sherlock holmes

I saw it. I liked it. I recommend it.

adventures in leash training

So Cooper is a really well behaved dog. He knows several commands, such as "leave it, stay, come and off." He can also play fetch. What he cannot do is walk on a leash. This is problematic because he is extremely strong. So today we started leash training. I used the "180 technique."

The 180 Technique goes like this: you walk with your dog, if he pulls on the leash, you turn around an walk the other direction. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat...

It took us over an hour to go approximately 2 blocks, but he is improving. Sadly, whenever I praise him for doing a good job, he gets excited and starts to run, and in turn pulls on the leash (oy!). It was frustrating, but Cooper began to get the hang of it by the end of the walk. Tomorrow I'm going to play fetch with him prior to the walk, so he is already a little tuckered out when we start.

I got a dog!

Today I adopted a dog. He is a lab/golden retriever mix, but is all black. He is 14 months old, and is already really well trained & a gentle, sweet dog. He and Lucy got along instantly(bonus!). :) YAY! His birthday is October 26, 2008, and I'm hoping his name will soon be Cooper (his previous owners called him "Man-doggie.")

movie recommendations

I've rented a few good movies lately, and most of them have been pretty good. I recommend these:

• The Nanny Diaries (this seems to be one of the few movies in which I don't hate Scarlett Johnasson's character/face)
• Slumedog Millionaire - awesome
• Sunshine Cleaning - funny and sweet
• Star Trek

At the theater, I recommend:

• Avatar - epic, and way way way better than I expected
• Up in the Air - funny and interestibg. I loved it, and not just because it was shot in STL & my friend was in it for a split second.