sleepy dog

Question
Hello,

My husband and I moved into a much larger home about 10 days ago. We have a 2 year old german shepherd mix who of course moved with us. We were living in a condo with no backyard and it was quite small. We now have much more space (and much more work to do!) and our dog finally has a yard of her own- even though its not fenced yet so she is on a tie-out when she is out there for short periods of time, or we walk her around the yard on a leash. Anyway, we have noticed since we've moved that she seems tired all the time. Her appetite is the same, she is going to the bathroom outside, and she is interested in playing in small doses. But we can't help but notice she is just much more sleepy than ever before. Is this something we should be concerned about? Maybe having so much more space is mentally draining her? There really isn't any other symptom other than tiredness, but for our dog is quite strange since she normal is very energetic and playful. Maybe theres just a lot of changes in routine for her and mentally the move has been tiring for her? I just wonder how long we should blame the lethargy on transition from the move and when we should start thinking about bringing her to the vet for this. What do you think? Please let me know if there's any other information that might help you.  Thanks so much!

Answer
Pretty hard to know what would cause this other than stress. Moving is much more stressful for animals than it is for us because they run their lives based on home territories, nesting instincts, etc. Even our domestic, spayed or neutered pets have some of these instincts still so being taken from her original home "territory" can be very stressful.

I would be concerned if she were having trouble breathing, or playing for longer periods or walking on long walks. You might want to have the vet give her a quick look over anyway, and make sure her vaccinations are all up to-date because she might have more unwanted visitors.

Make sure her heartworm prevention is also up-to-date and that she has been tested recently.

I would have the vet really listen to her heart as well. Any dog under five that suddenly only plays in short doses would worry me.

So that's what I would do if she were my dog. hopefully she is fine but better to know than not know.
Please let me know what you find out.