Always allow your rat to sniff new things, especially the body harness you will be using to walk him.

 

REALISTICALLY, WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM BEN AND Ira? What is the rat attention span? How long can they work? How much can they learn?

Rats are one of the most successful species on earth. They thrive in virtually any environment. What does this tell you about their learning abilities? Everything! An animal that learns quickly is more likely to adapt quickly. Look at the human race. We learn how to use our environment to our best advantage.

Successful training depends both on your rat’s natural learning abilities and on your own time commitment and imagination. As with any new activity, begin slowly. Break each behavior down into smaller, easily achievable steps, and build one step on another until the final goal is reached. But why stop at one goal when there are so many others ahead? When we climb stairs, are we happy we made it up one riser? Or do we continue to the top?

You have chosen to own and train a rat. Rats aren’t dogs. They don’t have the same loyalties. But they can learn as much as any canine can. The sky’s the limit with Ben and Ira.

Leash Training

Some of the basic behaviors dog owners teach their pets are to come when called, walk with them, sit, lie down, and stay. Walking obediently on a leash is fundamental, as nearly every populated area has canine leash laws. While some dogs are small enough to be comfortably carried, most are not and must be trained to accept a leash, for their own safety as well as the safety of others.

As a rat owner, you’re very lucky; you can put your small companion in a pocket. But consider being more adventurous by training your rat on a leash. Leash training allows your rat to interact with the natural world beyond his cage and your home. The more variety there is in Ben and Ira’s environment, the more stimulated and curious they become. Moreover, a leash-trained rat gets more exercise, making him far healthier and less likely to become overweight than rats limited to a cage environment. You can be certain that your rat would love feeling the grass on his belly and sniffing around rocks as well as running around on the carpet. Imagine the looks you’ll get from your neighbors and passersby as they see you walking your rat. Well, you chose to be a rat owner—what did you expect?

Before you take your rat outdoors, undertake the necessary training to ensure his safety. Unconstrained and untrained, Ben and Ira are unlikely to remain near you when there is a whole world to explore and tempting objects to test for edibility. And don’t expect to be able to catch a rat scooting off on an adventure. You need to be confident that your rat will come to you when he must, and you need enough control to make sure your rat isn’t endangered by vehicles, fast-moving feet, or animals that are more likely to perceive him as a meal than a playmate. To that end, we need to teach Ben and Ira to first accept a harness and then willingly walk with you on a leash.

Equipment you will need for leash training include a target stick and a hoop, which are used to teach your rat to accept a harness.

Acclimating Ben and Ira to a harness may be difficult, as rats don’t like being confined against their will. However, they do like small, tight spaces and will acclimate, provided they are introduced to the harness properly without being frightened. That means breaking down the process into small, nonthreatening steps.

Draw the stick back as your rat approaches so that he goes all the way through the hoop.

Harness Training

We’ll begin by teaching your rat to go through a hoop. Then we’ll gradually decrease the diameter of the hoop until it’s barely wider than the diameter of the rat’s abdomen. The next step is setting up two to three of these hoops and teaching your rat to move through them on command. Once your rat is consistently successful and comfortable performing this behavior, we’ll introduce the harness to the routine, teaching the rat to move through a hoop and then through the harness. Finally, we’ll work on training your rat to go into his harness on command and remain still while you make the harness snug.

Move Through a Hoop

Begin with a hoop made of metal or plastic. The hoop’s diameter should be wide enough that your rat can easily pass through without touching the sides or top. First, allow Ben and Ira to get used to the feel and scent of the hoop. Put a few food morsels down so that the rats will want to approach and investigate. Click the moment they are moving over the side of the hoop and reward.

1. Hold the hoop vertically, with its bottom point resting on the floor or tabletop.
2. Your rat should be on one side; tap your finger or target stick on the surface on the other side, very close to where the rat will have to pass through the hoop.
3. By now Ben and Ira should be well conditioned to come to a tap, so they should show immediate response and come toward it.
4. The tricky part is making sure the rats come to the target through the hoop and not around it. If you are having problems with this, place the hoop between two solid boards about 8 inches wide. This will ensure success.
5. Repeat this exercise until Ben and Ira go directly through the hoop to your tapping finger, without hesitating or going around.

