Tessa has always been very protective of her loved ones, and she is still the same at 20 years old.

The terrier mix adores her mother, but nothing compares to her toy banana. It’s simply padding and yellow cloth, but it’s precious to Tessa—and she’s making sure everyone else recognizes it as such.

Shanna Loren, Tessa’s mother, purchased the banana five years ago when a dog damaged Tessa’s favorite toy. Loren told The Dodo, “I found it in a trash can at a pet store, but I knew it was the size of a toy she loved.” “She accepted the banana as soon as I handed it to her.”

Tessa now proudly displays her bananas to visitors and requires that they pay homage to her favorite toy.

Loren explained, “She wants everyone to notice it before she puts it down.” “When she sets it down, she puts it in the finest bed she can find.”

Puppies are obstinate when it comes to bananas; don’t allow their age or hearing loss get in the way of their purpose. Loren explained, “We told the people to tell her they spotted her bananas so she could lie down.” “It’s interesting how our friends are hollering at her now that she’s deaf, ‘I adore your bananas, Tessa!’”

Tessa believes that you are never too old to sleep with your favorite cuddly toy.

“She never turned it into a ‘toy,’” Loren added. “It’s her sole possession, and it’s her life.”