diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8927e11..e13566d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.12
 
 require (
 	github.com/apcera/termtables v0.0.0-20170405184538-bcbc5dc54055 // indirect
+	github.com/araddon/gou v0.0.0-20190110011759-c797efecbb61
 	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 // indirect
 	github.com/scylladb/termtables v1.0.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index d412c85..0912f8b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 github.com/apcera/termtables v0.0.0-20170405184538-bcbc5dc54055 h1:IkPAzP+QjchKXXFX6LCcpDKa89b/e/0gPCUbQGWtUUY=
 github.com/apcera/termtables v0.0.0-20170405184538-bcbc5dc54055/go.mod h1:8mHYHlOef9UC51cK1/WRvE/iQVM8O8QlYFa8eh8r5I8=
+github.com/araddon/gou v0.0.0-20190110011759-c797efecbb61 h1:Xz25cuW4REGC5W5UtpMU3QItMIImag615HiQcRbxqKQ=
+github.com/araddon/gou v0.0.0-20190110011759-c797efecbb61/go.mod h1:ikc1XA58M+Rx7SEbf0bLJCfBkwayZ8T5jBo5FXK8Uz8=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 h1:ZDRjVQ15GmhC3fiQ8ni8+OwkZQO4DARzQgrnXU1Liz8=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 h1:Lm995f3rfxdpd6TSmuVCHVb/QhupuXlYr8sCI/QdE+0=
diff --git a/parseany.go b/parseany.go
index 61a021e..e7ae7d8 100644
--- a/parseany.go
+++ b/parseany.go
@@ -10,12 +10,14 @@ import (
 	"time"
 	"unicode"
 	"unicode/utf8"
+
+	"github.com/araddon/gou"
 )
 
-// func init() {
-// 	gou.SetupLogging("debug")
-// 	gou.SetColorOutput()
-// }
+func init() {
+	gou.SetupLogging("debug")
+	gou.SetColorOutput()
+}
 
 var days = []string{
 	"mon",
@@ -204,14 +206,27 @@ func MustParse(datestr string, opts ...ParserOption) time.Time {
 //     // layout = "2006-01-02 15:04:05"
 //
 func ParseFormat(datestr string, opts ...ParserOption) (string, error) {
-	p, err := parseTime(datestr, nil, opts...)
+	return parseFormatOptions(datestr, nil, opts...)
+}
+func parseFormatOptions(datestr string, loc *time.Location, opts ...ParserOption) (string, error) {
+	p, err := parseTime(datestr, loc, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = p.parse()
+	t, err := p.parse()
+	gou.Debugf("%s returned %v IsZero()=%v nano=%v second=%v error %v", datestr, t, t.IsZero(), t.UnixNano(), t.Unix(), err)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
+
+	// Because the above parse essentially punts by sending to underlying
+	// go time.Parse() which can easily return a 0000-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC
+	// we count that as an error.
+	//
+	// However, this is definitely not failproof.
+	if t.IsZero() {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s returned a IsZero() time so must be invalid", datestr)
+	}
 	return string(p.format), nil
 }
 
@@ -2002,7 +2017,6 @@ func (p *parser) parse() (time.Time, error) {
 		p.format = p.format[p.skip:]
 		p.datestr = p.datestr[p.skip:]
 	}
-	//gou.Debugf("parse %q   AS   %q", p.datestr, string(p.format))
 	if p.loc == nil {
 		return time.Parse(string(p.format), p.datestr)
 	}
diff --git a/parseany_test.go b/parseany_test.go
index 35e212c..d2dcec4 100644
--- a/parseany_test.go
+++ b/parseany_test.go
@@ -527,11 +527,19 @@ var testParseFormat = []dateTest{
 	{in: "2009-08-12T22:15:09-0700", out: "2006-01-02T15:04:05-0700"},
 	//   yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ
 	{in: "2009-08-12T22:15Z", out: "2006-01-02T15:04Z"},
+	// others
+	{in: "31.jpg", err: true},
+	//{in: "1.jpg", err: true},  This SHOULD error but doesn't, our validating tests are really
+	// just passing down to underlying go error which this doesn't catch.
 }
 
-func TestParseLayout(t *testing.T) {
+func TestParseFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := parseFormatOptions("3.jpg", time.UTC)
+	assert.NotEqual(t, nil, err)
+	_, err = ParseFormat(`{"hello"}`)
+	assert.NotEqual(t, nil, err)
 	for _, th := range testParseFormat {
-		l, err := ParseFormat(th.in)
+		l, err := parseFormatOptions(th.in, time.UTC)
 		if th.err {
 			assert.NotEqual(t, nil, err)
 		} else {