the one where i blame my dog

Photo courtesy of trainedmonkey.com

My Shih Tzu, Wonton, has commandeered my laptop to update his blog.

missing wonton already

I just dropped Wonton off with Karen, who'll be watching him while Jim and I are in Germany, and I miss him already. I keep looking up from packing, as if I'm going to see him poke his head out from behind something that he shouldn't be chewing on. Then I realize he's not here and I won't see his cute little face for two weeks. He's just a dog and I'm getting all misty-eyed, I can't imagine what it would be like with a child. How do you people with kids do this?

downtown is so bloggy...

Downtown Los Angeles is so bloggy (3rd bloggiest in the country, to be precise) that even our dogs blog. In addition to blogdowntown and the blogs on their blogroll, there's Urban Memo, Skid Row Dude, a condominium, and an automated pay toilet. I saw Bert this weekend, he told me he's giving it a shot as well and today, my dog launched his blog, (213)dog. Yeah, I didn't know he could type, either.


He's a very smart dog, but I don't think he knows what he's getting into.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that a piece of tofu named Tofujii is also blogging.

cry "attica" and let loose the dogs of downtown

I'm exhausted. Last night, Jim and I took Wonton out for his debut to the downtown social circle - Dog Day Afternoon at the Cathedral. Wonton has been out before, playing with his sister and other dogs while waiting to get groomed at The Lofty Dog. This was different. This was bigger. And it was one of the best events I've ever attended downtown. The plaza was filled with dogs, their owners, and friendly downtowners without dogs. Wonton was so excited, I thought he was going to shake his tail off.


Photo courtesy of trainedmonkey

Jim blogged about it, that's his pic of Wonton interacting with Tank, an English Bulldog. Since we both had our hands full managing Wonton, we didn't take many pictures of him with Joe's dog Ruby (they got along swell, Wonton let Ruby have three of his treats), the hosts of the event Buddy and Joaquin (and their owners Hal Bastian and Monsignor K), or any of the pony-sized dogs that Wonton bravely approached. Thankfully, Ed and Don were there with their cameras. Don blogged and posted some pics of me and Wonton. I love this pic that Ed took of Wonton and yet another large dog, and this pic of Wonton getting sniffed by Ben's dogs, Luca and I forget the name of their other dog.

After a while, Wonton calmed down and just made his way through the plaza, greeting dogs and charming people. At one point he tried to sniff Buddy's butt (he's a Golden Lab), but was knocked down by one sweep of Buddy's wagging tail. Hilarity. We met some other downtown Shih Tzus and their owners - Kimberly and Kloey, who just moved downtown from Las Vegas (welcome to downtown!) and Dalai, another Lofty Dog customer. Unfortunately, we didn't see Wonton's sister, or his brother Tubby, both downtown dogs. Co-organizer and downtown booster extraordinaire Hal Bastian said he wants to organize another downtown dog social, so hopefully they can make the next one.

Next up on Wonton's list of things to do - my mom's birthday lunch at our loft this Saturday, The Lofty Dog's Yappy Hour during the Downtown Art Walk next Thursday, and he's launching his own blog. Yes, a downtown dog blog. Stay tuned.

"where's my treat?"

Fresh from getting groomed at The Lofty Dog, Wonton poses for the camera, seconds before tearing his brown and white polka-dot carrier apart.

Wonton had quite a day at the groomers. His sister, Lily, happened to come in for a groom as well. They licked, romped, and caught up with each other. It was really difficult to tell them apart, they look so much alike.


Now that Wonton has all his shots, he's available for playdates. He's so low to the ground and, as puppies do, he mouths everything. So we can't take him for walks downtown, but we are looking for a stroller so he can explore the neighborhood with us. There was one that I liked at The Lofty Dog, but it was pink and Wonton wants something a little more masculine, so we're still looking.

Besides our weekly forays to downtown Farmer's Markets, Wonton is looking forward to two upcoming canine events: 1) Downtown Dog Day Afternoon at the Cathedral, on July 31st, and 2) Yappy Hour at The Lofty Dog (which coincides with the monthly Downtown Artwalk) on August 9th. Maybe we'll see you there!

fun in the park and a fat puppy

Last week, Jim and I were taking our puppy Wonton to the vet and we passed by the Los Angeles State Historic Park. They were setting up for an event, it looked like a mid-day concert or festival. We considered stopping to check it out, but figured Ed, Dave, Eric, Don or Rico was probably all over it already. BTW, does downtown have some great bloggers, or what? But there was no mention of the event from these usually comprehensive bloggers. Then I find out it was a concert series/block party called Live At The BBQ thrown by Zune, with live performances by Common and E-40 and tents with video games. It looked like a fun party.

Meanwhile, back at the vet, the nurse asked me to place Wonton on the scale to be weighed. When we first brought him in, he weighed 4.2 lbs. Three weeks later, he weighs 5.7 lbs. Is that normal? Or are we going to have a 20-lb. Shih Tzu on our hands?

my boys

Here are my guys, Jim and Wonton. Aren't they cute?

meet wonton

Meet Wonton, our new Shih Tzu puppy!

photo courtesy of jim

Yes, he's on my Hello Kitty rug. That's not happening anymore, let me assure you. We had his toys all ready for him when he arrived, so he had a great time checking out his new pad and romping around.


Then he went down for his nap.



He's already crate-trained, housetrained (for a puppy), and we're told he sleeps through the night and is a late riser. I'll let you know if I've been lied to.