treated for Erlichia and new treatment from university of MO. A lot of money and time later and the dog was really no better. Eventually died at about 6 years old. I have no idea what was really wrong with him.

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Tom Wood

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5502

The thyroid is no laughing matter, a few years back I was having some health issues that turned out to be my thyroid. I am fine now and take 1 pill every morning. I can not say that your dogs problem is directly related to his thyroid due to your statement saying he looked good with another dog. I do NOT think he would act any better just hunting with another dog ( might be wrong). Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Pendleton, IN
Posts: 1362

quote:

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Originally posted by Jgarrett
In my opinion thyroid dysfunction is way over diagnosed. I would lay him up for 3-4 weeks and put him on a better quality of dog food with chelated minerals and then try him again. If the dog is still not back to himself get a full thyroid panel done not just a t-4 test. I’ve been down this road and after rest and a full thyroid panel done the vet changed her mind on prescribing the pills.

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Registered: Sep 2007
Location: Glenmont,Ohio
Posts: 1149

quote:

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Originally posted by Wes Coffman
Good info here.

I will add, there was a study published showing no difference in a once a day dosing vs twice a day dosing in dogs….happy to supply the reference if anyone is interested. Many vets only know what they were taught years ago in vet school.

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Registered: Sep 2012
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Posts: 74

would really like the information on the dosing of just once a day, thanks !

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Registered: Sep 2012
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Posts: 74

would really like the information on the dosing of just once a day, thanks !

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5502

As far as dosing 1 time a day, I take 1 tablet first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and wait one hour before eating anything. This is to let the pill absorb. The only 2 dogs I have ever owned that were thyroid dogs, they were given 1 pill per day on a empty stomach and were fine. The pills have a half life of 6 to 7 days and do not have to be taken 2 times per day. Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

Last edited by Dave Richards on 09-28-2023 at 01:06 AM

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22404

No matter what the cause or if they are a "true thyroid dog" or if you have had a full panel done or just a T4 level; the bottom line is, if there T4 level is low you need to give them thyroxine pills. And studies have shown that you can give it once a day.

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Registered: Sep 2007
Location: Glenmont,Ohio
Posts: 1149

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
No matter what the cause or if they are a "true thyroid dog" or if you have had a full panel done or just a T4 level; the bottom line is, if there T4 level is low you need to give them thyroxine pills. And studies have shown that you can give it once a day.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5502

As we learn more regarding our dogs health, you will see more dogs that have thyroid issues. I honestly thing that this problem/issue has been around for many years. I think we all have see dogs die at a earlier than normal life span over the past years and did not know the cause. Thyroid issues can be both heritary and injury based. The thyroid sits in the throat and can be damaged by dogs jumping pulling on the lead or chain. Most hunters leash their dogs at the tree and the dogs pull hard trying to get back to the tree. The thyroid itself is very small and can certainly be damaged by such activities. If thyroid issues are NOT treated a dog can die, as I suspect many have died from thyroid problems over the years. When my heart doctor discovered my thyroid issue we discussed what happens if not treated and bottom line is death, as the heart would slow down so much that you would die. Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Jan 2016
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Posts: 570

If you live where you get really cold weather in the winter you’ll also find that a dog with thyroid issues will not do well in cold weather if it is not on thyroid medication.

Thyroid issues are definitely hereditary. I know of it going down through a line of dogs for 5 generations. It took 4 generations before it finally came to light. This went back to the late 1960’s and it was finally brought to light by a vet in the early 1980’s. The pills are pretty cheap and need to be given ounce a day for the rest of their lives but it works. It is definitely a genetic fault that is passed on to progeny.

The dogs that I had and the dogs they came from were heavily Vaughn and Jocasee Valley blooded blueticks. Most of them died at 7-8 years old and began looking and acting like old dogs at the age of 5-6 yrs.

Not sure what it costs now but it was about .10 cents a day when I was getting it for my last coon hound forty years ago.

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Dan

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Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Willard Oh.
Posts: 1233

Most likely it's allergies, seen few that acted just as your description

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5502

quote:

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Originally posted by DL NH
If you live where you get really cold weather in the winter you’ll also find that a dog with thyroid issues will not do well in cold weather if it is not on thyroid medication.

