# It is my great pleasure to introduce for the very first time as a True Shoulder Rat..



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Misty Rat








(the little one)


​
Today (actually now yesterday) started out with me having to make a very tough call... I had to decide if Misty was ready to go see the fireworks... to take her final true shoulder rat exam. She was very slow to develop confidence and has black-ruby eyes rather than standard eyes and worst of all she's only had one day at the safe site, a couple visits to the park and less then 12 hours on the road. Max passed her final exam at only six weeks old and Fuzzy Rat actually loved fireworks, Cloud squeaked by at about the same age but she had a lot more miles under her belt... And Misty has been mysteriously vanishing lately and not showing up at bed time. So I let the rats out on the second floor to free range and went downstairs, closing both the second and first floor doors behind me and decided to take a cat nap while I agonized over my decision, when suddenly I hear something crunching around under my dresser that sounded suspiciously like a rat... I called out and Misty pops out from under my bed... So, she hasn't been showing up because she's been off somewhere in the walls, basement or perhaps even outside... I always suspected that our part wild girl had been sneaking out of and into the house when we couldn't find her, but now I'm really starting to believe there are rat size secret passages she left behind, and likely that's the way the wild mice get in too. One of the fringe benefits of owning a house that's over 100 years old... is that it might be just a little bit too rat friendly.

But OK, I took that as a sign Misty is bored of hanging around in her cage and on the second floor so I decided to rock her world just a little bit and take her out to the fireworks.

Tonight (now last night), July 3, 2015 at the Carteret annual Independence Day celebration Misty Rat formerly just Misty attended her first fireworks show... We got there late due to traffic and the fireworks were moved to the other end of the park, The fireworks started so no time for preparing the rats, we had to push our way through hundreds of people while Misty hung on for dear life, awestruck by the masses of people around her, we made it as close as we were going to get before the grand finale, she didn't have the best view, but she did see much of the show as we worked through the crowd, she kept her composure throughout and hung on for the ride of a little rat's life... she was shell shocked (literally) and I could tell she was light years out of her comfort zone, but she didn't panic, she clung on and even peeked up at the bomb bursts. 

Afterwards we hung out in the crowd and she did some meet and greets and even let a stranger hold her... Occasionally she'd hide under my T-shirt to regain her composure but she stuck to us like glue. We stopped to listen to the rock band that played another set after the fireworks and Cloud finally got to pee and poop, which seemed to relax her a bit.

When the crowd thinned out we put Misty Rat and Cloudy Rat on the deck of the dock and they chased us around and walked at heel to the amusement of the people and police that were still there... Misty Rat explored around on her own and then came back promptly when recalled. She looked like a real pro... A young lady on the dock knelt down and called and she ran over for some skritches before coming back to me. Although Misty Rat didn't get as much of a fireworks show as some of our rats, she spent way more time in a sea of people and she got to run around and perform afterwards. 

Yes, I got pooped on, which may or may not have been a fear poop by Misty and I got dripped on because I couldn't put Cloud down in the crowd, but overall I count the experience as a big win. Misty Rat is now a true shoulder rat, even though I think she will still improve with time and experience. She's pretty much bomb proof.

I hardly mentioned Cloudy Rat, because she was absolutely chilled out throughout... No signs of fear or stress much less panic, she lay in my daughter's arms watching the fireworks and just hung out, sometimes slipping down my shirt to relax, but she got lots of skritches and happily did meet and greets when folks stopped to inquire about the girls. Last year she barely squeaked by her final exam, this year she was just doing her thing like it was another day at the office.

