"I got a dog and his name is Blue, Betcha' dollar he's a good dog too."

Some of you may have seen my dog Blue show up in posts before. I think he may have even written his own when I was in Hawaii. Well, Blue is a 'special' dog. If you have read the book Marley and Me then you know what kind of special I am talking about. He's not the brightest or the best smelling of creatures but he has good loyal qualities. Recently my husband and I have grown concerned about Blue. He is going on 7 and this summer he really started showing his age. He has gotten very gray and was not too happy with us when we remodeled the house. We had hardwood floors installed in the main living area and tile installed in our bathrooms. The hard surfaces do not help an aging dog with signs of displaysia. After we had the work done, he couldn't seem to figure out where to lay and keeps trying different areas. At night, he used to sleep in our bathroom (yes, we have bought him many beds but he refuses to use them, instead he makes them into his 'girlfriends' if you know what I mean.) but now that the tile is in the bathroom, he doesn't like it. So, he sleeps in various spots around our bedroom. When we use the facilities at night, he likes to change his sleeping spot while we are in the bathroom. Hence we tend to step on him a lot in the dark, since we never know where he is or once we do know, he moves.
Blue has also taken to staring into space - a lot. We call his name and it takes him a few seconds to respond.
He has also taken to a little bit of a meaner attitude with other dogs which is very disconcerting since he has always been the most timid creature.
And just the other night, we had guests over and put Blue up in our room, since too many people make him a bit too excited. We have been doing this for quite awhile and it has always seemed to work well for both humans and canine. But this time, Blue decided to start attacking our door frame. Luckily Lauren came and told us something was happening before the damage went into the unrepairable.
So, what is the deal? If he just an old dog getting grumpy or something else? It is hard to go to the vet and tell him my dog is acting weird what should I do. (And yes, Rick we do use Petsmart vets!) What to do?

Then on the other side of it all with all of his strange annoying behaviors (And I didn't even mention his new elimination method on walks), the children adore him more than I can even express. Last night, Lauren sat with him on the floor when she thought no one was looking and started singing to him like a baby. She laid down with her face right next to his. She even stayed there, although she did make a face for a moment, when his atrocious ass-breathe made its way to her nostrils. Her song was about what a good dog he was and how much she loved him. It reminded me of when we got Blue and the kids, being toddlers, wanted to name him 'Nice Dog." Maybe we should have let them.