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My dog, Nehi, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism before Christmas. She was treated with 0.2 milligrams of soloxine two times a day at that time. According to her weight, the suggested dose would be .5 milligrams two times a day, so that was a low dose for her weight. After six weeks of that, she was retested and her thyroid levels were way too high (11), so they cut it back to 0.1 milligrams two times a day. Her thyroid levels were just tested again, and they were 7.2 (3-5 is normal), so they cut it back to 0.05 two times a day. She and my other dog have been getting into serious fights (to the point of having to be kept separated) since she started the treatment. Now I am wondering if it is tied to the thryoid treatment? Yesterday, I watched her as she curled back her lip and lunged for the other dog with absolutely NO provocation from that dog. Nehi had previously shown no signs of aggression, prior to the medication. Or is it just that now her body is adjusted to a "normal" level of thryoid and she was always supposed to be more aggressive?
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

>>My dog, Nehi, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism before Christmas. She was treated with 0.2 milligrams of soloxine two times a day at that time. According to her weight, the suggested dose would be .5 milligrams two times a day, so that was a low dose for her weight. After six weeks of that, she was retested and her thyroid levels were way too high (11), so they cut it back to 0.1 milligrams two times a day. Her thyroid levels were just tested again, and they were 7.2 (3-5 is normal), so they cut it back to 0.05 two times a day. She and my other dog have been getting into serious fights (to the point of having to be kept separated) since she started the treatment. Now I am wondering if it is tied to the thryoid treatment? Yesterday, I watched her as she curled back her lip and lunged for the other dog with absolutely NO provocation from that dog. Nehi had previously shown no signs of aggression, prior to the medication. Or is it just that now her body is adjusted to a "normal" level of thryoid and she was always supposed to be more aggressive?
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>>sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If the dogs are both females, it was probably going to happen anyway. Various factors influence when it might happen. Having them share food is high risk no matter what the sex, and the same for high value (to them) toys. Heat cycles affect female dogs fighting, and even if they are spayed the risk goes up as they mature throughout life. It can also be triggered by any change in the household. My article Same Sex Dogs in the Home at the link below my signature may be helpful. As far as thyroid medication, it tends to reduce aggression rather than trigger or increase it. I have two females together, an aggressive one with a profoundly low thyroid function who is on very high dose thyroid hormone. She becomes more aggressive to the other female on a lower dose.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I agree with the females fighting. We have never had two of the same sex dogs before, it has always been a male/female dog household. I will never repeat this mistake again (at least not intentionally).

They don't share food, they have always been fed in separate rooms. They also don't really share toys, if one has a bone, the other doesn't seem to care at all. There seem to be tons of bones in our house.

From reconstructing when this actually started, it was from before Nehi was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. So maybe that did trigger it, and this is just the residual effects. Oh well, in about six weeks, one of them is going to go live with my son. So we just have to hang on for that time. I did read your article yesterday before I posted this and it was very helpful. Thanks for all your help.
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

Just curious, if her levels were normal at 0.1mg, why on earth would they cut it back? She may not be feeling well from the yo-yo effects of the drug dosage being changed so frequently.

Treatment tends to reduce aggression, but mainly in dogs that were only borderline hypothyroid, not usually dogs actually outside the normal ranges. If the dog is clinically hypothyroid, it's possible that she has only become more aggressive now because her energy has returned and she now feels perky enough to act out. Hypothyroidism really drains your energy, so she probably wasn't capable of picking fights even if she wanted to.. Now that she's feeling better she might be returning to her normal self.

That's just a guess though, nobody can really know for sure..

Her levels were NOT normal at 0.1, they were still elevated. That is why. She actually is on each dosage for 4-6 weeks before they retest her, so I don't know if that is considered yo-yoing.

From my recent reading (and reinforced in Kathy's response), it does seem that it is more the hypothyroidism that affects the aggression. As I said in my reply to Kathy, it did start back in November, and she wasn't diagnosed or treated at that point. So it is possible that it did start when she was hypo and this has just become a habit of attacking. Or it could be that she is continuing because she has lots more energy now.

The last statement that you made is so very true: "That's just a guess though, nobody can really know for sure.." If only they could speak human and tell us.

BTW, using the search engine here was how I read your posts and concerns about hypothyroidism with Kaiser from last summer. That was some good info. Thanks.

>>Just curious, if her levels were normal at 0.1mg, why on earth would they cut it back? She may not be feeling well from the yo-yo effects of the drug dosage being changed so frequently.
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>>Treatment tends to reduce aggression, but mainly in dogs that were only borderline hypothyroid, not usually dogs actually outside the normal ranges. If the dog is clinically hypothyroid, it's possible that she has only become more aggressive now because her energy has returned and she now feels perky enough to act out. Hypothyroidism really drains your energy, so she probably wasn't capable of picking fights even if she wanted to.. Now that she's feeling better she might be returning to her normal self.
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>>That's just a guess though, nobody can really know for sure..
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.