Tessa (Tesla)

Tessa 5 year-old Female 55 lbs. Hi everyone! My name is Tessa. I am a beautiful, sweet and loving female shepherd looking for a new forever home! I originally came from Missouri, but have been living in Wisconsin since the beginning of this year with my current mom. I am a good size at approximately 55 lbs., not too big or too small! Check out my pictures to see how gorgeous I am! If you are going to be my forever family, I guess you should know some things about me! I absolutely love to give kisses, and love snuggling with my person. In typical shepherd fashion, I have picked a member of the family to be "mine" and am definitely attached and protective of her. Once I find a person in my new family to be mine, you can expect it will be the same! Even though I definitely pick a special person, once I am familiar and comfortable with the whole family, they are my friends too! I am slightly more comfortable with women than with men, but you can bet that some time and treats bring me around to those guys too! I absolutely adore belly rubs, and will roll over to let you know I am hoping for one. My current mom does all sorts of enrichment activities with me, and those are so fun too! She fills Kongs and toys with my favorite treats (peanut butter and hot dogs, yum!!) and plays "find it" with me to keep my brain busy. I would say I am a moderate to high energy dog. I definitely need some physical and mental exercise throughout the day, but if I get that I am just dandy! If I don't get enough exercise I can get a little destructive, but who doesn't get stir crazy if they are cooped up? I love all sorts of toys, but I do have a tendency to destroy stuffed ones. What can I say, they are so fun to rip apart!! I haven't been around cats so I can't say how I would do with them, but I do have a strong prey drive for critters in my yard. I have been around big kids and love them. My mom's 15-year-old daughter is my favorite person in the whole wide world. I haven't really seen any little kids though, so I would need to meet them to be sure I love the littles too! I have been to doggy daycare regularly lately, and have made all sorts of two legged and four legged friends there. All of the daycare teachers love me and say that I am the sweetest, and I love playing with all the other dogs! I know all the basic commands, and am working on my leash walking skills. I do have a history of some mild separation anxiety (my mom can tell you all about it, but it was mostly related to my crate) and I still take some anxiety medication to help me be the best I can be, but I have gotten so much better! Also, if my new family can get me the stimulation I so desperately need, I may be able to have less anxiety overall and the medication might not be needed. I also can jump when really excited or when meeting people, but a little bit of work can easily correct that behavior. I just forget I am not a little dog sometimes!! I am very sad to be looking for a new family, but my mom is suffering from a long term debilitating illness and is unable to care for me anymore. She absolutely adores me and is completely heartbroken (as am I!) but she can recognize that I am not getting the care or exercise that I need. So won't you please consider adding me to your family? I promise I am amazing and will love you forever!