Slowing down recently

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whiskers

Boxer Insane
I'm feeling paranoid, just looking for input!

Over the last month or 2? I've noticed that Juno REALLY lags behind on walks. I walk her on a 4ft leash and I can have it looped around one finger and she is lagging behind me the entire reach of the leash. This is not the Juno I know. I'm accustomed to needing to give her reminders to stay by my side, I am NOT accustomed to going slow and coaxing her along with "come on Juno, let's go!"

I've been doing a lot of bike rides with my Doberman lately and so Juno has gone on some this year too. We've done bike rides in the past and she's loved it, loves the faster pace and we could go for long rides and she'd do great. Nowadays, I literally can hardly even pedal the bike. I just coast along, needing to slow down frequently, as Juno really doesn't get any faster than a slow trot. And our long bike rides? Forget it. We do like a quick 5 minute loop around our block.

But I don't really think I notice exercise intolerance in other scenarios. She still runs at the park, still plays fetch and tug and will play some chase with my Dobe. She does get tired out quicker, I guess, but I don't know how much of it I should contribute to the fact that she is now 5 years old... I guess I would expect some of that puppy energy to die a little bit?

Also, she doesn't seem painful at all or like there's something like that going on that would cause her to be slower. No limping, no stiffness, moves around and gets around just fine. She's just SLOW. Part of me thinks I'm overanalyzing it and part of me goes 5 is not geriatric by any means, why would she be slow.
 

Jan

Reasonable Moderator
Staff member
I don't think that she should be slowing down at 5 years of age. She should be in the prime of her life. I would maybe had her checked out by your vet. Maybe have her thyroid checked.
 

Gatorblu

Boxer Insane
It sounds like Thor when he first developed hypothyroidism. He got to where he would lay down before we got home on our walks.
 

TwoDogs

Boxer Insane
Did they do the full thyroid panel?

My guy is 8, also hypothyroid since 6yo. I noticed some slowing/exercise intolerance with him. Not with what he did around the house--he was good at moderating his activity then--just with forced exercise like hikes and walks.

He also benefited from joint supplements. Didn't show any obvious signs of discomfort, but as soon as I started him on it, he seemed to perk back up.

We also did a trial of Deramaxx for pain and again I saw a big difference. Went from acting like an old dog to much more active. Clearly he had been in some discomfort and I just didn't realize it. Now we just use the Deramaxx before and after days when I know he's going to be engaged in greater than normal physical activity--like if we have a weekend hike scheduled or if we happened to go for a longer than normal romp in the park. It makes a difference for him.

The other thing to think about is the heart. I'm always aware of my guy's sub-aortic stenosis and the effect it can have on his physical ability. Forgive me for not remembering, but does Juno have any issues with her heart that might be causing this new development?
 

whiskers

Boxer Insane
Yep it was a panel that included T4, Free T4, TSH and TGAA. At the time I wanted it checked because she was getting fat and her coat seemed a little manky to me, but... results were normal and I've been able to get her weight/coat back to where it needs to be hahahaha.

No issues with her heart that we know of, and that's where my paranoia comes in! I know that it sounds fine when you listen with a stethoscope, no murmurs or no noticeable out of sync beats... but that doesn't necessarily mean anything...

Probably what's going to happen is my worry will get the best of me, I'll bring her in, exam will be totally normal and I'll still be worried. Like, I don't feel that this one thing is any justification for me to run out and have all sorts of diagnostics done, but I also know myself and know that it's going to bug me unless I KNOW that everything is okay. UGH. Dogs!
 

Jan

Reasonable Moderator
Staff member
How normal was her thyroid. Just because it is normal for most dogs, doesn't necessarily mean that it is normal for Juno. Maybe you could convince your vet to have Juno try a low dose of thyroid meds, just to see if it makes a difference.

The poor coat, gaining weight and low energy all scream thyroid to me.
 
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Tuff Love

Boxer Insane
Gosh, if dog thyroids are anywhere near as complex as human thyroids.... yikes (coming from one who knows!)
I don't have anything helpful to offer but I don't think you're overanalyzing at all and it definitely warrants investigation. Probably something minor... maybe even the couple extra pounds is weighing her down? Tuff slowed down a lot around 4 or 5. We never had his thyroid checked despite being in and out of the vet all the time for other issues, but he was overweight (93 pounds at his heaviest) and definitely slowed down once he started packing on the pounds... he was always a big boy though. In hindsight he very well may have had a thyroid problem, but the GME/strokes/etc were more than enough to deal with so we never checked it.
 

whiskers

Boxer Insane
To clarify, her weight is perfect now, I think I was just worried about winter weight but she usually doesn't get winter weight! And her coat is fine now too. Again, im just gonna contribute that to winter.

Here's her thyroid results with ranges in parentheses:
T4 1.2 (1.0-4.0)
Free T4 19.3 (9.0-47.4)
TSH 0.2 (0.05-0.42)

I thought I had a TGAA done with that but now I remember I was being cheap lol.

Her T4 on its own is borderline but the others seem okay to me, especially since her TSH isn't elevated at all. My vet didn't think a trial was appropriate then based on the results but I can see what her opinion is of this new issue. These results were from April 8th.

I just want normal Juno!
 

angleheart

Completely Boxer Crazy
Usually when there is a significant change in a dog's behavior, something is wrong. Is there anything else going on? Drinking more? Coughing? Shortness of breath? Have you noticed any unusual odors?
 
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