Purrley, I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time with Tess. The puppy stage can be exhausting, but thank God it doesn't last too long.

Buffy used to do the exact same thing. We would call her and she would go in the opposite direction or in circles until she got worn out, or until we got exhausted from chasing her throughout the house. Here's how we broke her off that habit. For approx. 2 weeks, whenever we called her, we had a tiny piece of treat she could not pass up. First we tried regular dog cookies and biscuits, and yeah, she would come for the first 2 or 3, but after that she lost interest.

We figured this little chi is not stronger than us and tried another approach. I boiled 1/2 pound of ground beef, or at other times used cut-up TINY pieces of chicken or ham: IT WORKED! Buffy would not come all the time for biscuits and dog treats, but for a tiny piece of meat or cold-cuts, she would come EACH AND EVERY single time she was called. As a matter of fact, we noticed it was extremely amusing that we had her full, uninterrupted attention whenever she first tasted a tiny piece of meat in her mouth. I would kneel and let her taste the first one. I would then stand up and walk to another part of the room and call her -- she would either automatically follow me or come to me when she heard her name.

Every time she responded she would get a verbal reward "good girl" plus a pat on the head. Consistency is a must.

After that first week, I used the same approach but would alternate with and without the food. At first Buffy looked puzzled that she wasn't given anything when she came, but still she got the verbal reward.

After that 2nd week, a food reward was not necessary. Buffy now comes when called. It's hard work and it is exhausting, but the consistency pays off in the long run.

I would block Tess from going upstairs with one of those baby gates that are used to keep toddlers from leaving a room. If that's not possible, try this. Get an empty soda can, put 10 pennies in it, tape the top with scotch tape. Every time you catch Tess in the little box, rattle the soda can really loud and say "No". I can assure you she will be scared stiff. The key here, again, is consistency. After a while she will associate that horrible tincan noise with the litter-box and will leave it alone.