1 year old collie - hypothyroidism?

[bronbb]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice about my 1 year and 4 month old bearded x border collie who we have had since he was 8 weeks old. He's a lovely, very friendly boy who loves everyone and enjoys training classes.

Within the last month he started showing unexplained aggression to us and a couple of other people who he knows. There is absolutely no pattern to this, for example the last event he came for a fuss and put his front paws on my knee, then after 3 seconds turned and snarled/snapped, then immediately after pushed his head into my hand for more fusses.

We have had him vet checked and they say he is fine. I asked for blood tests (inc. electrolytes) and a full thyroid panel. Looking at Jean Dodds' research, I think, as he is an adolescent dog, his levels should be in the top half of the normal range, so they seem low to me. However, the vet says it's in the normal range and therefore ok.

His random aggression makes us wary of having him near anyone, although he is still lovely most of the time. Does anyone have any experience of this? Do you think his bloods are ok or may suggest hypothyroidism?

Also, we have seen an ABPC behaviourist who has known him since a pup and who thinks this is unlikely to a behavioural issue.

I have tried to attached his bloods but it says the upload folder is full so I have summarised them below:

Cholesterol 6.42   mmol/L [range 3.20 - 6.20]
Thyroxine 20.5 nmol/L [range 13.0 - 51.0]
Canine Serum TSH 0.26 ng/mL [range   0.00 - 0.50]
Free T4 (equilibrium dialysis) 14.5 pmol/L [range   6.0 - 40.0]
TGAA Negative

Thank you very much!

[Catherine]

Hmm.. a difficult one. On the one hand it is best not to jump to conclusions, but on the other hand dogs are not all  the same so "normal range" may not be normal for them!

The bloods could be suggestive of Hypothyroidism, maybe sub-clinical at this time. This may account for the aggression. The elevated cholesterol and TSH and the T4  on the low side could all be leaning towards Hypothyroidism. Has he any other symptoms?

On the other hand it could be related to hormones as he is now adult. Is he neutered?

[bronbb]

Hi and thank you very much for your quick reply.

He's not neutered. He is also scratching a lot (enough to make us triple check he doesn't have fleas) and he keeps lying down on walks (after about 20 mins) like he's tired, which is definitely not normal for him. He also recently became reactive to the other dogs at training, in the summer he had no problem training in class, I thought this may just be a maturity thing. Other than that there's nothing specific.

Thanks again.

[Catherine]

Yes it is worrying. The scratching may not be related - it could be an allergy. The lethargy is more worrying. I presume his other blood test results were okay - no anaemia for instance? Does he seem to be in any pain?

Perhaps you can keep a diary of when he seems aggressive. If he had a pain now and again that might make him grumpy. I assume he can see and hear well? Are his feet, nails okay?

Hopefully Jo Tucker will be along soon with some ideas.

[bronbb]

No he's not anaemic. In fact, his Hct was slightly high 0.577 L/L [range 0.383 - 0.565] but his MCV, MHC, MCHC were all normal range.

He doesn't seem to be in any pain. He will let me feel him all over and doesn't show any signs of pain. The times he has growled when having a fuss have been when touching different parts of him (head or ribs or back) so it didn't seem like there was any one painful area. He can see and hear very well and his feet and nails are all normal.

I'm keeping a diary of everything, including the events before/after any growling etc.

Thank you.

[Catherine]

The slightly high HCT could be dehydration or stress especially if he has had to wait at the vets.

The fact that the aggression is over in minutes is strange. I know dogs sometimes inadvertently bite a human's hand say and then immediately let the pressure off, does it sound like that? Does he make any sound when he is aggressive? Does he show aggression at other times but not with humans or dogs? For instance could he be laying down and suddenly growl or "jump"? (I am thinking like a pain or something shoots quickly through him?).

[bronbb]

Hi.
No it isn't like that. It's quite scary, snarling/growling and lunging with his teeth bared, which he has never ever done before (even when a puppy). His eyes seem to glaze over. But then I can usually snap him out of it by saying 'this way' or one of his other commands. It's enough to make you wary of going near him.
No, he doesn't seem to do it when he's on his own, only when aimed at someone.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi and welcome

The bloods look good and I would say that he is not hypothyroid.  The TT4 and FT4 are well within range and there is no suggestion of levels struggling because the TSH is low and there are no antibodies present.  Thyroid replacement therapy should not be given unless the dog is clinically hypothyroid.

