I am so fed up!! Three years ago I started to read threads about over vaccination causing auto-immune disease in dogs. At that time and since then I have researched as much as I can on the subject and came to the conclusion that I had to warn my puppy buyers about this problem, but that they should do their own research, speak with their vets and come to their own conclusion. My girl Tashi  had her first vaccs as a puppy, followed by boosters at year one and then years 2,3,4 and 5.Year 5 was when I discovered this problem on line. I have not vaccinated again until this year, which will be three years since the last one. For a while now, Tashi has had a foot biting problem due to itching. We have tried everything the vet has, plus some natural products and nothing has worked. A couple of months ago I noticed that she was gaining weight. I put it down to the fact that she wasn't joining in play as often with her mother and daughter. She seemed to just want to bite her foot. I walk Tashi who is 7 with her mum who is 10. It became noticeable a couple of weeks ago that Tashi was becoming very tired when we were out on a walk. Her mum was trotting along and she was lagging behind. At first I thought that it was a sore foot that was bothering her, although she usually would limp if she had bitten too much. Her feet were only nibbled on the top, so it wasn't that. Then the penny dropped. I suffer from Hypothyroidism and have to take thyroxine every day. An Auto Immune disease!! Tashi was having all the symptoms that I had before I was diagnosed!! Itching that couldn't be resolved, weight gain, extreme tiredness. I took her to the vet and asked for a blood test!! That was done and the results came back that she was extremely hypo and needed thyroxine straight away. (I don't have the exact reading yet as this only happened yesterday) I'm not one of those people who thinks that things "never happen to me" as have had a lot of stuff happen over the years, but I must admit that I was totally shocked when my vet rang me to say that I was correct in my  "diagnosis"!! I really really didn't think that one of my dogs would come down with this problem. I know that it is easily treated, and fairly cheaply to, thank goodness, but I now wonder, of course, if it was the fact that I had her vaccinated every time I got that letter from the vet at booster time. I would appreciate your comments.

Hypothyroidism is pretty common in dogs and can often be genetic or more common in some breeds -I certainly would not put any link between that and vaccinations.

While I do think vaccination causes problems for a lot of dogs, in this case it may just be one of those things.  Hypothyroidism is fairly common in dogs, I've had 5 hypo dogs so far.  Both the oldies I lost last year were hypo - one I do believe was down to his jabs as he reacted very badly to his first, and had a host of problems, and his thyroid not only started very young but was also a very unusual type (conversion problems, not common in dogs) but the other one didn't start with any symptoms until 2013 and at that point, she hadn't been boostered in 7 years.

The two hypos I still have have not been boostered for at least 5 years, both were diagnosed in the last two years.  Both are of prone breeds too.

Another thing to consider: not every case of hypothyroidism is autoimmune.  Some are simply poor thyroid function, some stem from vitamin/mineral deficiencies or a combination.  Mine and my oldest dog (one of the ones I lost) are/were combos.  The other three dogs are non-AI, just basic poor function on all.

Daughters Rott had basic puppy jabs then no more, She was diagnosed as Hypothyroid at 10 yrs old - when the fur didn't grow back after the shave to have her spleen removed so No we didn't think there was any connection with jabs aged 2/3 months

Right, so I am jumping to conclusions that might not be the right ones!! I didn't realise it was so common in dogs! So maybe it is just the luck of the draw then, like me I suppose. Thank-you

So Nikita, how did you find out the different causes in your doggies please?

Can be a bit chicken or egg situation.

There most certainly is scientific evidence that over vaccination is linked to Auto Immune Disease.
Have a look in the files on the Canine Health Concern Facebook Group or the website.

There is also a good article here :-

http://chchealth.weebly.com/vaccines-and-skin-problems.html

It mentions many of the symptoms you describe itchy skin etc. Then goes on to describe to the links to Auto Immune disorders and hypothyroidism.
Most dogs will have immunity for life when they have had a received a full course of vaccinations, and there is now a fairly cheap titre test VacciCheck that can be done in house and will give you are reading of the level of immunity.
A lot of more enlightened vets are now offering this service rather than blindly giving boosters. Which in most cases cause more harm than good as they actually compromise the immune system.  You can't booster the immune system like topping up petrol in your car, a dog either has or does not have immunity. And contrary to what vets might tell you immunity does not run out when you reach the date on a vaccination card.

This makes very interesting listening as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Xd5ghnlJ4

> So Nikita, how did you find out the different causes in your doggies please?

I haven't identified the causes in most (all but Remy) but I would guess at genetics for them, as 3 of the 4 are/were from very prone breeds (two dobes and a lab).  In Remy's case it was through my own knowledge and experience that I worked out what was going on; he and I shared deficiencies and med requirements, so I was able to pinpoint his problems from my own experiences.  I already knew about what defiencies had an effect on thyroid function and/or absorption of the hormones so when I started to see symptoms in him (primarily vit B12 was low, causing dementia-like behaviour) I recognised them for what they were.  I had him tested for whichever vits/mins the vet could do and found a couple more of the key ones low (folate and zinc) - same as me.

His low B12 stemmed from chronic gut problems for his first three years (poor gut function can lead to poor absorption of B12 in the diet, which in turn can lead to or contribute to thryoid troubles), and the unusual nature of his thyroid problem (the conversion issue) combined with a very early onset - he slowed right down almost overnight when he hit 2yrs old - and his severe reaction to his first vaccination suggested a connection between all those issues to me.  Obviously I can't prove that - one vet wouldn't even acknowledge that his reaction was to the vaccination, even though it happened within 30 minutes of it being done, and Remy is no longer with me - but I believe it's the case.

Realised I should say that genes were probably a factor in amongst all the others for Remy as well - he too was a dobe, and a brother/sister bred one at that.  And poorly bred, not good quality parents.  So no one clear cause for him but many.