Getting Back My Yellow Dog

The Yellow Dog had a pretty tough fall season.  She gained weight and lacked drive and energy. Since she's approaching her 8th birthday, I was chalking it up to old age setting in.  And it wasn't limited to her performance in the field, either.  On walks with Mrs. YDP, the dog just didn't have the same spring.

While I attempted to treat it via pain medicine, my wife felt it was something more, and a couple of months ago took the dog in for a check up.  My wife, a sufferer of thyroid trouble herself, felt the dog showed a lot of the same symptoms as one who did not have the right level of thyroid flowing through their system.

Sure enough, she was right.  The tests came back and showed that the dog was indeed hypo-thyroid.  

An "I told you so" was also summarily delivered.

We started the dog on synthetic thyroid, and within 10 days she showed immediate results.  The excess weight fell off quickly, the energy level came back, and the spring returned to her gait.  It was remarkable.

Between the timing of her diagnosis, the busy retail season, and the hustle of the holidays, I did not have the chance to get the Yellow Dog back out into the field since she started on the treatment.  Yesterday I leveraged the opportunity of warm Green Bay weather to hit my hunt club and work up a couple of birds.  While the weather wasn't perfect - there was a strong 30 MPH wind which would make scenting and shooting difficult - at a minimum it would be a good excuse for a long walk.  And it would also be a test to see how the dog was doing.

What a difference!  My dog was back!  The dog hunted hard all day, and showed an energy level she hadn't shown in nearly two years.  It was like someone had turned back the clock.  Here is some video:

We had put out 6 roosters, and ended up bagging all of them, although I might have had to do a lot of shooting to accomplish it.  It made for a good photo:

When we got home, the dog leveraged some hard earned couch time, although it wasn't as nice for Mrs. YDP:

It was great to have my dog back.  I mean all the way back.  Thanks, honey, for taking matters into your own hands.  I owe you one.  Again.