Jordy McGordy the 27th Jordenheimer has left the building.
Jordy was one of the Goddesses’ most perfect creations, passing over the rainbow bridge Oct 22, 2026, at 3 PM, in his bedroom, licking peanut butter off his front paws, with merciful assistance from Caring Pathways. Jordy was the most handsome—a yellow Labrador Retriever with brown eyes and a brown nose—smartest, gentlest, and, at times, the most stubborn creature ever to populate my humble home. He brightened my life and expanded my world for almost two years and passed at the age of 11 ¾ years old; he would have been 12 on Dec 9th.
I adopted him from Safe Harbor Lab Rescue as a senior dog in Dec 2024, after having fostered him since Oct 9, 2024, as he was recovering from cancer surgery. He was a family surrender. From experience working with foster dogs, I know dogs understand death, but being surrendered by a family for whatever reason just baffles them so deeply. After fostering Jordy for several weeks, I decided to adopt him—he didn’t have to adjust ever again to another household; he was home.
In his last months, he pronounced himself President of the Neighborhood after mobility became a big challenge for him and daily walks were no longer an option (his back legs didn’t work as they once did due to arthritis and other issues), so he would hang out in the front yard warning me of any and all activity on the block, including leaves blowing across the street.
Rather than really disturbing me with needing to go outside in the middle of the night, he’d move around a lot on his bed and make nose-noises repeatedly, which was my signal he needed to go potty. He came to love the bathroom—his safe space—and the bathtub when things got bad, i.e., thunder or fireworks. He truly abhorred fireworks and thunder to the very-very bottom of his big heart!
His residency in the bathroom did cause some issues when I had guests, especially overnight guests, and I’d have to move him out and close the door around 7 PM, which he never could understand. In his last days, he got stuck in the bathtub several times, and once I found him with his front legs out of the tub but he couldn’t get his back legs up and over the edge—made me wish I’d done the bathroom renovation to a walk-in shower!
Regardless of all those mishaps, Jordy always felt he had a purpose and was important in my household—which he certainly was, the best alarm system EVER! I honored that to his very last day, having him come to the front door, then the front yard, and check out what he saw/heard to bark at before Caring Pathways came.