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.

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.