My first thoughts, especially if he is not in pain, would be that may be a behavioural issue, especially as he is adolescent, entire and a young pubescent dog.  I am not a behaviourist but perhaps diversion tactics might be worth a try perhaps with a treat or a toy.  This may not be as easy as it sounds if you get no warning of the aggression. I wonder if he would benefit from seeing a behaviourist who specialises in these sort of cases?   A friend of mine, who is a trainer, helped me with someone in a similar situation to you by writing an email.  I know she won't mind me sharing this info:


I'd recommend to them that they have a 121 session with a good, positive, reward based dog trainer. They can look on the ABTC website for someone.  https://abtc.org.uk/practitioners/

Meanwhile, my thoughts are this - he's probably better for the husband because he is slightly scared - not because the husband is mean to him or anything, but purely because men are usually bigger, have a deep voice and are naturally more 'scary' than women with our more gentle voices and gentle demeanour.  It's not because the dog is dominant or anything like that, he's just a boisterous young dog. Are they doing anything like scent work with him, nose down, using his brain a lot is good for all adolescent dogs.  Does he have enough chewing time - proper chews he actually eats, dogs should spend about an hour a day chewing or licking.  (see my list below)  So licking and chewing time, scent work time - laying trails of kibble in the garden, finding hidden toys or treats.  When putting his harness on, I would have him licking something like a lickmat stuck to the fridge door https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0859Y8GZG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_YW0FW3697D5GFDYEJBBP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 


something like that? ^



Long lasting dog chews - please do add to the list with your own favourites.
Please note - these are the chews my dogs like and these take my dogs (E Setter, setter x pointer, and cocker) a fairly long time, 20 - 30 minutes usually. The buffalo chews are enormous and I don't generally let them eat a whole one as it's too big. I have mentioned broken teeth with antlers and horns as I have heard of it happening but it hasn't happened with my own dogs. I really like both these suppliers - JR Pet Products and D Burns Pet Treats. I'm sure there are plenty of other suppliers but they're the ones I use regularly.
Edited to add: it's better for your dog to chew on a chew that they are going to eat, as opposed to something like an antler or a nylabone where they just chew it and nothing goes into their tummy. When a dog chews, their tummy produces all the chemicals to digest food, and if nothing appears, that's not very good for them.
Chewing relieves stress. ALL the behaviour cases we see are recommended to have at least 30 minutes of chewing per day in order to help them relieve stress (as well as lots of other things but this is part of the programme).
Yaker / Yak bar (Amazon and other places)
Buffalo chew https://dburnspettreats.com/product/premium-buffalo-hide/
Moon bones https://dburnspettreats.com/product/moon-bone/
Beef tendon https://www.jrpetproducts.com/shop/beef-tendons/...
Antlers (beware could cause broken teeth)
Buffalo horn (beware could cause broken teeth)
Calf hooves https://www.jrpetproducts.com/shop/calf-hooves/...

I hope you can get this sorted soon for both of your sakes.

Jo

[Catherine]

I thought aggression due to thyroid problems was a gradual thing but there seems to be information on the Internet saying it can be a sudden onset. The glazing over of the eyes, the sudden change could be some sort of brain problem, maybe a type of seizure. There are partial ones, not just the type most of us know.

There is a good website called "Epi guardian Angels" and they in fact have an article "BEHAVIORAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH THYROID DYSFUNCTION IN DOGS
By W. Jean Dodds DVM". (I am afraid I could not get my link to the site to work).

I hope you are able to find the cause soon.

[bronbb]

Hi,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! We are seeing a behaviourist so hopefully that will help. We also have him booked in for a full orthopaedic and neurological check up.

He has lots of chewing/sniffing time. He has a stuffed kong every day, always has a yakker and antler available which he settles down to chew at lease once a day and we play 'find it' with hidden treats (but he won't do it with toys) and have 2 likimats. We get most of our treats from JR pet products but I will have a look at DBurns thank you for the recommendations.

I do think trigger stacking can affect him quite a lot so we have been working on keeping calm too.

Thank you all for your help!