05/28/2026
Have you gotten your dog’s thyroid checked?
How often should you have your dog’s thyroid checked?
All dogs, but especially those used in breeding programs, should have REGULAR thyroid screenings.
What does this mean?
Yearly starting at 12 months of age. Checking your dog’s thyroid should be part of their yearly routine healthcare.
A thyroid test only gives an indication of the “here and now” and not a prediction of the future, which is why it should be done routinely/yearly.
The disease has variable onset, but tends to clinically manifest itself at 2 to 5 years of age. Dogs may be clinically normal for years, only to become hypothyroid at a later date. The marker for autoimmune thyroiditis, thyroglobulin autoantibody formation, usually occurs prior to the occurrence of clinical signs. Therefore, periodic retesting is recommended.
The majority of dogs that develop autoantibodies have them by 3 to 4 years of age.
Dogs that are negative at 1 year of age may become positive at 6 years of age. Development of autoantibodies at any time in the dog’s life is an indication that the dog most likely has the genetic form of the disease.
Dogs should be tested every year or two in order to be certain they have not developed the condition. Since the majority of affected dogs will have autoantibodies by 4 years of age, annual testing for the first 4 years is recommended. After that, testing every other year should suffice.
Unfortunately, a negative at any one time will not guarantee that the dog will not develop thyroiditis.
Thyroid issues are like a silent cancer, once symptoms are evident, there is often too much damage already done (nearly 70% of the thyroid is damaged before symptoms show!). However, if caught early, thyroid issues can be managed with an extremely cheap medication (average $20 a month) and your dog can live a long and happy life.
Thyroid testing should include: T4, free T4, TSH, T3, free T3 and TGAA. Be sure to ask your veterinarian for a comprehensive thyroid exam or an OFA thyroid exam. Without this complete thyroid test, there is a high likelihood you can miss an actual issue and the silent cancer will continue to harm your dog. These tests are quite often not available as in office blood work, and must be sent to a special lab for processing, so often your veterinarian won’t even offer or mention the option.
Don’t be fooled into thinking your dog may be too young for thyroid issues!
One, it’s always great to get baselines on young dogs
Two, recently it’s becoming increasingly common to see dogs at 1-2 years of age with thyroid issues, but NO dog is truly clear until testing at age 6 shows no development of autoantibodies.
Thyroid symptoms can vary per animal, some have more than one symptom, some don’t. The key to remember is once symptoms show up, that often means that 70% of the thyroid is already damaged! That’s why catching it before symptoms show is of vital importance. Some symptoms may include grumpiness, mood swing, change in attitudes, change in appetite, thinning hair, hair loss, dry/dull coat, excessive shedding, weight loss, decreased muscle tone, weight gain, lethargy, cold intolerance(excessive shivering), increased susceptibility to infections, excessive diarrhea, skin lesions, thickening of skin such as ears, increased pigmentations, unexplained lameness, dragging of feet, lack of coordination, abnormal head tilt when walking, sunken or bulging eyes, and reproductive issues in breeding animals or intact animals such as skipped heats, split heats, miscarriages, decreased s***m counts, and decreased libidos.
Remember, it is YOUR responsibility to be your dog’s advocate. Educate yourself and arm yourself with the facts. Go in and ask your veterinarian for ALL of the tests by name....doing so could very well save your pets life.
If you’re concerned with your veterinarian not requesting the proper test for your dog, print out and bring with you the OFA form for thyroid testing and have your veterinarian perform the test required by OFA. It’s more comprehensive than the basic panel most vets will opt to run.
https://ofa.org/diseases/thyroid/