Needless to say, I'm really proud of my little girls tonight. Misty Rat has earned her full name. She's our fourth true shoulder rat... The truly amazing Fuzzy Rat, the inscrutable Maxie Rat, the ever so chilled out Cloudy Rat and now Misty Rat who's future lies ahead of her... It's been a long road from the little girl that wouldn't come out from under the blankets to here, but she's made it. (Once Fuzzy became a true shoulder rat and after her second fireworks show, she became a bit of a primadonna and insisted on being called Fuzzy Rat, adding the "Rat" surname to the end of our true shoulder rats names after the fireworks show is kind of a running joke and a bit of a tradition since). When the girls earn a bit of respect and we try to give it to them. 

Naturally, with 3 cameras none worked today... but the memories will last a lifetime. 

So, I'm very proud to announce that Misty Rat has joined the fraternity of true shoulder rats and for the second time we have two true shoulder rats living in our home... even if one might be somewhere in the walls.

And the girls had steak, corn on the cob and mixed nuts for dinner. Cloudy Rat is all squishy and is looking for more belly rubs, she knows she's been a great rat today and Misty Rat doesn't seem like she gets what the fuss is all about, she's being modest, which is cute.

The adventure continues...


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

I pretty much hate fireworks so I guess I would have been the one to freak out there ;D

It's so great that your rats are confident enough to go out to such crowded places and still be chill and I am so happy that Misty Rat earned her title! I bet that she will be a lot more confident from now on. Anything will be easy for her if she could stand such demanding test. And I don't care very much about looks but let me tell you that she is just too cute <3

Oh, I am happy to inform you that my Sake is now a shoulder rat trainee. She goes out with me every day for a walk and she seems to really like it! I will never expect her to stand a firework show but I'll definitely try taking her to the park in the near future. And this is only possible because I've read about your dear Fuzzy! I would have never thought that taking a rat for a walk was even possible.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm so happy that our Fuzzy Rat inspired you to enjoy a more rewarding relationship with Sake.

And today Misty Rat is going nuts... she's all over the place and all over me. She's literally bored out of her mind... I can't go near the door without her underfoot, I may have created a monster. Which, by the way, was exactly the way Fuzzy Rat was when she was trapped indoors. Misty Rat was the slowest rat to develop and she took way more time and effort to get out the door, but now that's she's been there and done that, it may be hard to put the genie back into the bottle.


And fireworks is a very hard test for both rat and rat handler. I don't recommend it for an inexperienced rat handler with any rat, but its where I get to know for sure our rats can handle the much easier everyday experiences we will encounter together. 

Actually there's one other really bad place for rats to go, it's auto shops with air tools in use; the hissing noise, the popping tires and the air guns really freak rats out.


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## Jess <3 (Jan 23, 2014)

Wow, that's truly amazing! I've had one rat in the past that _may_ have survived a firework display had I trained him as a shoulder rat, but he was such a lump that he'd much rather have been cradled in my arms than sat on a shoulder. I'd love to have a shoulder rat but my neighbourhood is literally FULL of cats. Even my dogs get threatened by them so that would be a definite concern. Do you ever run into any cats or other potentially dangerous animals? And of course, congrats to Misty Rat! I hope you take her on many adventures.


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

My dad uses pretty heavy machinery to work (he's some sort of... contractist? idk the word in English actually, let's say he fixes stuff, and yes I still live with my parents hehe) so every animal living under our roof is used to the loudest and most annoying noises in the world every now and then. The only thing I can compare to when my dad is working at home is the sound of an aeroplane and that's not really nice for my headackes but oh well at least my rat won't get scared that easily. I'll actually avoid loud places any way, but if I really happened to walk through a noisy place I think she would be fine. The new girls seem to be too jumpy to be shoulder rats but Sake is cool and chill which is amazing since her training started with her being a 4 or 5 month-old.

Your Misty sounds awesome and it's clear that she came to really enjoy going out with you! I am wondering how many rats have you had and if you ever had trouble training anyone or if with a certain effort and amount of time you were able to eventually take all your rats out. I just want to know out of curiosity. I wouldn't even try to have 4 shoulder rats at a time!


