LifeQs
Maestro Greenwald
Answer one question or many - using words, photos or other media.
Diana Greenwald
He really loved chicken. I remember he once jumped from the floor to our dining room table to get some. Unfortunately, he developed an allergy to his beloved poultry and had to switch to chicken. He also loved to bite off the nose of my favorite stuffed animal (Lambie). I think he was jealous of another animal in my life, even if it was a plush toy.
Ava Seave
Technically, Maestro could only eat one kind of food -- venison. It turns out after he was about 6 years old, he developed an allergy to chicken, which is the most common dog food ingredient. So he ate venison in all forms -- treats, kibble and wet food.
Of course, he got some relief from this boring taste experience by licking up all the food that fell to the floor around the dining room table. He was a very good vacuum cleaner.
Of course, he got some relief from this boring taste experience by licking up all the food that fell to the floor around the dining room table. He was a very good vacuum cleaner.
Diana Greenwald
My mom already posted it. The one below I think really shows how kind he was, both to his fellow animals and humans.
Ava Seave
Maestro and our guinea pig, Stripes, hung out together for about 3 years (until the guinea pig died.) We are sure they communicated, as Maestro made squeaking noises like a guinea pig when he sat by Stripes' cage.
Diana Greenwald
His tail wagged so regularly it was like a metronome! Plus, he already had that name when we adopted him.
Ava Seave
Maestro was a rescue dog, and the family before us -- the second family he had -- named the dog. When he wagged his tail, it looked like an orchestra conductor, waving a baton -- so they named him Maestro. When his other family handed him over and demonstrated why he was named Maestro, it was so, so perfect, of course we kept it. AND by the way, he was the Maestro of our family.
Diana Greenwald
I think that several months after we adopted him, Maestro began to get used to us and we began to get used to him. He started sleeping in my bed every night. It became normal for my mom to come in the morning to find him curled around my head and taking up most of the pillow. We started doing some training together (really basic sit, lie down, etc.) and we bonded. After those few months, I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up without him.
Ava Seave
My daughter, Diana really, really, really wanted a dog. My husband and I did not. But my cousin Ellen Goldstein plotted against us and started setting Diana up with small dog rescue information. Eventually, a woman named Sandi in the east village contacted us and told us about this bichon frise that a family could no longer afford to take care of. And because of his size -- and because he was already housetrained -- we agreed. We met the family in a parking lot in Westchester and did the pet transfer. Maestro was very upset for the first several months. He clearly felt abandoned by his other family -- which in fact was his second family -- so we were his third. And that family had lots of other pets. So he wouldn't stay alone and followed us around the house for months at all hours of the day or night. Poor guy.
Diana Greenwald
Anywhere there was to see another friendly dog or smell an interesting new smell or mark territory
Diana Greenwald
At first, my bed. Then I went to college and he moved to my parents' bed. Then he was ousted from there and slept on a bench at the foot of their bed. His favorite spots towards the end of his life were the couch in my mother's office and a chair in the living room.
Diana Greenwald
I think just in the day-to-day moments of watching TV or laying on the couch. He was good company all the time.
Diana Greenwald
He would get upset when we were packing or if I left for a long time. I couldn't exactly explain to him that I was going to camp or college, so it used to take time for him to warm up to me again after a long absence. It may have been about his memory, but I think he was being cool towards me because I had left.
Ava Seave
I don't miss walking him. We walked him 2 or 3 times per day for 16 years. (He died at 18, but we got him at about 2 years old.) So taking out vacations and when I could get a dog walker, I probably walked him around the block or to the park more than 10,000 times.
The hardest times walking him was in the snow. It wasn't the snow, but the salt on the pavements that were difficult. We put little booties on his paws. They were balloons that we cut down a bit.
The hardest times walking him was in the snow. It wasn't the snow, but the salt on the pavements that were difficult. We put little booties on his paws. They were balloons that we cut down a bit.
