“Tess”
Pedigree
June 1, 2000 – May 9, 2013
Tess has the ultimate Golden personality. She loves everyone and everything! She also loves to retrieve, her favorite activity being chasing a tennis ball. She is constantly bringing people shoes, socks, toys, anything she can get her mouth on.
Although she’d rather be playing than showing, Tess has remarkable conformation and she was expertly shown by daughter Emily Horton in AKC Junior Showmanship and Breed. She is well balanced, with beautiful layback of shoulder and stunning movement. She has moderate bone for a more “classic” golden retriever look and a gorgeous head. During her show career Tess earned 11 conformation points including a 5 point major.
At the age of 12 years, Tess achieved her AKC Rally Novice Title by earning her 3 qualifying scores in 3 runs across 3 days in the same weekend, with no prior experience in Rally competition by either of us. Achievement of this title personifies Tess’s intelligence, adaptability, good naturedness, and the ardent desire to do just about anything for me in celebration of our special connection. Those two new little letters after her name represent volumes of praise, love and respect given and received, and a tribute to our faith in each other.
Tess spent the last eight months of her life in her role as therapy dog extraordinaire in my mental health counseling practice. She passed away on May 9th, 2014, 3 weeks shy of her fourteenth birthday, her physical body no longer able to support the great generosity of her spirit. 
She was a superb representative of the golden retriever breed, our partner, best friend, colleague, and we remind ourselves that her love and ours for her will transcend both time and space. Though we have only five goldens today, the sixth, Tess, will live tucked in our hearts forever and remind us how to Be – grounded, patient, gentle, observant, present in every moment, joyful, non-judgmental, generous, compassionate, sharing the beauty of love freely given.
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