Hoops can be made of the nylon leash to acclimate your rat to a future body harness.

The next step is to gradually decrease the diameter of the hoop, thus leading your rat to pass through a smaller and smaller space to reach his destination. Practice with successively smaller hoops until Ben and Ira are very comfortable moving through something that touches the sides of their bodies. This is important because a harness will caress their sides, too. This step shouldn’t be difficult, since rats prefer to move against something solid, at least on one side.

Once your rat is comfortable with the hoop, take a couple of lengths of nylon rope and coil it into loops. You can also use your leash, which is normally made of the same material as the harness. Begin by presenting one loop held open with your fingertips for your rat to move through it. Gradually decrease the diameter of the loop until Ben and Ira brush their sides against the material as they go through.

You can lure your rat through the harness in the same way you did through the hoop; once he’s used to a small hoop, the transfer to a harness should be easy.

When your rats are completely comfortable moving through the material loop, present them with multiple material coils so that they must move through two or three loops to reach their reward.

Whenever you present a new part of this behavior, be certain to back off on your criteria a little. For example, decrease the amount of distance between the rat and his reward so that the rat reaches it quickly once he is successful in the new hoop arrangement. As Ben becomes comfortable moving through it, increase the distance between the rat and the hoop as well as between the hoop and the food morsel. Eventually Ben and Ira will be running to you to put on their harnesses!

Move into the Harness

Once your rats consistently move through a series of material hoops, begin familiarizing them with the harness. Allow Ben and Ira to sniff the harness, but make sure that the rats don’t chew on it. You don’t want your rats to think the harness is a chew toy. Ben and Ira must learn to ignore it, for the most part, and not try to remove or eat it. If your rats have a real problem with this, spraying something icky on the material—bitter apple or jalapeño juice should deter the behavior.

Practice having Ben and Ira move through the harness as they did with the plastic and material hoops. Do this several times or until your rat is very comfortable moving directly through the contraption to obtain the reward.

Continue targeting as you or a friend secures the harness.

Now we need to get Ben and Ira accustomed to having the harness tightened snugly around their bodies. You’ll be more successful if you place a food dish containing little treats at one end of the harness and tap that as a cue for your rats to come through.

Position the dish just at the front edge of the harness so that as soon as Ben’s head peeks through, he can dip it down into the dish of food. As he’s gorging himself, gradually tighten the harness until it is snug. If your rat has any reaction to this, back off a little, but take the food away when you loosen the harness. Ben must earn that dish of treats. Try again later. Leave your rat wanting more instead of running away from you.

Practice the harnessing exercise every day at least once. When your rat is comfortable wearing his harness, practice other previously learned behaviors, this time in harness. This will help him understand that he can still move about freely and do all the fun tricks he wants, and the entire process will remain positive. Before long, wearing the harness will become just another part of your rat’s routine.

Now we’re ready to go for a walk! Lure your rat forward using the target stick.

Walk with a Waddle

It’s time to waddle in step. In other words, your rat waddles alongside as you walk with him, a leash attached to his harness. Make sure you take little steps, as Ben’s and Ira’s legs are very short. Rats can move surprisingly fast, but when confronted with an unfamiliar environment, they will take it slow, sniffing things as they go along. Rats rarely rush headlong into new situations or stuff themselves on new foods. They investigate and learn along the way.

Since your rat is very small and you are relatively very tall, teaching your pet to walk with a waddle is best achieved by utilizing a very long target stick, approximately 3 feet in length. This tool allows you to keep the target at rat level without requiring you to bend over or stoop for extended periods. I often use this technique when training small dogs or cats as well as rats and recommend it for anyone who, like me, wants to avoid back strain from bending to slowly move the target that is teaching the animal to remain at my side. It is also good reinforcement to walk the same way in training—upright—that you’ll eventually walk outdoors.

The target stick will keep your rat moving with you; begin the leash-walking exercise indoors.

We’ll begin our walk training by putting on the harness. Allow your rat to wear the harness for about fifteen minutes prior to the walk. Always keep an eye on your pet. If he is prone to nibbling on the harness, keep him busy. Don’t worry about getting your own things together, such as house keys, hat, sweater, or wallet, as we’re remaining indoors for a while. We need to make certain that your rat understands how to walk on a leash before he is exposed to the myriad distractions of the great outdoors. Once you take a rat outside, he will never be the same. He will want to go out every chance he gets. Indoor cats have similar reactions. It’s a very inviting new world to the keen senses of these animals. At this point, however, even an indoor walk will capture your pet’s interest; as your rat has been relegated to specific areas of your house, a walk through the entire area will be a new and enjoyable experience.

