walking breakthrough!

i've had sanford for a little over two months now, and the absolutely most frustrating thing is walking. no he's not house-trained yet, and i've been dealing with his giardia (intestinal parasites) since i got him, but all the doesn't really bother me compared to trying to walk him every day. every two feet he just stops, and often down plops down on his belly as you can see above.

i didn't want to pull too hard and hurt him, plus he was so scared of everything when i first brought him home that i didn't want to push him to do anything he didn't want to. i had also read that if you pull forward, it triggers the stubborn/resistance in him. so walks have been filled with lots of stops, lots of waiting for him to decide to move forward, or enticing him with treats. well, yesterday i realized that he's totally been playing me. he's learned that if he stops, then i stop. and hey, he might even get a treat out of it. and this is every single day for two months now. and it is exhausting. and frustrating. and i was just about at my wits end.

so i changed my strategy. now, i do not stop. this doesn't mean that i charge forward and drag him. i slow down, but i continue to move forward and pull forward as gently and slowly as i can. i absolutely do not yank. i also pull up so that he can't plop down on his belly where i really could hurt him. and guess what? it's working. he is definitely fighting me a bit.. but he moves forward. our morning walks that have been taking up to forty minutes took only twenty this morning!

after two months of very slow, painful walks i finally feel like we're getting somewhere - and it's a huge, huge weight off my shoulders.

kung fu panda TWO.

friday night was the ku fu panda 2 crew screening and wrap party. the screening was at the gibson amphitheatre, as usual, and the after party was on the universal studios lot in the globe theatre / streets of the world area. first of all, the movie is amazing. even better than the first, in my opinion. more action. funnier. and even more emotional. super intense, but very well timed. i got all teared-up three times. jack black even showed up before the movie started to "thank [us] in advance for all the accolades that will be showered upon [him]" for the movie. super proud of everyone who worked on it. the party was great using the indoor/outdoor street space, and lots of fun as usual. though the chinese acrobatic acts they brought in were a big.. kitschy.

impromptu frenchie party!

frenchies at the dog park.

i feel really guilty that i don't spend enough time with the pup since i work all day and am pretty pooped out myself when i get home from work. so, we had a big sunday! first, his ama and agong (my parents) came over and played with him around lunch time.

in the afternoon, i drove over to the silverlake reservoir, parked on the far end from the dog park then we had a nice long walk to the park itself. then he went got to play for well over an hour with other dogs and three frenchies we met there - romy, luna and louie. after that, we did the long walk back, where we met a three-year-old red-fawn-black-masked frenchie name oliver. and then he slept (and farted!) for the rest of the evening. i was pretty exhausted and i didn't do nearly as much running and playing as he did.

cake pop at starbucks?

i don't even like starbucks, but they now have cake pops! this one is birthday cake flavored. yum!

fried chicken and beer.

forgive the awful photo! tonight we went to eva for their fried chicken and beer night. all-you-can-eat-and-drink for $29. their fried chicken was delicious as always - twenty four hour buttermilk marinade - and the beer was a firestone dba served in red dixie cups! very cute, very delicious, and we even spotted (and heard) seth rogan there.

the woes of intestinal parasites.

the pup has giardia, an intestinal parasite. he's basically had it since i brought him home back in march, and after three rounds of medication, he still has it and the vet isn't quite sure what the best way is to proceed. poor little guy.

in happier news, he turned six months old today! happy half birthday, sanford!

deja tango.

this past weekend was a big argentine tango festival in santa monica called the SMITH (santa monica international tango holiday). it's organized by several of the tangueros i know through my brother and the time a few years ago when i used to take classes and go to milongas.

anyway, they had a beginners bootcamp that was about 4 hours each on saturday and sunday consisting of 6 classes. so i went! and it was fun. and refreshing. and exciting. and made me really want to get back into it again. so maybe i will.