Tess
I remember the day Tess came to us. My parents had gone out to visit someone, and I was the designated babysitter. When they came home they brought in with them a tiny little red and black puppy, who cowered under the table as Cody, our rough sable and white collie, tried to check her out.
Lady Contessa, or Tess as she was called was actually named by me after a character in one of the books I was reading. Tess was an airdale terrier and as such was a little terror. She ripped things up, going through a water bed, a pool and many other things before she was out of her chewing stage. My parents kept her unspayed, intending to breed her to make up the cost of buying her and to pay for everything she destroyed. After her first two heats they decided to spay her because they didn't want to risk her getting cancer of the uterus later on in life.
She became my buddy. I went with her to training classes, I learned how to train her and during our rest periods I would sit with her and massage her paws. I learned how to use the hair clippers and when she became curly to the point of almost being wooly I would wash her and take her outside and shave her into an airdale clip.
Tess slept in my bedroom, along with Cody and one night he had an upset stomach and threw up. I got upset because we weren't able to make it outside in time. She watched the whole thing carefully and when she had an upset stomach, from eating a plaster Christmas ornament, she made sure to make her throw up neat and tidy and landed it right in the seat of my pants which were lying on my floor. I was not as impressed with her as she was with herself for throwing up so well. One day she ate a rawhide and didn't chew it up enough and it got stuck in her intestines. We took her to the vet and they said we just had to let it pass through and watch her. That night she did not eat and she did not sleep, and she and I lay on my bed and I slowly fed her water and watched her. She made it through the night and was able to pass it the next day. I was so worried for her.
Eventually we got another dog, a weimaraner named Kaeli, Kaeli got along great with the other dogs but around this same time my dad had an extreme allergic reaction to some dust at work and had to have a scratch test done. Dog showed up as one of his allergies. Tess was not so much a problem because she did not shed, Kaeli was not much of a problem because she had short hair, but Cody was a big problem because he was a constant licker and he had long hair. So my parents got rid of Cody, gave him to a nice family in our church who had children who fell in love with him. It was good to know that he went to a good home. For Tess it was a disaster. She fell into a depression. A little later my parents got Ritter, another weimaraner to breed with Kaeli. Ritter became the alpha of the house and bossed Tess around. It did not help her depression.
As time passed I eventually went off to college and Tess stayed at home, Kaeli had puppies most of which we sold and one or two that we kept for a brief time. One of the puppies, Kyren started picking on Tess. Eventually Tess began to retreat to her kennel downstairs more and more. She became less and less interested in food. One day when I was at college my mom sent me an e-mail telling me that the dogs got out of the yard, Kyren had dug a hole under the fence, and Tess had been hit by a car. She was ok, they had taken her to the vet and she was just bruised a bit. I was beside myself though. I wanted to take her and keep her, but at college there was nowhere to put her. Before I returned home my parents had sold her to an older man who needed a companion. I never saw her again.
At this point Kaeli has passed away and Ritter is close to passing. I know that Tess is probably gone by now. However still in my mind I can see her sweet little red face, and I miss her.
Lady Contessa, or Tess as she was called was actually named by me after a character in one of the books I was reading. Tess was an airdale terrier and as such was a little terror. She ripped things up, going through a water bed, a pool and many other things before she was out of her chewing stage. My parents kept her unspayed, intending to breed her to make up the cost of buying her and to pay for everything she destroyed. After her first two heats they decided to spay her because they didn't want to risk her getting cancer of the uterus later on in life.
She became my buddy. I went with her to training classes, I learned how to train her and during our rest periods I would sit with her and massage her paws. I learned how to use the hair clippers and when she became curly to the point of almost being wooly I would wash her and take her outside and shave her into an airdale clip.
Tess slept in my bedroom, along with Cody and one night he had an upset stomach and threw up. I got upset because we weren't able to make it outside in time. She watched the whole thing carefully and when she had an upset stomach, from eating a plaster Christmas ornament, she made sure to make her throw up neat and tidy and landed it right in the seat of my pants which were lying on my floor. I was not as impressed with her as she was with herself for throwing up so well. One day she ate a rawhide and didn't chew it up enough and it got stuck in her intestines. We took her to the vet and they said we just had to let it pass through and watch her. That night she did not eat and she did not sleep, and she and I lay on my bed and I slowly fed her water and watched her. She made it through the night and was able to pass it the next day. I was so worried for her.
Eventually we got another dog, a weimaraner named Kaeli, Kaeli got along great with the other dogs but around this same time my dad had an extreme allergic reaction to some dust at work and had to have a scratch test done. Dog showed up as one of his allergies. Tess was not so much a problem because she did not shed, Kaeli was not much of a problem because she had short hair, but Cody was a big problem because he was a constant licker and he had long hair. So my parents got rid of Cody, gave him to a nice family in our church who had children who fell in love with him. It was good to know that he went to a good home. For Tess it was a disaster. She fell into a depression. A little later my parents got Ritter, another weimaraner to breed with Kaeli. Ritter became the alpha of the house and bossed Tess around. It did not help her depression.
As time passed I eventually went off to college and Tess stayed at home, Kaeli had puppies most of which we sold and one or two that we kept for a brief time. One of the puppies, Kyren started picking on Tess. Eventually Tess began to retreat to her kennel downstairs more and more. She became less and less interested in food. One day when I was at college my mom sent me an e-mail telling me that the dogs got out of the yard, Kyren had dug a hole under the fence, and Tess had been hit by a car. She was ok, they had taken her to the vet and she was just bruised a bit. I was beside myself though. I wanted to take her and keep her, but at college there was nowhere to put her. Before I returned home my parents had sold her to an older man who needed a companion. I never saw her again.
At this point Kaeli has passed away and Ritter is close to passing. I know that Tess is probably gone by now. However still in my mind I can see her sweet little red face, and I miss her.