Thyroid issues are definitely hereditary. I know of it going down through a line of dogs for 5 generations. It took 4 generations before it finally came to light. This went back to the late 1960’s and it was finally brought to light by a vet in the early 1980’s. The pills are pretty cheap and need to be given ounce a day for the rest of their lives but it works. It is definitely a genetic fault that is passed on to progeny.

The dogs that I had and the dogs they came from were heavily Vaughn and Jocasee Valley blooded blueticks. Most of them died at 7-8 years old and began looking and acting like old dogs at the age of 5-6 yrs.

Not sure what it costs now but it was about .10 cents a day when I was getting it for my last coon hound forty years ago.

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: North MO
Posts: 2338

Every time a dog goes into a funk it doesn't need thyroid pills. Sometimes that is just what the dog is.

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Location: North MO
Posts: 2338

quote:

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Originally posted by Dave Richards
Dan, your experience just confirmed my thought on thyroid dogs and early deaths due to non treatment of the thyroid issues. We never suspected a thyroid problem back in the day. Looking back on this I suspect that a lot of dogs blowed up and died at a younger age due to thyroid issues. Now we know to check for thyroid issues , thus we are seeing more thyroid problems. The naysa"yers are not wanting to accept this ( "sudden" ) increase of thyroid dogs. My thoughts and your experience proves that we have had this problem for many years. It is easily treated and is NOT the end of the World. Dave

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
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quote:

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Originally posted by Josh Michaelis
We've had multiple dogs who's thyroid levels were low. We live in a pretty cold area. We never treated them. They all passed at an old age and were healthy until the last few weeks. .

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Emporia, Kansas
Posts: 370

i have only had one have thyroid problems.. this was in the late 80's she went from being a real nice ever night cooner to doing all kinds of stupid stuff. leaving trees, back tracking , not loading, and lost most of her hair. vet gave the diagnosis and pills to 'cure"
worked great for about 9-10 months. then back again.. next test---low again.. another round worked good after increasing the dosage.
was about a year before it was back increased it again..
I gave her to a fellow just getting started and he had a god 8 months .. then his vet doubled the dosage. worked for about another year.

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Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Emporia, Kansas
Posts: 370

i have only had one have thyroid problems.. this was in the late 80's she went from being a real nice ever night cooner to doing all kinds of stupid stuff. leaving trees, back tracking , not loading, and lost most of her hair. vet gave the diagnosis and pills to 'cure"
worked great for about 9-10 months. then back again.. next test---low again.. another round worked good after increasing the dosage.
was about a year before it was back increased it again..
I gave her to a fellow just getting started and he had a good 8 months .. then his vet doubled the dosage. worked for about another year.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5502

It's a shame the misinformation that exists in the hunting community regarding thyroid issues in our dogs. A true thyroid dog needs the meds to function at a normal level and if they are not hypothyroid giving meds is just as bad. Hyperthyroid causes the heart to race at a dangerous level and makes the dogs hyper in their actions, a hypothyroid dog is sluggish and can not perform at a normal level. My suggestions to every one is to study the information available regarding hypothyroid and hyperthyroid symptoms and inform yourselves of this information. Make your own conclusions based on facts not someone's opinion. Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Dave, I agree with what you’ve said and I appreciate your real life perspective of how important the thyroid issues can be. I’ve had 4 hounds that tested low on a t4 snap test at the vet. After a full panel was done , only one turned out to be a true “thyroid dog”. All his glands worked as they should but his body produced too much Thyroglobulin autoantibodies which consumes the T4 at a much faster rate than it could be produced. So he was given thyroxine (pills) to get his levels more normal. The other 3 had underlying issues that stresses the dogs system causing them to test low. Giving them the pills would only have been a band aid to the true issues. Many of the dogs on pills are not tested in depth enough to know if they are thyroid dogs or not. I’ve learned this from thousands of dollars in vet bills and continued monitoring of the dogs health. It’s call thyroid sick syndrome. I am not saying anyone’s response is wrong, just test more in depth to see what you have. I appreciate all your posts on the subject Dave.

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