Introducing Tessa

This is Tessa. She's another last minute rescue, taken in after being scheduled for euthanization at an area animal control facility. I went to the facility with the intention of taking one of three dogs the facility director had told me about - either a chihuahua, a papillon, or a Great Dane mix. The chihuahua is adorable - a very sweet, very tiny dog who would be difficult to foster in my house because he might get stepped on. The papillon is a papillon. The director said he's very sweet, and I'm sure he is, but the breed is just not my favorite. The Great Dane mix had absolutely no Dane in him whatsover - he is a Shepherd/Lab mix, and he is very large and very sweet. He was my favorite of the three by far, but while I was there another dog caught my eye. Tessa.

The Shepherd/Lab, named Yeager, was very adoptable - a big yellow mutt who was already house-trained and very affectionate, turned in by his owners when they had to move. He'd be an easy one to foster and adopt out. But something about Tessa wouldn't let me walk away from her. She scrunched up against the front of her kennel with pleading eyes, just begging me to pet her. I reached in a hand and scratched behind her ear. Oh the joy and bliss on her face - she was in heaven just from a simple touch. I asked the director about her and found that she was scheduled to be euthanized by the vet in the morning.

She's a pit bull, and their facility is not allowed to adopt out pit bulls. But the director also thought she was very sweet, and was glad to hear that I was interested in saving her. She helped me test both Tessa and Yeager to see how they did with other dogs. Both passed with flying colors. Tessa also passed the rest of her evaluation, so I decided to try her out at my house. Yeager has a good shot at getting adopted before he runs out of time. Tessa appears to be an equally wonderful dog, and she did not have another option. I love to foster dogs that I would pick as my own dog if it were up to me. Out of all the dogs at that shelter, Tessa was the dog I would most want as my own, so I will especially enjoy fostering her. In spite of being a pit bull mix, I think she's very adoptable - she does great with other dogs, and is very submissive to them. I'll get her house-trained if she is not already, and work on some basic training with her, and in the end someone out there will be very lucky to adopt such a sweet girl.