Happy Gotcha Month, Miss Tessa!!!

I often think of the day I went to a shelter to evaluate a dog who had been picked up off the streets and was absolutely terrified in the shelter.  I will always remember meeting her in her kennel and how she very intently tried to be as invisible to me as possible.  I will always remember her walking through the shelter on a leash, completely ignoring the dogs that were barking at her from their kennels.

"Maggie" at the shelter

I will always remember that odd feeling I had going home, wishing I could have taken her with me, and then being glad that I got to go back and get her.  I will never, ever forget how she tricked me as I put her in my car and managed to run away!  And I will never forget the words I said to her as I drove home and she watched me from the crate in the back, "You're my kind of dog.  It's a good thing I have four already or I'd be tempted to keep you, and it would not be fair for me to ask you to live the life I would ask you to live."  I will never stop being happy that I was so completely wrong!  I don't think there is a dog in the world better suited to the life that Tessa and I enjoy together.

"Maggie" at my house after her . . . very interesting . . . bath"

Tessa doesn't have a Gotcha Day, she has a Gotcha Month!  October is Tessa month in our house.  In early October I evaluated her.  A few days later I took her home.  And a few weeks later we officially adopted her.

My Tessa, two and a half years later

Even from the first days she was in our household, I have had a very deep level of respect for this dog.  She's a tough, tough girl.  She's smart and resourceful.  Of course, I have come to know her other side even better.  She is soft and sweet and affectionate, and brimming over with fun!

As we continue to share our daily lives together, and as we grow as a performance team, I am deeply grateful to have the opportunity to have this wonderful girl in my life.

Happy Gotcha Month, Miss Tessa!!