BastardSpaniel will be 8 in November. He has always been spaniel mad but essentially is really well behaved, particularly in the house. He never comes upstairs. He lives in the kitchen which is on the ground floor. We have an office on the next level and bedrooms on the second floor. We both work from home, and always have since we got him. A few weeks ago he randomly came upstairs during the day and I told him to go back down which he did.
Today, he keeps on coming up the stairs, slinking into the office and curling up at my feet. I have taken him back down, DD has stayed downstairs, with the door shut. We have the patio doors open which creates a breeze and randomly opens the kitchen door a smidge. Dog sits there waiting for door to open, sticks his nose round and trundles upstairs again. He is currently lying at my feet.
Is he dying? Am I dying?
(Please do not turn this into a debate about whether or not my dog should be allowed upstairs or not. If I lived alone, he could be with me every second of every day. I do not, and we all have to make sacrifices. He has a fabulous life, as dogs go.)
Recently he had an episode of kennel cough. A few days ago in the back of the car, as we arrived home, instead of his usual whining, he sounded as though he said a word (not sure which one). When he was swimming in the fish pond at lunchtime with a stick in his mouth, his breathing sounded different.