Even if you don’t live in an area with a big tick population you must be careful. Lyme disease has been found in all 48 continental states.
I also have a GSD that was diagnosed and treated for other things before being tested for Lyme. She was asymptomatic for it so there was not a real reason to test. She has since been treated for it again.
We have used 2 different antibiotics and both has caused tremendous GI discomfort and problems. She also has a touch of arthritis in 1 hip because of the Lyme.
Again, she showed no symptoms but her titer was off the charts when it came back. When she was a pup she had ehrlichia. Not one symptom then either.
From now on I will be having all my dogs tested for tick borne diseases at least 1x/yr.
Working with horses, I know how relentless and prevalent those stupid ticks are. There’s usually 1 horse being treated at any given time all year long. Even in winter (I’m in New England).
Another word of caution is that once your dog has Lyme vets will blame it on everything they can’t figure out. For more than a yr we’ve been back & forth to the vet. After 9 months and her last emergency visit she saw a specialist at that hospital who tweaked her diet a little. Then said to wait a while to let her gut heal and calm down. It’s been 3 months and we’re just now trying to transition her to a new diet. So far so good. [Knock on wood.] They also gave a prescription probiotic. I’ll probably add enzymes during the transition period.