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## bloomington bob (Mar 25, 2014)

Congrats Rat Daddy! Great to hear that Misty Rat has passed the test!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Thanks for the congrats! Misty Rat has got rat sh*t crazy today, she's running around driving me nuts mock attacking me and just tearing around at hyper rat speed. I opened the screen so she could hang her head out the second floor window and next thing I knew she was all out standing up on her hind feet balancing on the screen rail (25 feet up) and showing off just like Fuzzy Rat used to do... She was watching the kids playing next door and listening to the fireworks in the distance. Fuzzy Rat did these crazy kinds of show off things, and they often stopped my heart, but after a while I got used to her bazaar risk taking behavior as she always pulled them off... mostly she was luckier than any rat had a right to be... So today I nearly turned blue waiting for Misty Rat to stop showing off and come back into the window... So we took the girls out to the soccer field tonight and let Misty chase us around to blow off some steam... half an hour of running around and when we got back she continued to pounce on me until I finally put her in her cage... Cloud took us for a leisurely walk across the field, waiting for us to follow, but we never found out where she wanted to go, we stopped her when she reached the 10 foot fence we couldn't follow her through... she's apparently taken up a new habit of just weebeling off to explore since her stint in the marsh on her own. I'm not sure that's an improvement. I suddenly miss the nice lazy reliable Cloud that stuck with us like glue and the shy little misty that used to hide under my covers.... Fuzzy Rat became a real primadonna, and now I'm watching two rats trying to outdo each other with attitude. I hope they calm down soon.

As to answering a couple of questions, first we have run into feral cats, but they won't come near people they don't know, they would watch from a distance and even stalk us around the park, but never actually come close enough to pose any real danger. Plus adult rats can pretty well defend themselves from a cat if the need arises. Fuzzy Rat once stuck with us like glue, she was very anxious then we saw a fox come out of the bushes about a hundred yards away, she smelled it long before we knew it was there so it really wasn't a threat, but a careless human and a novice rat could have got into real trouble with a fox, they can and will kill rats. Fuzzy Rat also found a huge snapping turtle coming back from laying it's eggs we didn't notice, she was looking at it when we found her in the woods, but she didn't get too close and snapping turtles don't hunt out of water, but it was something we didn't anticipate and lastly one night Fuzzy Rat got terribly anxious for no good reason she attached herself to me and suddenly we heard an owl screech overhead, we looked up and although we could hear it right above us, we couldn't see it... Owls really terrified her and still frighten me.. they are silent and invisible in the night sky, but they won't try and pick a rat off your shoulder. Hawks and day time raptors are easy to see and avoid in open places, we've seen more than a few, but they were far away and when there were too many or they got close we took our rats inside. Comically while we were jogging one day, Fuzzy Rat ran headlong into a young ground hog that popped out of the reeds, they just about bumped noses, stared at each other for a moment and both ran away from each other in terror... Fuzzy Rat back to me and the groundhog back to the reeds, it wasn't so much of a danger, but it made for a Kodak moment and I almost fell over laughing. Wild animals are out there, you pretty much expect cats and dogs so you stay alert and prepared, it's the oddballs like foxes and owls and snapping turtles you don't expect that can get you into big trouble. A really good true shoulder rat will tend to protect itself, it has keen senses and can notice dangers you might miss, always be aware of how your rat is behaving. It might know something you don't. Taking a rat outside is always dangerous, but you can manage the risks... I might also mention that wild rats pose a big risk, they can attack a male rat left alone outside or your female rat can find one and bring home a litter of very energetic pups you weren't necessarily expecting.

Actually one of the most dangerous animals to your rat is the human toddler.... they look so cute and innocent, but you don't realize just how fast they can squeeze or throw your rat...

