Training your rats
Rats are very intelligent creatures and as such both enjoy and often benefit from being trained to do tasks and tricks. There are many sources of information and guides out there on how to train your rats to carry out different tasks. These all focus on positive reinforcement, often using something like clicker training plus treats to reinforce the desired behaviour.
Positive reinforcement is simply a case of encouraging or guiding your rat to perform a particular behaviour, issueing a command, then rewarding it immediately. A clicker or simple vocal “good” or click can be used to immediately indicate approval, then a treat or stroke (whatever reward motivates your rats) is used to reinforce it. Over time the rat will learn to associate the command with the behaviour and reward they will quickly learn to do it. Some rats pick things up a lot faster than others and generally it is easier to train a rat on its own rather than in a group. Some good things to teach are;
Positive reinforcement is simply a case of encouraging or guiding your rat to perform a particular behaviour, issueing a command, then rewarding it immediately. A clicker or simple vocal “good” or click can be used to immediately indicate approval, then a treat or stroke (whatever reward motivates your rats) is used to reinforce it. Over time the rat will learn to associate the command with the behaviour and reward they will quickly learn to do it. Some rats pick things up a lot faster than others and generally it is easier to train a rat on its own rather than in a group. Some good things to teach are;
- Recall – teach the rat to come at the call of its name, or similar command like “come”
- Return to the cage – this works well where the rats free range with access to their cage. It is very easy to teach them to return to it by feeding after free range and training to a command such as “food” or the shaking of the food tub
- Stand up – train a rat to stand on its hind legs to reach something by holding a treat over its head. This can be evolved into an agility “up” for getting over a jump
- Retrieve – train your rats to bring back a small paper ball or similar
- Stay – train your rats to sit in one spot until you issue a second command (not easy)
- Jump – get your rat to jump to your hand on command, slowly building up the distances
Agility
This very much links with training your rat, but it is something that is well worth trying with your rats. Whether this be an agility competition at your local show, training your rats on a homemade course, or just encouraging them to follow your hand around and try various obstacles in an informal session both you and your rats will get a lot out of it.
Rat agility is based on the same principles as dog agility but on a understandably smaller scale. The major difference to the dog world is in the scoring. In the rat world both the ability to complete the course quickly and the interaction between the human and rat are assessed. This helps even up the gap between the often slow and steady bucks and the hyperactive does and rewards those rats and owners that have an obvious strong bond. As with dogs it is not only fun to occasionally compete in agility, it is also a worthwhile activity for those owners and rats with no intention of entering a competition. It takes very little effort to start and can be very rewarding, especially for children (and adults) who love to make things for their pets. NERS is one of the few clubs that offer an agility competition at all of its shows, so make sure you look out for it at future shows. If you enjoy it why not volunteer to have a go at judging it too.
Rat agility is based on the same principles as dog agility but on a understandably smaller scale. The major difference to the dog world is in the scoring. In the rat world both the ability to complete the course quickly and the interaction between the human and rat are assessed. This helps even up the gap between the often slow and steady bucks and the hyperactive does and rewards those rats and owners that have an obvious strong bond. As with dogs it is not only fun to occasionally compete in agility, it is also a worthwhile activity for those owners and rats with no intention of entering a competition. It takes very little effort to start and can be very rewarding, especially for children (and adults) who love to make things for their pets. NERS is one of the few clubs that offer an agility competition at all of its shows, so make sure you look out for it at future shows. If you enjoy it why not volunteer to have a go at judging it too.
Assembling your course
It can be very easy to make up basic agility run, this needn't be made up of finely crafted wooded assemblies, and it can be made with cardboard boxes and tubes, or even assembled from house hold items and rat toys you already have. The principle is to line up a run of obstacles which the rat needs to navigate following your directions. Here are some initial ideas to get you started.
- Jumps - Effective double jumps can be made from Tupperware containers or shoe boxes placed lengthways along the run, the rat being required to jump in then out of the box. Alternatively place them upside down to create a platform to jump on to then off again or practice on the stairs encouraging your rat to run up and down the stairs on command or when following your hand.
- Tunnels - Large diameter cardboard tubes (such as carpet tubing), plastic soft drinks bottle with the end cut off (then taped to cover the sharp bits), ferret tubes from your local pet shop or drainpipes (watch the diameter with chunky bucks) set between 2 heavy books or taped down to prevent them rolling around with your rats. For a soft stile tunnel tape a sleeve or tube of material to a wire hoop or other solid tube, the rat must then run in and out despite being unable to see the exit
- Climbing/A frame - A small cage (e.g. hamster cage), two show tank lids firmly tied together into an 'A' shape (make sure these are stable for your rats weight) or a stack of books going from large to small.
- Weaving posts - a line of stable but solid objects (e.g. heavy bottomed cups or glasses) placed 2 rat widths apart or cardboard tubes (toilet/kitchen rolls) taped in a line on the table top.
- 'Stay' platforms - a upside down Tupperware or cardboard box or small pile of books, the rat is instructed to jump to the top then stay for 5-10 seconds.
