Aggressive Labradoodle

[Anja]

My sweet 2 1/2 year old Labradoodle has turned aggressive towards the other dog in the household over a period of 1 1/2 weeks. They used to be best buddies and she could not stand to be without him. Now she goes into a rage just seeing him. She is still as sweet as can be with people.

I'm waiting on the test results of her thyroid panel test. As the initial blood result showed low thyroids and high cholesterol.

Anybody else have experienced such a sudden behavioral change in their Labradoodle? Any experience with hypothyrodism? Does the dog go back to "normal" once treated or do they still have "episodes" of aggression.

Beside the thyroids any suggestions on what else could be wrong with her?  Anything is appreciated.
Thank you.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I know that Jacquie the Director of the DRC has a dog she is treating for thyroid issues.  Not sure how it all went.  Do a search on a few different terms "thyroid" "hypothyrodism" etc and I'm sure there are some other discussions as well.  So sorry your Doodle is having issues and I hope they get her all back to normal really soon.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Just as Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom said, Jacquie's Blake behavior changed to the 'aggression' side. He had no thyroid levels to speak of. Since he has been on meds he is back to his normal Blake. 

Whenever DRC has a doodle with issues like that, the first thing we ask the vet to do is check their thyroid levels. Most times they were very low. 

I hope that is what the vet finds. Keep us posted. 

[Anja]

Thank you Adrianne any additional feedback is helpful. I'm 90% certain the thyroid levels are cause of her aggression. I should have the results in the next 5 days. (It's been the longest week and a half). My main concern is that even with medication, if the levels get out of whack again, she might turn on the other dog again.

I'm trying to decide if she would be better off being in a single dog household. I hate even thinking about but I have to keep the safety of my other dog in mind too and I want to do what's best for both of them. Do you know if Blake is an "only" dog?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can answer that. Blake lives with 4 other dogs, lol.

[Anja]

Thank you Karen. Any bit of feedback and reassurance is helpful :) I know I have a lot of question I just don't want Cujo to make a reappearance and neither does the other dog. He's a bit traumatized at the moment he didn't even want to leave the dog sitters house yesterday when I picked the up.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so hoping that this is a thyroid issue and that it easily treatable.  It definitely sounds like a physical problem if it's just emerging.  Please keep us posted...and good luck.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I hope it is a simple fix like his thyroid. Good luck.

[Kyoko]

I hope everything goes well....

[Adrienne]

Not sure if hypothyroidism is the same as it is in people but let me say, as a person with hypothyroidism, mood swings are one of the symptoms.  However, once treated and when numbers are back to "normal", symptoms should disappear.  Dosage levels may have to be adjusted from time to time--expect yearly bloodwork which is necessary to make sure medication is adequate and numbers are still normal.

I hope that things get back to normal soon.

[Anja]

Thank you Adrienne. I'm prepared for regular bloodwork etc. my biggest concern/worry is whether I would be able to trust her alone with him again.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

oh dear- keeping good thoughts that all this can be fixed and all right again soon. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I hope you find that this is a thyroid issue so you can help her get back to normal for a happy household again.