Tess

"*She was one in a million for me. One in a million she was in a puppy mill, one in a million AAP rescued her... One in a million everything.*"
—Tess' final owner writing about her.
**Tess** was a female chihuahua adopted in 2011 and given away in 2014. Extremely shy and anxious, Tess was afflicted by epilepsy and a fear of thunderstorms.

Originally from a puppy mill, Tess was given away after two years due to urine problems. She lived with a new owner in Canada until her death in 2017.

## Early life

Tess was most likely born in 2006. Her earliest-known home was an unidentified puppy mill. It is said that she had multiple puppies while at the mill. At some point, Tess joined the foster care system and used the name Chloe.

## Foster care and adoption

In November 2011, Chloe was living with a foster family on Tilestone Drive in O'Fallon, Missouri. One morning she escaped by squeezing between the slats of a fence, and aimlessly roamed the neighborhood.

Chloe was soon found on the road by residents of the neighborhood. Two days later, she was officially adopted by those who had found her and given the name Coco. She was re-named Tess a few weeks later. She had laid-back and uncontroversial relationships with Lila and Daisy, probably due to her submissive personality.

## Restricted mobility and end of ownership

Sometime in 2013, Tess was confined to the kitchen full-time on a rope. This was done because of her increasing tendency to urinate or defecate on the carpet. This poor behavior was considered left-over from her time at the puppy mill. Around March 2014, Tess was given back to the foster agency.

## Life in Canada

    Tess was later adopted by Meredith and Nathaniel Graham, residents of Woodstock, New Brunswick in Canada. The Grahams used a service that transported rescue dogs "from the midwest to Maine" to retrieve Tess, who they re-named Harper. Harper lived with two cats and two other dogs, one of which was a chihuahua named Lola. Harper and Lola were said to be "inseparable" best friends.

Harper died on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 around 6:00 AM. She was about 11 years old.

## Trivia

* At some point, Tess was given a long, elaborate full name: Tesselia Thumbelina-Gretchen Pororo. This full name was not widely accepted and was thought to be more of a joke than a serious name.
* Tess is the only dog pet who was not a Boston terrier.

## References

1. ↑ Vets estimated that she was 5 when she was adopted in 2011. November 12 was used as her "gotcha" birthday. This Facebook post identifies her sixth birthday as November 12, 2012.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tess' final owner's Reddit post about her (Archived).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Full text of message confirming Tess' death

### Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tess' exact birthday is unknown. Both November 12 and 26 have been ceremonially used as her "birthday" without actual evidence. Since Tess was adopted in November, it is possible that either the 12th or the 26th is actually her "gotcha" day.
2. ↑ While in foster homes, Tess was known as **Chloe**. After being adopted, she was briefly named **Coco** before receiving the name **Tess**. Her final owners renamed her **Harper**, which she held until her death.