Change In Behavior

My 17 month old Bernese Mountain Dog, Bodi has seemed to change his sleeping behavior overnight. Since a puppy, Bodi always came upstairs at bedtime to sleep in our Master Bedroom (mostly the Master bath due to the cool tiled floors). Back in July, we adopted a kitten, Harley who slept with us in the bed every night. A few weeks after we got Harley, Bodi decided to sleep downstairs the whole night, every night. Harley had to be put down sadly last month and Bodi still doesn't come upstairs. This isn't really a training question, but a behavioral question. Oh, and most importantly, Bodi and Harley were best buddies - Bodi took care of Harley and nurtured him daily offering plenty of slobbery kisses and a warm place to lay.

This is just a guess... but... Since he's older now, perhaps his guarding instinct has kicked in and he sleeps downstairs so that he can keep better watch and protect the house?

^^^ That would be my guess too, since he started sleeping down stairs AFTER you had to put your kitten down (so sorry).

That is what my husband said also - being that Bodi is now entering the "young man" stage of his life.