Hi Dawn, Your vet may well have prescribed a controlled dosage for that very reason, you'd be surprised how many people slop on oil from a jug (ie corn or veggie oil) without realising the amount is somewhat larger than that contained in a capsule:-)
My advice to anyone with continuing problems with skin and coat despite addressing the winter dry heat we experience in cold climates is to check for parasites ie worms and then the thyroid levels of their dogs. Skin and coat quality are amongst the first to indicate a problem. Full thyroid panels need to be done in order to assess the dog's functional levels, put simplistically if the T4 is low and the TSH is high then the body is struggling to balance. If the T4 is on the low side of normal (most common in Bernese and other large dogs) and the TSH is within range on the lower side then that is the functioning level of the individual dog. These measurements can fluctuate according to the general health of the animal and a bitch can be typically lower when her heat is due. If a diagnosis is to be confirmed then a repeat should be done a month later. Any thyroid supplementation should be started off with small doses and the dog retested for T4 to find the right levels. It can cause serious problems if a dog is over supplemented. Most breeders check the thyroid of their breeding dogs and I choose to retest my dogs at age five to six when I commence their annual geriatric panel. I have had two cases where dogs have been normal all their lives only to encounter problems in late senior years which were helped by low doses of thyroid supplement. Rose Tierney
