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Seems like everyday another dog is diagnosed with low thyroid numbers. Dont think it will be brought under control in my lifetime. But for the future I hope vets and pet owners get a better understanding of whats really causing this. It is a lot more to it than genetics.

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I believe the thyroid issue is genetic. Had a good friend who had a Vaughn blooded dog back in the mid 60's that died in his box at 7 yrs old in the winter. He had a daughter off this dog that died the same way. He had a daughter off this female same deal. Dead in the box in the winter at 8 yrs. She had raised a litter off of Vaughns Mack II. Another friend of mine had a male from this cross that at 7 began the same path. Couldn't handle the cold and so was sent to TN where he lived to be 10. He had a son that started the same path at 6-7 and my buddy took him to the vet who tested him for low thyroid. Bingo! Tested positive and put him on meds. Ended the problem. I bred a female to this dog before he was diagnosed with thyroid issues. Kept a male and noticed the cold bothering him at 3-1/2 yrs. old. Had him tested and he had thyroid issues also. Meds took care of it. If diagnosed with thyroid issues it's meds for life.

So how many of the big named studs are being tested for BEFORE being advertised? How many females tested BEFORE being bred. I strongly believe this is a genetic fault.

This story above began in 1969 and ended in 1993. It's not new just getting more prevalent.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bruce m. Conkey
Seems like everyday another dog is diagnosed with low thyroid numbers. Dont think it will be brought under control in my lifetime. But for the future I hope vets and pet owners get a better understanding of whats really causing this. It is a lot more to it than genetics.

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Oh my goodness, I went to the Dr this week and he said that I had a thyroid problem and put me on meds. I wonder if that is genetic? My dad and mom never had a problem.

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About 75% of the talk on here is about breeding better dogs. Now it's odd to me that the only two things not affected by breeding are thyroid problems and slick treeing.

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I am not a vet or a expert but I can say this from experience. Many dogs that are given a simple T4 check and show a low reading are not true “thyroid dogs” a complete blood panel of T4,T3 free T4 and free T3 is needed to determine the cause of a low T4 reading. If a dog is sick or run down they could be low T4 and will recover with rest and or supplements to a diet. If put on the medications, it is likely it will always be on them and was very possible that it didn’t need them to start with. Just food for thought.

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I know for a fact it's not all genetics , today's food is a big issues aswell , tick disease and the list goes on thyroid is the result of many other conditions . Have female rite now will be 14 was fed a so called top of the line food her whole life wouldn't cycle 2 times in 8 years ,her t4 was low normal they called it and they swore it was the reason she wasn't cycling well soloxxine and dr Roy's extra vit a day 60 days later she had a heat cycle bred her on day 22 of her heat cycle had 9 pups on day 58 after breeding anyway I couldn't stand the way she hunted on soloxxine tryi t to sneak back on trees etc she never did this too her off , her hunting went back to normal ,anyway 4 years went by no issues with treeing coon hunting style etc, get says yup to
D you it was t4 low , wells he hadn't been on anything in 4 years switched off the great dog food no vitamins no nothing at 12.5 years old. She cycled good heat if ice wouldn't have been on pups would have bred her ,but anyway her mother would only cycle once a year the times is coming she is in great shape but long story short genetics plays its part in thyroid but tick diseases no iodized salt in today's dog foods and a host of other issues play as much or more a roll in thyroid issues then genetics Imo

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Registered: Jun 2018
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I think alot of it is excuses people make when their dogs are junk

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I've mostly hunted males, but have had a few females and you could name the months thet a were going to in heat. That's not holding true to the one I have now. Question for the older guys that have more years around females. Have you seen a difference in regular heat cycles from the past to now?

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I am a doctor and I do treat thyroid dysfunction in people including medication and surgery.

Dogs are not people BUT thyroid disease has many causes.

Genetics: Absolutely there are genetic thyroid diseases in both humans and dogs

Tick Diseases: Absolutely all of them have been known to cause thyroid issues in both humans and dogs

Trauma: Absolutely damage to the thyroid causes thyroid issues (Shock collars??? Pulling on a chain/lead??? Trauma can cause thyroid issues in humans.

Exposure to chemicals/radiation: Absolutely, radiation exposure and chemical exposure cause lots of thyroid issues in people.

Dietary: Absolutely we have to have Iodine or the thyroid quits working in humans and I would say it can in dogs too.

Hormonal related: Absolutely in humans, maybe dogs too?

Last Greed: If a dog does NOT need thyroid medication and they give it to them anyway then it will give them excess energy, it will also eventually kill them with an enlarged hart etc. but once they start even if they don't need it it causes the thyroid to regress and if tested after they are taken off they will show low whether they were really low to begin with or not. Who knows how many of them are that way.

So in short, there are many causes of thyroid issues and only one of the reasons is genetics.

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Folks, there you have the answers from someone who is actually qualified and knows what he is talking about. Dave

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I just want to ask a couple questions Dave you already know what dog I am talking about so I won’t say his name. I never have owned a thyroid dog in 40 yrs my dogs come in heat like they are supposed to. They hunt like they are supposed to. I feed the same feed everybody else does my dogs have had tick diseases ( a couple of them ) they got over it. I have shocked them ( some more than others ) tied them out on chains. If one did go from good to sorry I disiplined them and if that didn’t work they went to doggie heaven! That plan has worked for me.

