Tessie is One

Next Saturday, November 29th, is Tessie's first birthday.  It's hard to believe that our little puppies will not be little puppies soon.  Skippy turns one in January.  Tessie has had a big year and it is hard to believe that the scared little puppy from the streets of Puerto Rico is the same dog we live with.  She has made huge gains in a lot of areas during her first year.  She loves to go for walks and play outside.  I think that if she could stay outside all of the time she would.  She loves going to the beach, especially because she can dig holes wherever she wants.  She is a stuffed toy killer and can rip open and de-stuff any stuffed animal in a matter of minutes.  She's a great catcher and she loves peanut butter.  When she gets excited her whole body wags.

When we first brought our puppies home from the shelter

 on March 11th, Tessie was about three and a half months old.  When we went into the pen that she shared with Skippy, he was all over us but she sat in the corner and had to be coaxed over with food.  On her first night she sat on her dog bed and wouldn't come off.  We had to carry her to her water bowl.  Over time she became more comfortable.  After a few weeks she started playing with Skippy.  She was an adorable puppy with very long legs that made her a little clumsy.  She loved to chew on strings and would go after shoelaces, strings on sweatshirts, even my hair a few times.  We hand-fed Tessie for weeks to try to get her comfortable with us and with eating.  At puppy kindergarten she sat in the corner and would not play with the other dogs until the last class.  During puppy graduate class she did much better and made a good friend in the Golden Retriever that was in our class.  

Tessie has grown to LOVE other dogs.  She loves to play with humans or dogs and she is the fastest runner I've ever seen.  She "herds" Skippy when they play outside.  Tessie is still very scared of people she is not familiar with.  As scared as she has been in various situations, she has never snapped or bitten at anyone, ever.  She is a teddy bear and even if she was scared of someone, that person could pick her up and hold her with no problem.  She is the sweetest dog.  Tessie is also incredibly soft.  She has a thick undercoat, which we believe she gets from her Border Collie side.  She loves to be brushed and would sit for hours if you ket brushing her.  She did great at doggie daycare and has had a play date that she really enjoyed as well.  I can't wait to see her in the snow.  I think she is really going to enjoy it - another opportunity for digging!  We are so thankful for Tessie (and Skippy) because we were lucky enough to find two wonderful dogs.  We know Tessie's second year will be just as fun and exciting as her first.