Ryuk and I went off to a local (hour away) convention called "Furfright" that I go to every year, this is his second year going (not his first convention either) however this year was different.

The people I was rooming with were hosting a large party in it. I figured I'd stick around even though Ryuk's crate was rather loudly labelled as off limits. I let him off leash to wander. Despite being packed in a room like a sardine with a bunch of giant stuffed animals walking around (animal costumes) and drunken party goers he was 100% solid. He pretty much kept a close heel around the room as I moved but politely greeted everyone who asked. Ryuk is a "social" dog by working dog standards but he's not a dog that really actually accepts attention from strangers, his typical reaction to "go say hi" is to walk up to a person, poke them, then come back to a heel. However this time he was very sweet, actually cuddled up with someone who wanted to hug him, accepted treats, didn't beg for party food, didn't grab anything off the floor. He even showed off some tricks when asked. This was a "black tie" party and everyone had to wear these paper clip-on laminate ties, Ryuk wore his the entire night with his convention badge lol.

I also left him out of the crate at night and while he did jump around a little from bed to bed after the first night he let all the of the roommates into the room without any warnings, curled up to sleep on the beds but didn't kick anyone off, and didn't wake anyone up to early, only one of the roommates had met him before and he completely won the hearts of the other two (which means I have roommates for future conventions >_>

He's also gotten very solid with hotel manners. He consistantly presses himself into the corner of elevators and sits until released at our floor, he waits even at automatically opening doors, he doesn't many any inappropriate noise in the hotel room, he actively ignores anything the hotel staff do in the room on command (the maid sent to do our room was DEATHLY afraid of dogs and was very reassured when he laid quietly in his crate while she vacuumed). We got stuck in the AC-less tiny hotel elevator with 8 other people which was "interesting". One of the people freaked the heck out and ended up attaching herself to Ryuk for the half our time we spent waiting for help. He did great, calmed her down better than any of us could have. We used the "dogs know when things are not okay, he's acting normally so things must be okay" approach. I'm still shocked he was okay with being hugged non-stop for a half an hour, much less in a cramped elevator by a crying woman in costume.

My favorite thing though? This dog KNOWS he's at a hotel when it comes to bathroom habits. He gets that when he asks to go out that he still has a minimum of 5 minutes before he gets outside. I can ask him how badly he needs to go out...wiggles and jumping, he has no problem getting outside, whining means he needs to use the bathtub....he's been 100% solid so far *knocks on wood*. Once outside he'll continue to wait until I walk him to a place where it's okay to go (not in the hotel gardens for example).

What a GREAT dog! That's awesome Jamie. I can't imagine Koenig reacting well to giant people smelling stuffed animals.... lol. He's a solid dog, but that is just going to be WEIRD to most dogs.

How did you teach him to go potty in the bathtub?!!??!?!?! That is so cool.


You guys both deserve a great big pat on the back for this. You, for being such a kick-butt trainer for Ryuk, and getting him exposed to all this stuff, and you're dog for being a rockstar!

bathtub bathroom break started from puppyhood. I taught him to pee on command by on a variety of surfaces (easier to do when they have micro puppy bladders and drink their weight in water every chance they get) by keeping him on each surface when he needed to go badly then partied like crazy when he did it. We practiced regularly for a few weeks, not he only uses it if he's traveling. He spent his first week with me in my dorm, so I housebroke him in the bathroom in the shower, made the tub the easiest place to teach him later one (hardest was a metal bedpan, because of the noise).

You definatly need a female or a male does that is willing to boysquat but it works!


For the fursuits (costumes). He's been going to cons for a while, we originally introduced him to them through a friend who had them, he learned to handle drunk people first, then drunk people in raver gear, then drunk people dressed as giant stuffed animals....the non-drunk versions were a piece of cake.

 Quote: Jamie Craig

bathtub bathroom break started from puppyhood. I taught him to pee on command by on a variety of surfaces (easier to do when they have micro puppy bladders and drink their weight in water every chance they get) by keeping him on each surface when he needed to go badly then partied like crazy when he did it. We practiced regularly for a few weeks, not he only uses it if he's traveling. He spent his first week with me in my dorm, so I housebroke him in the bathroom in the shower, made the tub the easiest place to teach him later one (hardest was a metal bedpan, because of the noise).

You definatly need a female or a male does that is willing to boysquat but it works!

This is seriously awesome. Seriously. I'm amazed. What a FANTASTIC idea. I've done some weird things with my dog (currently teaching him to heel/ do OB blindfolded!) but I never thought about peeing in a bathtub/shower. I can't even imagine how convenient this could be for Koenig. He pees on his front legs fairly consistently.... if he did that in a bathtub though, it'd be a breeze to get him clean again!

Jamie...that's really great what you taught Ryuk. I'll have to remember the bathtub "trick" for my next pup.