Tired, sleepy old girl.

[MockneyReject]

I'm dog sitting my son's Staff? We think she's about 8/9y.

She is very laid back (except around other dogs), but seems sleeper than usual.

Is this normal?
Is there such thing as vitamin deficiency/tests for such. Son feeds mainly good quality, dry, vegetarian food. I usually give her some meat/butchers bones when they visit, roughly once a month or so.

I'm a bit clueless, really. I only really know to feed, walk and love her.

Please disregard typos - my phone is knackered and has a mind of its own!

It could be the heat if it's been in the last few days?

The diet doesn't sound great though - I'm veggie and wouldn't feed my dog a vegetarian kibble. AllAboutDogFood.co.uk has a very useful set of nutritional reviews

Thank you.
I just received a message from my son - he says she was lethargic all last summer.
She has a vitamin liquid thing.

My dog hates the heat, she's double coated so gets hot in the sun. I had to be out this afternoon for a couple of hours, rushed back home to take her out for a walk and she's refusing to go. Happy to sit in the shade in the garden.

Some dogs just don't like the heat.

Keep an eye on her. If she's eating and drinking and being interested in the world, especially when it cools down a bit in the evening, it probably means she's fine. Also that there are no problems with her wee and poo and she's going regularly.

Vegetarian food? You mean meatless food? That's very strange. What brand is it?

I googled it. Not just vegetarian but you can also get vegan dog food.

Apparently dogs can be perfectly healthy on this sort of diet. Unlike cats they don't actually need meat to survive. I imagine the food has to have a lot of supplements added to make up the deficiencies though.

Not something I'd be doing, especially given my dog's attitude towards chicken. Just think most dogs love something meaty. Although some of the kibble you can buy in the supermarket probably hasn't actually seen a lot of meat either.

Thanks for the responses.
I don't know the brand. My son is vegan and I think he went with recommendations from others in RL and online. It is delivered to him. He doesn't live with me. They're usually here for a long weekend, once a month. I don't give her meat behind his back. I'm also vegetarian, but not squeamish about it, whereas my son wouldn't even set foot in a butcher's shop. So, he's OK with me preparing it for her.

I'm pretty sure it's the heat, as she had a little run earlier, when it had cooled down a bit.

Can't say I want to touch it directly either if it looks too meaty! I do try and assuage my guilt a little for opting for treats and chews made from parts of animals that wouldn't normally enter the human food chain - lambs tails, pig ear auricules, dried offal etc so that I'm more using up waste from the meat industry than creating additional demand. Treats2Sit4 do some good meat treats that don't look too meaty.

A farmer near my family actually thanked me for taking some raw bones off his hands for free because otherwise he has to pay to have them incinerated. To my veggie mind, having my dog eat those is a positive thing because it stops it going to waste.

^ I agree. I'm less 'militant' more realistic in my old age!