Jorge’s Door Watching Sleep Routine

Jorge’s Door Routine When Only I Was Home

He has since passed away, but the family dog, Jorge, had a routine that he would perform every time my parents were gone. His routine only changed slightly when there were no humans at all in the house. When my parents were gone, he would alternate between staying on my heels and going to check to see if there were any indicators that they had returned. Of course, I never could figure out why he would constantly check the door, after all, he could hear someone outside from inside, even if he was on the other side of the house from where they were.

His routine was pretty simple. He would stay at my side, even if I was sitting down. This would go on for about thirty minutes to an hour. Then, he would get up and walk out into the hallway so that he could get a clear look at the garage door. Few minutes later, once he was convinced that nothing had changed or he was too curious about what I was doing, he would come back to where I was and lay down beside me again. If during his door check, I walked past him for any reason, he would get up and follow me. Of course, he would usually glance back at the door if it was in view while he followed me.

The first step of his process was always to get up though. Why? Easy, every time he would go somewhere new, beside me, hallway, living room, wherever, he would then lay down and take a nap. Sometimes the nap would be for an hour and sometimes it only lasted a few minutes. Then he would get up and move to the next location. It was sort of like he was keeping watch, but while sleeping. Yes, he would be sleeping too, not just lying there. That fact was always evident by the snoring that would be coming from him each time. That dog could snore like a grown human man.

Slight Change with No Humans Around

The only part of this routine that would change, obviously, when there were no humans around at all, is that there was no need to keep returning to see what I was doing. I actually did set up cameras one time while we were gone for a few hours. His routine was the same. He would constantly change locations, but always somewhere that allowed him to see the door. There are actually three doors in the house, but he had long since learned which door we always went in and out of.

He would slowly walk to the hallway, with his head down, and lay down so that his head was pointed toward the door. A little later, he would get up and move into the living room, but in view of the door still. In the few hours that we were all gone, he moved at least a good 50 times, but always in a spot that allowed him to see the door. Each time, he would lay down and take a nap. Whenever he woke up, he’d choose a new spot and repeat.

The only deviation from this routine that I noticed, was one of the times that he got up to change locations, he went into my Dad’s computer room and grabbed his toy. He brought the toy immediately to a new location that allowed him to see the door. There was no hesitation, he was only gone long enough to walk in, grab his toy, and turn around to go to his new chosen spot. Every time, at least twice, he would actually lay with his back against the door. This had become a problem a couple times when we did get home, and almost tripped over him. He was not a huge dog, but he wasn’t small either. Even worse, is that he would almost blend into the floor because of his color and either carpet or rugs in the house.

I Miss Him

Remembering all of this, I have to close out this post by simply saying, I still miss Jorge every day. It’s amazing how much of an impact and a lasting impression a dog will leave on you. Well, it’s not real exciting, but that is truly what Jorge would do when we were gone. He spent his home alone free time, simply waiting and wishing for us to come back home. He hated being away from us. We hate being away from him. Yep, we all miss him.