Kirk Shindle and his partner Jeff Telepo adopted Maestro, an
American bull dog and pit bull type mix, in July, 2012 from his foster mom Lisa
LaFontaine, the President and CEO of the Washington Humane Society (WHS).
When Maestro first arrived at WHS, he was not very
responsive to interaction. Staff feared he might have a hearing problem. Lisa
was visiting the New York Avenue Adoption Center to pick up her newest foster
dog, Stella, when Maestro caught her eye. He was lying flat in his enclosure
and appeared to be incredibly depressed. Knowing that Maestro would not prosper
in his current environment, she decided to leave with not one, but two new
fosters. Soon Maestro and Stella were on their way to their new foster home,
much to the surprise of Lisa’s husband. To her relief, Maestro responded to noises once he was settled at
home, so they ruled out deafness and resolved that the adoption center
environment was just not a good fit for Maestro.
Lisa and her husband fostered Maestro for two months,
while they searched for a home where he could get lots of exercise and
stimulation.
“We had recently lost one of our other dogs, and when we
were flipping through the WHS website, I said, ‘He’s the one!’” Kirk said.
When Kirk and Jeff expressed interest in adopting Maestro, another family was also interested in him. As it turned out, the other family wasn’t the
right fit for this active pup. It wasn’t long before three-month-old Maestro
jumped off the screen and into Kirk and Jeff’s arms. Within hours after meeting
Maestro for the first time, they were on their way to adopt him, through debris
left behind from the June 29 Derecho storm, no less.
“I had two friends with pit bull type dogs, and they are the
most loving, sweet dogs,” Kirk commented, adding, “They are very affectionate,
and that was really what I was looking for.”
In the previous year, Kirk and Jeff had endured the loss of both
of their German Shepherds, Seven and Grommet, so welcoming Maestro to their
family has helped them begin to heal from the loss.
Right from the start, Kirk and Jeff knew that they had met
their match with 75 pound lap dog, Maestro. “He’s been a dream!” Kirk remarked.
“He can be a little tricky on walks, because he is so strong and enthusiastic
about life, but he couldn’t be any sweeter. He loves to snuggle in the bed with
us. He thinks he’s a person.” Born with one missing toe, this loveable dog is full
of energy and improving each day with his training.
Just like Maestro, adoption centers
can be extremely stressful for some dogs. WHS is calling on individuals,
families, and businesses to volunteer as temporary foster care parents for
homeless pets. For more information on becoming a foster parent, please visit http://washhumane.org/foster or email foster@washhumane.org.
About Maestros’ Dads:
Kirk owns Slant
Evolution, a luxury T-shirt company in which he hand designs and creates
shirts.
Jeff is a human resources professional with the United
States Mint.
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