As to whether all of the rats we worked with became true shoulder rats, the answer is no. Only a rat that doesn't panic and is properly bonded to you can be handled and trained outdoors. If your rat isn't bonded to you it will run away and if it panics it can get itself killed or lost. The biggest mistake we made after working with Fuzzy Rat was believing that most rats can be trained and disregarded the early signs of impending failure. Rats that are about to fail catastrophically fail in small ways first, it's easy to rationalize that they can overcome their shortcomings with experience and training, but really they can't and they don't. The more you work with them, the harder they get to handle, until you slip up and they're gone or dead. That's why we do the fireworks test now. I really want to see how the rat will react outdoors in the dark and under fire when I'm on my toes and I expect everything to go wrong. I don't want to be broadsided when I'm relaxing on a park bench talking to someone and suddenly look around and my rat is gone. Fuzzy Rat was very sneaky and could sneak away the moment she realized we weren't looking, or bolt faster than we could run, she even once jumped into the lake and swam away from us coming out of the water where we couldn't catch her, but she always came back. My daughter lost Cloudy Rat in a marsh and an hour later she was back in the same place she was lost waiting to be recovered... that's what a good true shoulder rat does. It makes up for your carelessness and mistakes. It's a rat you can rely on. Our rat Amelia panicked whenever she was put on the ground and dashed for any cover she could find then she would hunker down and not come out... Not entirely bad if she ran into a bush or shrub or under a parked car... but darting out into traffic or down a sewer grate would have been a fatal mistake.. Knowing she was prone to panic meant she couldn't be put down to potty or left alone for a second. Some rats can be manage to a degree outdoors, but they aren't true shoulder rats. It's just a matter of time until something happens and things go terribly wrong.

When a rat shows signs of being prone to panic and acts irrationally or demonstrates a proclivity to wander off further each day and not come back when recalled, you've got a real problem developing, same as rats that fail basic tests, like follow the leader or explore a little and come back. Unfortunately, most rats can't become true shoulder rats even with patient training. It's very important to wash a problem rat out of your training program as soon as you determine it can't make the grade, you are most likely saving it's life.

The safe site is the key to safe rat training basically it's a place where your rat can fail out of the program and still come home with you.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

How fun! I am glad yet another rat has passed your test and earned the name  it's good to see the family grow! She is a cutie


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Gotchea,

Having worked with naturals like our Fuzzy Rat and like your Wilder, I've never put in so much indoor work into a new rat as I did with Misty. At 4 weeks old Fuzzy Rat was out exploring the neighbors hedges on her own, at six weeks old Max passed her true shoulder rat test and at that age Misty was still hiding under my blanket and afraid to explore the floor on her own. But since the fireworks she's become an absolute maniac around the house. She's still shy around strangers to a point, but she's get a lot of confidence. There were several points along the way I was having real doubts about having a fourth true shoulder rat but lots of patience and time invested paid off...

And if you haven't seen the clip, this was Misty a few days before her final exam...

https://vid.me/SgmU

Not great, but now bad... I would have loved to have a couple more weeks to work with her, it was a tough call but fireworks only happen when they happen.

How are you doing? Any new rats in the works for you?


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

I love the video!! I am good  No new rats at the time. I travel far too much at this moment. How is your girl??


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I love hearing about your shoulder rats. I am envious because I'd worry too much about having my girls outside like that.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Hi Gotchea,

My daughter is well, she's becoming more digital every day, she's mastered the Tablet, PC, ipod and smartphone and all at the same time. I think if rats came with touch screens she's likely spend more time with them. But it's nice that at least the rats haven't gone digital and still hang out with their dad...

Grotesque,

I think everyone should know what some rats can do, so they can better appreciate their own rats for the special little beings they are. All rats are far more alike than dissimilar. I'm glad you enjoy the adventures of our wonderful shoulder rats without putting your own rats at risk. I think with the proper safe site, more rats can go outdoors, but beyond that, things can go very wrong very quickly and for most people and most rats, it just isn't worth the risk. Still, if anyone ever asks you what rats are capable of, you can honestly tell them they are capable of being truly amazing.


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