1. There was a dog back in the day that sired one of the most popular studs in history that was a known thyroid dog but breeders stacked him 10 times to get the all grand pedigree knowing it why ?

2. Is it more common in the treeing walker breed ?

3. Why would a person that is giving thyroid medication to their dog ( for extra energy or medical reasons ) charge a stud fee or sell pups out of that dog without disclosing that information ?

Tar

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I'm not saying it can't happen but, pulling on a chain must be one of the least causes of thyroid trouble. Years ago very few people had dog pens. Almost everybody kept their dogs on chains. About 1950 my grandpa had a saddleback deer dog named Speedy. He would drag his dog house all around the back yard.

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quote:

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Originally posted by shadinc
I'm not saying it can't happen but, pulling on a chain must be one of the least causes of thyroid trouble. Years ago very few people had dog pens. Almost everybody kept their dogs on chains. About 1950 my grandpa had a saddleback deer dog named Speedy. He would drag his dog house all around the back yard.

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quote:

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Originally posted by yadkintar

2. Is it more common in the treeing walker breed ?

3. Why would a person that is giving thyroid medication to their dog ( for extra energy or medical reasons ) charge a stud fee or sell pups out of that dog without disclosing that information ?

Tar

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I paid $5,000 of hard earned money for a world champion with a letter from the vet saying he was fertile as a turtle !! I gaurentee they did not take (him )to see the vet ! Cost me a $1,000 to go get him another $1,000 to try to get him back fertile and I think those pink pills caused it because it took him two months to come down off something. Bad thing was he was a top coondog without it.


I know all to well.


Tar

Last edited by yadkintar on 04-20-2019 at 01:47 AM

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quote:

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Originally posted by yadkintar
I paid $5,000 of hard earned money for a world champion with a letter from the vet saying he was fertile as a turtle !! I gaurentee they did take him to see the vet ! Cost me a $1,000 to go get him another $1,000 to try to get him back fertile and I think those pink pills caused it because it took him two months to come down off something. Bad thing was he was a top coondog without it.


I know all to well.


Tar

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That’s why I raise my own dogs and I ask a lot of questions before I use somebody else’s.


Tar

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If it is genetic how can it be heavy in every breed? I'm not saying its not, I'm just wandering how it could be in every breed of hound. I don't think its more prevalent in walkers I think they are just tested more.

I know one problem we have, tick disease cause it almost every time. If you don't keep them on tick meds they are going to get it. At the same time we use chemicals to keep the ticks off of them that is likely killing their thyroid. So......

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I guess Oklahoma ticks don’t have no teeth lol !


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quote:

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Originally posted by joey
If it is genetic how can it be heavy in every breed? I'm not saying its not, I'm just wandering how it could be in every breed of hound. I don't think its more prevalent in walkers I think they are just tested more.

I know one problem we have, tick disease cause it almost every time. If you don't keep them on tick meds they are going to get it. At the same time we use chemicals to keep the ticks off of them that is likely killing their thyroid. So......

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RIP, thank you for providing that information. It would be interesting to know how many other breeds other than the coonhounds are experiencing thyroid issues with the increasing rate that the coonhound breeds have been over the last several years.

I've had a bunch of beagles over the last 26 years, belong to a club that hosts AKC Licensed field trials and am in contact with several different beaglers from MN to Maine and south to TN. I've never heard of any hunting beagles having developed thyroid issues from ticks. Plenty with lymes and several with erlicosis.

I'm not in the bird dog circles so don't know much about them regarding thyroid issues. Why do you think the coon hound breeds are experiencing this seemingly elevated rate of thyroid issues? Do any of the rest of you know about other hunting breeds experiencing increasing instancs of thyroid issues?

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quote:

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Originally posted by DL NH
RIP, thank you for providing that information. It would be interesting to know how many other breeds other than the coonhounds are experiencing thyroid issues with the increasing rate that the coonhound breeds have been over the last several years.

I've had a bunch of beagles over the last 26 years, belong to a club that hosts AKC Licensed field trials and am in contact with several different beaglers from MN to Maine and south to TN. I've never heard of any hunting beagles having developed thyroid issues from ticks. Plenty with lymes and several with erlicosis.

I'm not in the bird dog circles so don't know much about them regarding thyroid issues. Why do you think the coon hound breeds are experiencing this seemingly elevated rate of thyroid issues? Do any of the rest of you know about other hunting breeds experiencing increasing instancs of thyroid issues?

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I believe that I know what you are talking about when you said I know something about a certain line if Walker dogs having thyroid issues. I will say this without naming anyone, the only dogs in my area to be known thyroid dogs WERE his stock of dogs all Walkers. Dave

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That’s why I said in a different thread if you was going to title them you better get it done before they were two because after that they went to pieces and never came out of it. We all just hoped in time they would go away quietly.



Tar

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