Tribute to Tessa

A few months ago we had to have our old dog Tess put down because she was unable to get up in the night which was distressing for her. She actually had survived a stroke the year before, so had an extra year of life. A few weeks before she died (at nearly sixteen)she was still attempting to run.

We got Tess from the RSPCA as a puppy. She had been found wandering the streets. Quite a lot of dogs look like Tess, and that has led to speculation over the years that other dogs seen in the street may be her one of her long-lost relatives. Sometimes people have thought I have been in a particular shop because a dog looking exactly like Tess has been tied outside.

Tess was whining when we got her in the car at the RSPCA, and to be honest, never stopped. We could never leave her for long outside say, a giftshop on holiday, because of the commotion which ensued, and she usually attracted a small group of dog-loving old ladies round her who had heard the pitiful noise who looked daggers at us when we emerged. Mark used to do a whistling whine like Tess if anything went wrong LOL Tess was hyperactive when she was younger and needed three walks a day (the collie in her perhaps). She only stopped needing a halti when she was twelve as she used to pull all the time. (This was when I used to let little boys take turns in walking her home from school). She could run very fast and used to do a very fast run at me and then swerve at the last minute like she thought it was funny LOL

However, she was also gentle and you can see that we trusted her with the baby Jack. The only time I ever saw her with her hackles risen was when she was protecting the pram from another dog.

When we used to have proper snow I used to push the baby buggy round the park like a snow plough with a few feet of snow piled up in front of us because, as I say, she was a dog who needed to be walked regularly no matter what. Actually it's not a bad thing having a dog when you have a baby because it gets you into a good routine, gets you and the baby out and about regularly meeting people during the day. It also gives you regular exercise and gives the baby plenty to look at and plenty to talk about.

She used to like swimming, and there is a blurred picture of me on honeymoon in Scotland with Tess, though why I am carrying her like that I don't know as she was quite a big dog (We must have treated her like a child, and in another picture she has obviously been upsurped lol) She used to swim right into the middle of the lochs, and all you could see was a little head moving slowly but surely in a determined doggy paddle with lots of puffing and blowing. When we moved here she satisfied her water lust by making a beeline for the boating lake from about four hundred yards, causing ducks to scatter and a crowd to gather while I stood trying to get her out and to placate the parkie at the same time. I did it by rustling any disgarded crisp packet I found nearby.

Sad to see Tess go (and I cried) but she had had a good life.