# Biting but not hurting



## Ruby&Lola (Apr 25, 2013)

Ruby is my hairless rat and Lola my cherrier (Chuhuahua/terrier) are like daughter and mother. They tend to get along greatly but sometimes While Lola is either bathing or invading Ruby sleeping spot Ruby will nibble at her neck and travel her nibbles up to the nip of Lola's neck and latch on. Lola isn't hurt by it but Runy will stay there for some seconds before letting go. Is it just an irritated bite hold or something else?


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## JudeWriley (Aug 1, 2007)

Are you sure this isn't just grooming?


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Just sounds like grooming to me, however I'd always be vigilant as you never know, one day either dog or rat could lash out at the other.


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## Ruby&Lola (Apr 25, 2013)

Heheh well at least I don't hav to worry. They've lashed out at eachother just once and the disput was over Ruby's little food block and Lola wanting it. Nether were hurt. And no more fights since then.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

I know you seem to have them both trained well but just be careful, it's not generally advised to keep rats near dogs, especially one who has terrier blood as they're built for ratting!


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## Ruby&Lola (Apr 25, 2013)

Terriers are rat hunting dogs?! Oh wow I didn't no that. Well yea it was scary at first to let Lola near ruby but by the end of the first day Lola was cleaning ruby like she was her puppy. Lola tends to protect Ruby from my mom's yorkie.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Yeah they are, they have them trained to go down rabbit holes and catch rabbits, rats etc. But obviously your dog is a cross-breed and she's domesticated, but there's still always that hidden instinct in there. Just be careful! Does Ruby have a friend rat? She really should have a cage mate, it won't do her any good being alone.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Some rats have a weird trick that has a strange impact on dogs... My part-wild rat knew it and lived outdoors for 5 months by stealing food from a pen of pit bulls, and Fuzzy Rat has it down too. When we took Fuzzy Rat to the vet, we wound up having an argument with the assistant about not bringing a carrier. She insisted that sometimes the office is full of dogs and a lose rat could cause a problem. I calmly explained to her that if the waiting room were full of dogs, they would all sit or stay in place when we walked in and until we left. 

So when we left, luckily the waiting room was in fact full of dogs, and as I had promised all froze in place and went silent, you could have heard a pin drop. As the assistant and other staff were watching I surveyed the dog owners in the room casually as to whether that behavior was normal for their dogs and all replied they had never seen their dogs sit or stand around so passively in the vet's office, and in the case of one person, he claimed he had never seen his dog freeze in place anywhere for 10 minutes before. I'm guessing it's something rats can do hypersonically above our hearing range. But I took my time and made sure the demonstration wasn't wasted on the vet's staff that looked on in disbelief and bewilderment. Most were still getting over us walking Fuzzy Rat around the office at heel.

To be honest, the vet did treat Fuzzy Rat with great respect after that. Now I may be just a little bit of an eccentric, but Fuzzy Rat is a very special true shoulder rat and she's happy to prove it, she's earned respect and sick or old not withstanding, I insist she gets it. 

If your rat knows the "trick", it's quite safe with dogs, if not it just might be crunch time. So far, I haven't met a dog that doesn't respond even dogs that were supposed to be vicious. But it's a test I wouldn't necessarily recommend people trying at home. We found it out quite by accident and didn't intentionally put our rats in danger.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

I agree with RatClaws-- be very careful. Event he best trained animals can be prey to their instincts when you least expect it and it would only take a second for Lola to kill or seriously injure Ruby. Ruby does also need a friend if she doesn't have one. Rats are very social animals and need companionship that humans can't offer, even if we try our best.


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## Ruby&Lola (Apr 25, 2013)

I had tried a cage mate and it didnt go over very well for both Ruby and Lola. The other rat was named Diamond and Ruby would steal food from her and attack her and then once they fought in front of lola and lola (being protective of ruby) went at Diamond and then would let Diamond near her so I gavve Diamond to my boyfriend who took her in. Diamond is very happy with him and Lola and Ruby are fine with just having each other.


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

We're they drawing blood when they were fighting? Rats wrestle and "fight" al of the time. As long as there are no serious injuries, it is perfectly normal for them to squabble all the time. The only time a rat should be removed is if the fight surpasses the wrestling and squeaking phase.


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## Ruby&Lola (Apr 25, 2013)

There was blood in their last fight which made me finally decide that Ruby didnt want a cage mate and I didn't want to put Diamond thro getting beat up.


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