La Lively Comtesse~They call her Tessa

by Sassy Lively
(Texas, USA)

They call her Tessa.

She came to us yesterday and already I know she is a one of a kind standard black poodle, loving, trusting, smart, and a royal lady. Her story has to be an on going one for a while, for we have a lot to learn about each other.

What I do know about her is not much. Her parents (owners) lived in Texas. She had a loving groomer, who was keeping her while her parents went on vacation.

The parents were killed while in California and the groomer could not keep her as she had a house full of dogs already.

They called her Tessa. So we put the name of La(the) Lively Contesse (french for Contessa) The Lively Contessa. We, being Lively's ourselves, it looks really good when you write it down. Which we will only do when we take her to our vet next week, because Tessa comes without papers. The family that contacted the groomer were not giving much info at that time. And it doesn't matter because we don't plan on raising puppies.

Tessa is really quite a lady. She goes outside to do her business. She doesn't bark even when Bubba, her new big brother Basset Hound, and Topper, her little brother Maltese, welcomed her to the family with lots of woolfs and sniffs.

She found her place on the bed last night and made herself at home. So far, she is happy. While napping at my feet this morning, she had a nightmare. She whined and moved like she was running. When I gently woke her, she had what looked like tears in her eyes. It will be awhile before she forgets her other family but we are trying to make her feel like she has been with us all her life.

Bubba and Topper have shared their toys with her and she loves them. She has a special spot on the sofa to watch TV. she eats and drinks well and generally seems to like us as much as we like her. I think she knows lots of tricks. So far, the grand children got her to shake, sit, and walk good on a leash.

So, I think this will have to be continued until next time, same place, same channel. What Tessa becomes in the weeks to come will be a wonderful surprise to us all.