Jack's "Condition"

I might have recently told you about Jack and his new-found "condition". Jack is our 5-year old, pure-bred Golden Retriever. Everyone knows that pure-bred dogs have extra health problems, and Goldens especially have a lot of problems, so we've encountered many interesting health problems with Jack. (Some as minor as allergies---just give the dog Benedryl, of course!---and some larger and more mysterious.) In the past year, he has lost his appetite but gained over 20 pounds (bringing him from 65 pounds to almost 90 pounds), lost his energy, and we noticed that he was losing a lot of his hair. You could see his skin through the hair on his back because it had thinned so, and the hair that was left was very wiry. Much different from the fluffy and soft hair he has always had in the past. Anyways, to make a long story short, Jack had a trip to the vet, which resulted in our favorite veterinarian diagnosing Jack with a "hypo-thyroid", or a non-active thyroid. She put him on medication (twice a day) and since then, he has been like his old self again. The energy is back, Jack is happier, his appetite has returned and he has lost weight. Plus, even though the vet said that we probably wouldn't see any changes to his coat for 6-12 months, new hair is already visible on his back (and nose--how funny!). It's like new, fluffy puppy fur all over again.

You can kind of see it in this picture that I took yesterday. The short hair on the back of his neck (by his collar) is super soft. He's like a big pillow again!


It's so good to have the "old Jack" back! :)