# Questions Regarding Aggression And Hypothyroidism (Non GSD)



## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

So after reading about the connection between thyroid deficiencies and aggression, I'm starting to wonder if my Sheltie mix, Riley, may have that problem...


Her history is a little complicated, but this is the background information: I adopted her a little over a year and a half ago. The shelter told me she had been abused and it was quite evident. She was a submissive pee-er, horrified of cars, wouldn't walk through doorways (I think that's probably because she was left outside and if she tried to come in people would kick her/yell at her), scared of other dogs, just very skittish in general. After about 6 months of working with her, lots of love, and serious socialization, she started to come around and became a completely new dog. She showed almost no signs of what she used to be like, and she was no longer afraid of dogs of any size. I was living in California at the time and we would frequent the dog beach where she would interact with dogs of varying sizes with no problem.

Flash forward to about 6 months ago. I'm noticing that Riley is starting to show aggression with larger dogs, out of nowhere. She doesn't outright attack them, but if they come too close to her, she snaps at them and if they don't back up, she'll lunge and bark to get them to move away. This then seems to transfer to skateboarders, bikers, and runners. She doesn't attack them or go to bite them, but she barks and chases them. Now within recent months, I've even seen her beginning to snarl at smaller dogs, chihuahua size dogs even, though it's much more rare. Now it's to the point where we'll be on walks and she barks at dogs across the street who haven't done anything to her. Or on the occasions that we go to the dog park (We haven't been going much lately) she's barking at the dogs before we even get into the gate.

Two other things to note: Back in September-ish of last year I noticed her scratching and chewing much more than usual, and upon inspection, I saw she was chewing herself raw around her hips, so I got her into the Vet. The Vet said she noticed a pustule or two indicating a bacterial infection, got her on medication to clear it up, and it seemed to get better. She's not had anything similar since. The other notable thing is that she's gained weight despite ample exercise. I switched her food to a reduced diet, upped her exercise even more, and she's still not losing, it's really baffling me. I've been running her on my bike a few times a week, throwing the ball in the yard or the field for her, and no change in her weight, it makes no sense. She's been on the new diet probably about 3 weeks now and not one pound has come off.

Some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism were A. Skin related issues. B. Weight gain. and C. Behavioral changes, all of which she seems to have. I guess what I'm asking you guys is, does it seem like with these behavioral changes I've described that it could be a thyroid related issue? Or does it sound more like a fear thing and having to do with the fact that she had been abused? The behavioral issues that were described when I was reading about hypothyroidism seemed to be more like the dog had no idea what was going on, sort of like a momentary lapse of control, so I don't know if what I'm describing constitutes a thyroid problem. If I don't see some sort of change in her weight in the next few weeks I'm going to get her into the Vet to have her thyroid checked out.

I don't know, do you guys think this could be thyroid related?


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i would most defintely check the thyroid.............anytime there are behavioral and physical changes its very possible..............

just make sure they do the full thyroid panel........i just had my young male done and sent the blood to dr jean dodds lab................if you haven't already, i would read her info on thyroid issues..............


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

This whole time I had been attributing her behavior to either her hitting adolescence or just a new found fear of big dogs, I really don't know. Like I said though, I'm not so sure now. I plan on having her thyroid checked out if I see no improvement with her weight as that will definitely show that if it doesn't budge despite a change in diet, then something else is going on. I also noticed after giving her a bath yesterday that she seemed to lose a lot more fur than usual, it appeared to be coming out in clumps, which I've never seen it do. Though it is the middle of summer in Phoenix and she hates baths, so it could have been a combination of stress and her blowing her coat...


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## Mary Jane (Mar 3, 2006)

Melina, it's really easy to get a full thyroid panel done with Dr. Dodds' reading the results for you. I think the main site is itsfortheanimals.com. They provide very clear instructions on how to ship the blood (your vet should draw it for you). She has assembled a very large data base on normal values of several hormones and auto-antibodies for different dog breeds and can give you a much more informed analysis than many other labs. Between the behavioral change, the skin problem, and the unexplained weight gain I agree that thyroid deficiency may play a part. If so, it's not bad at all because replacement hormone is very cheap.

Good luck,
MJ


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Alright, so I'm almost certain there's something wrong with her thyroid, and she's going to the Vet ASAP. We just weighed her this morning and she's put on _5 freaking pounds!!!_. She's been on a diet now for well over a month, probably close to two, and she's even eating less! Admittedly, she's not getting as much exercise as she was, but the fact that she's on a low calorie food and not finishing it should make her lose weight, not gain 5 pounds! She's up to 39 from 34. There's definitely something wrong, it's not possible for her to put on that amount of weight without something being wrong. She's going to the Vet ASAP.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

Riley just went to the Vet this afternoon and had blood drawn for a Thyroid test. I'm actually hoping there's something wrong with her Thyroid as it would explain so much about her weight, her fur loss, her behavior, etc. If it comes back normal, I will be completely baffled. The Vet agreed with me that it did sound like there's something up with her Thyroid. I get the results back Monday, I hope it's that so I can finally find out what's going on with her. :fingerscrossed:


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

I was reading some old threads on hypothyroidism. I'm curious, how did things turn out for Riley?


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