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.