- Balance beam – a rope or thin platform (e.g. a 1inch bit of wood) fastened securely across a gap (e.g. a show tank – ensure there isn’t a long drop, if this is unavoidable sling a fleece blanket or towel under the drop as a safety net), A broom handle fastened to 2 piles of books (e.g. with tape).
Training your future stars
The next step is to begin training your rats in agility. Training does not need to be a formal session, much of the training I do with my rats is encouraging them to follow my hand when out and about, or rewarding them when they do something I request them to do. Training itself varies in ease from rat to rat and the easiest rat to train is normally the rat which happily follows your hand, though this behaviour can be encouraged by holding a treat in your hands and/or immediately rewarding a rat that approaches you hand when there name or other command is used. Clicker training (where a dog training clicker is used to reward positive behaviour then followed by a treat or reward until the click is associated with praise) is also a useful tool and may help protect the more portly rats waistline. Some rats will do anything for a bit of a cuddle or scratch, basically learn what motivates your rats and work with it but accept that some rats will never be agility stars, it’s just not for them, though they may enjoy the odd play around an agility set.
The idea with training is little and often. A rat will normally loose interest in any training done over 5 minutes and it will start losing its effect. Ideally you should aim to train your rat a few times a week initially and then maintain the standard by training at least once a week. The initial training session should involve very few obstacles, possibly one at a time, familiarising the rat with the idea of following direction round or over an obstacle.
The focus is more on ‘playing’ with your rat rather than strictly training them. Initially the technique is not important, if your rat wants to jump on the obstacle encourage them to with a ‘jump’ or ‘up’ command and reward immediately when they do what you say and so on. The key with training any animal is consistency, reward immediately when they have responded desirably and keep your commands simple and easy to understand, most behaviours can be achieved by the rat following your hand (e.g. ‘come’), ‘though’, 'up' and 'under' can be useful commands too. An alternative approach is to focus more on gentle touch commands, this is often easier for rats to follow on a busy show day when there are many voices floating around. Touching a shoulder to correct a course, touching under the chin or on the paws to encourage the rat to climb a jump etc., this is something I prefer personally to verbal commands as it seems more instinctive to the rats and far better received by them.
Any rat will benefit from some one-on-one training, it builds a stronger bond between you and your rat and also intellectually challenges them, giving them additional stimulation and fun in their day to day life, not to mention it’s their chance to spend some much loved one to one time with you. Some rats are brighter, quicker to learn or more interested that others but don’t give up on your slow learners, they can be the ones who perform most consistently once the initial enthusiasm is over.
If you are nervous about taking part in agility at a show but want to give it a try then look out for the course being set up at shows. In most cases it is fine for you to have a play on it with some of your rats, getting an idea of how they react to strange objects and unfamiliar commands. Don’t be put off if the rat fails to do anything you say, rats have moods too and sometimes will take to it and other times won’t. Also don’t expect that a perfectly polished performance is exactly what the judges are looking for, generally most rats need to be redirected a few times a run, and missing the odd obstacle out that your rat is uncomfortable with is far better than making them do something they don’t want to. Remember agility is about cooperation and teamwork rather than the rat obeying everything you say
The idea with training is little and often. A rat will normally loose interest in any training done over 5 minutes and it will start losing its effect. Ideally you should aim to train your rat a few times a week initially and then maintain the standard by training at least once a week. The initial training session should involve very few obstacles, possibly one at a time, familiarising the rat with the idea of following direction round or over an obstacle.
The focus is more on ‘playing’ with your rat rather than strictly training them. Initially the technique is not important, if your rat wants to jump on the obstacle encourage them to with a ‘jump’ or ‘up’ command and reward immediately when they do what you say and so on. The key with training any animal is consistency, reward immediately when they have responded desirably and keep your commands simple and easy to understand, most behaviours can be achieved by the rat following your hand (e.g. ‘come’), ‘though’, 'up' and 'under' can be useful commands too. An alternative approach is to focus more on gentle touch commands, this is often easier for rats to follow on a busy show day when there are many voices floating around. Touching a shoulder to correct a course, touching under the chin or on the paws to encourage the rat to climb a jump etc., this is something I prefer personally to verbal commands as it seems more instinctive to the rats and far better received by them.
Any rat will benefit from some one-on-one training, it builds a stronger bond between you and your rat and also intellectually challenges them, giving them additional stimulation and fun in their day to day life, not to mention it’s their chance to spend some much loved one to one time with you. Some rats are brighter, quicker to learn or more interested that others but don’t give up on your slow learners, they can be the ones who perform most consistently once the initial enthusiasm is over.
If you are nervous about taking part in agility at a show but want to give it a try then look out for the course being set up at shows. In most cases it is fine for you to have a play on it with some of your rats, getting an idea of how they react to strange objects and unfamiliar commands. Don’t be put off if the rat fails to do anything you say, rats have moods too and sometimes will take to it and other times won’t. Also don’t expect that a perfectly polished performance is exactly what the judges are looking for, generally most rats need to be redirected a few times a run, and missing the odd obstacle out that your rat is uncomfortable with is far better than making them do something they don’t want to. Remember agility is about cooperation and teamwork rather than the rat obeying everything you say