Hi ! We just came back from the comportementalist vet for my 3,7 years old dog who has been having a hard time lately since he took an accidental 5 to 7 days break from his hypothyroidism meds. He's now back on it, but still balancing his hormones and quite reactive to us (any handling is a nightmare where he reacts before we can even try to take his harness off).

He was prescribed Gabanpentin to help while his thyroid hormones balance out, as well as with his general anxiety/stress/fear & the reactivity/aggression that is linked. How long to see the effect ? He's 22kg and was prescribed 600mg twice a day (but we may need to adjust it later). It may be stopped later, it's just a short-term solution.

We've also been told to schedule a test to rule out Addison (previous suspsion) + implant (chemical neutering) with his "usual" vet. We know the implant could help, as he shows a lot of testosterone-related reactivity, but we're a bit scared of the "it will be worse for 14 days, and may not calm down if he doesn't respond to the implant", as it's already barely okay right now.

I'm just lost : wait 2-3 weeks with gabapentin to see how it works, then scheduling the test & implant ? Do it now ? Wait more ? ... Have you been in this situation ? What would you do ? What should I do ? I'm so lost :(

Hi all ! My dog is a 3,5 years old intact toller. For the past two years, we’ve seen our pup go from “well balanced and feeling good in his paws, with mild episode of food-related ressource guarding” change into “reactive dog who has attacked dogs & humans, including us, superstressed and ressource guarding everything”.

We learned that he has hypothyroidism, which is he being treated for and helps, but there’s still a lot a fear-based & testosterone-based reactivity.

While we have frequent vet visits, including with a comportementalist vet, I was wondering if any of you had experience with hypothyroidism and other conditions ? I am almost sure he has hypersensitivity & hyperactivity syndrome + we’re still wondering if a possible Addison disease is there (we may test it, but he needs to be sedated for blood samples soooo it’s complicated).

Thanks for your insights !

I posted a few days ago about an attack my dog had. Since then, there has been more attacks or near-attacks… BUT it is now getting better again. Why ? After a 5 days break, we have been able to give him his thyroid meds again. It’s been 4 days, and we’re getting our dog back as he’s MUCH more stable. There’s a night and day difference regarding his behavior with us, but also in general (like how he moves in the flat, whether he sleeps or just looks more relaxed).

This post only to serve as a reminder : hypothyroidism can wreck your dog’s behavior and even a few days of missed medication can create an awful setback.

We’ll see his vet Wednesday next week anyway, as we’re still trying to figure out what else is wrong besides is hypothyroidism, but it feels already so much better.

Reactivity can feel like a damned puzzle. Besides his thyroid problems, we suspect hypersensitivity & hyperactivity, maybe Addison, and we’re still considering chemical implant to see if neutering him could help (but there are counter indications with hypothyroidism soooo). But damn, it feels good to see him calm and relaxed again.

To all of you reading this and facing the same challenges : keep it up.

Hi ! Title is quite self explanatory : what would you have done differently? What have you wished you knew before starting a new PM role or your PM career ?

Below is a bit more of context for those who want to know more about the why of the question.

Context :

In more or less 6 weeks, I’ll switch to my first role as PM in an insurance company. It will mostly focus on the go-to-market, benchmarking & pricing side (IT requirements and so on will be handled by a twin team, from what I was told).

I am beyond excited and already working on building as much skills as possible to start this job well. I did the IBM Product Management & Microsoft Excel certifications on Coursera to have the basics and will no go more in-depth with books & podcast (with quite a big list from this sub!!).

As I prepare for these few weeks, I wondered what experience PM wished they would have done differently or what they would have love to know before starting. Let me know and hope there’s some good insight from all of you.

Also

I wanted to end this by thanking everyone contributing to this sub : I read a lot of posts before getting the job and it helped me a lot, even sometimes posts that were shared years ago. Your guidance, tips, questions & ressources recommendations are really important and I’m so glad that soon, I’ll hopefully be able to participate in those conversations with actual real-life experiences!