Before you begin, outfit yourself as a mobile rat-training facility. Hold the target stick and clicker in the hand on the side of your body at which your rat will be walking. Hold the leash in the opposite hand, or tie it around a belt loop. Wear a pouch filled with rat goodies. Bring a variety of yummies with variable ratings—a piece of lab block for a fairly good rat behavior, a Cheerio for a slightly better rat reaction, and yogurt raisins for a rat that is so wrapped up in whatever you do that he ignores a really inviting distraction.

Don’t expect to make the entire round of your home within the first walk. You need to take one step at a time to be sure that your rat is walking with you and not being dragged by you. Your rat must learn to associate being on the leash with great adventures, not a tug-of-war.

1. Stand upright, holding the leash and target stick as described above. Put the stick near enough to your rat that he will reach out to touch the target with his nose. Click and drop a treat for him, as close as possible to the point where he touched the target stick.
2. Take a step forward, luring your rat with the target stick. As he catches up to the stick and touches it with his nose, click and reward.
3. Take another step forward. Repeat step 2 up to three times.
4. Take two steps. Wait for your pet to catch up and touch the target stick. Click and reward.
5. Repeat step 4 up to three times.
6. Repeating the sequence as above, taking three steps between each touch-click-reward sequence.

Hold the target stick in your left hand and leash with clicker in your right hand. Take small steps, and reward each increment.

As your rat learns to walk with you, take more and more steps between the pause when you click and reward. However, I recommend taking no more than five to six steps at any given time, as it takes a while for your rat to catch up with you (unless you walk at a snail’s pace, in which case your pet might forge ahead a little).

So, you’ve walked the house, and it’s time to return Ben to his cage. You need to teach him how to turn around. This is done by luring with the target stick. Just as you were able to lure your rat forward, you can also lure him through a turn.

1. Present Ben with the target stick. He’ll reach out to touch it. Just before he can do so, move it partially around a turn. Not all the way. That’s too much at one time. Just a third to half of the way around.
2. When Ben arrives and touches the target, click and reward.
3. Complete the turn, luring with the target stick. Click and reward as soon as Ben touches the stick. Then walk forward a few steps, stop, click, and reward when he catches up.

Use the target stick to teach your rat to turn.

Now that you and your rat can walk the length of your entire house, it’s time to go outside. Be sure that the harness is very secure and that your pet rat is walking with you willingly, without trying to get out of his harness.

1. Carry Ben outdoors. Find a comfortable spot in the shade and sit down. Allow your rat to climb off of you and explore the immediate area while you sit calmly. Don’t let go of the leash.
2. Every time Ben returns to you, click and reward. If, by chance, he touches the target stick, click and reward.
3. The first four to five times you go outdoors, repeat the previous steps, increasing the duration each time but not attempting to walk. Ben will be so thrilled to be in such a rich environment that he’ll be very busy—indeed, far too busy to concentrate on walking with you.
4. Once your rat is comfortable being outdoors, try to have him walk with you just a few steps. See how this goes. Is Ben following along, nose aiming for the target stick, or is he taking his sweet time and waddling along, sniffing the grass, bugs, trash, and animal markers?

If your rat is paying attention to the target, you can take a few more steps. If not, be happy that he is meandering along at his own speed and having a great time. Your pet will catch up to you eventually. Then again, if he senses something really interesting, you may be trying to catch up with him.

As with any behavior, the more you practice, the better and more durable the response. If you plan on taking Ben and Ira for long walks through the neighborhood, be prepared for many weeks of work before you can go all the way around the block in less than two hours. It’s unrealistic to expect to ever walk your rat as you would walk your dog. Rats’ very short legs mean they move very close to the ground, much like a Basset Hound whose nose is made to skim the ground. Similarly, a rat’s keen sense of smell makes it difficult for him to pass up an interesting scent, and he shouldn’t be hurried.

Allow some time for your rat to acclimate to the floor; a long stick will be helpful to you.