# Does your dog treat your rats like puppies?



## sweetgreenpeas (Sep 23, 2015)

So since I brought the rats home, my Italian Greyhound has gone absolutely nutters.

She is treating them like her puppies. She cries when we separate her from them and scratches at the mesh on the cage. When they are out all she wants to do is be near us/them and groom them. She snuffles/licks them constantly the way mother dogs treat their tiny pups. She even tries to play with them, getting into play position et al. She's even grooming their little ratty bottoms. Suffice it to say that someone has not been allowed to give me kisses for the last week. 

Aaand now if we leave the bottom cage door open she tries to get in the cage to be with her "puppies". In general said "puppies" just scamper up to the top level where she can't reach them, and I only leave the cage open under 100% direct supervision. I would never leave them together without my watchful eye. But if I had to count the number of times I've had to say "Oh my God, you are not a rat, you don't belong in there!" I might need to start a tally sheet, or a clicker. 

They do seem to like her though, as sometimes they snuffle her right back, or try to ride her which she allows. Interesting life my animals lead. 

In fact, once she's groomed them to satisfaction and decided they won't play with her she'll actually just sit down quietly and wait. But she does get pretty upset when she hasn't been allowed her snuffle time for the day. It's like she thinks they can't take care of themselves, which is true, but I don't think she could do a better job of it really...

I think I have the weirdest dog ever. Does anyone else have a dog that treats their rats like puppies?







*there are no rats in the cage at this point. It was halfway through meshing but had some of their things in there.







and here's the baby, Zola, who maybe thinks she's part rat since she likes hidey things and only will cuddle underneath a blanket or something similar. Who knows.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I don't trust my dog enough...

I don't think she wants to kill them but she gets very excited and I wouldn't risk it. My dog is only 10lbs & smaller than the cats but still the size difference alone could cause serious issues. And my rats would most likely not be nice to the dog....
When I would foster kittens it was a real slow process getting her to calm down enough to be around them. But itty bitty kittens are pretty calm. My rats wouldnt be.

It always just makes me nervous when ppl let their pets play together. Yeah everyone knows their pets best. But I have heard countless stories where things did not go well at all


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

Yes! My Satia has the strongest mom instinct I've seen in a dog ever; she even helped me raise my baby kittens and saved one that was always constipated and needed enemas to go potty.
She's amazing with any animal, she goes super whiny when the rats get under furniture and she can't reach them. She's also completely gentle with them and barely moves when they are climbing on her which is amazing. I don't usually leave her alone with the rats free roaming but I trust that she would never hurt them in any way. They even steal treats from her mouth and she just acts happy about it. She's an angel.
I know animals can't be always predicted and that's why she's not usually allowed to be alone with the rats but honestly I feel I'm being a little unfair to her sometimes when she wants to watch them play and I have to leave the room and make her come with me.
I wished my cats were like her!


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## sweetgreenpeas (Sep 23, 2015)

Yeah, Zola is very sweet with them and she will actually sit and wait for me to present them, while grasping them tightly 😉But she loves her rat babies, like they go up to her and sniff her paws and she just lets them. However usually there are 2 of us and a nice deep rat hidey hole for them to run into if it feels like danger is imminent, but I would never let it get to that point. So all interactions are very controlled, but she just loves her rat puppies.


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## lost_whisper (Nov 11, 2014)

Oh I just noticed the size of your cage! I wish I could have one like that for my girls but I am sure I'd be too tempted to adopt a dozen and sleep in there with them hah


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## sweetgreenpeas (Sep 23, 2015)

Yeah, I actually was going to get one that was slightly smaller, but the cages were on sale and this one was an entire level higher for like 30 more. So I figured the more space for them the better. I did have to mesh it all around though as it's a ferret cage, and that was what really took the most time. However, they both seem to like it. I'm just worried about keeping them warm enough come winter. It's already quite chilly here, it's 11 C outside, and we have radiators in the winter, but due to the body heat issue I didn't want to put them too close to it. I wish I had central heating like I did in the US. 

Oh well, lots of fleece snugglies for them, I suppose. I did also see that the craft store here sells cherry pits, so I might try my hand at making them a warmer with cherry pits that I can just put in their cage for the cold.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

anything that isn't a human or a dog, my dogs want nothing to do with. Partly because they were originally raised as guard dogs (not by me) and partly because they want all the attention.


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## sweetgreenpeas (Sep 23, 2015)

Mine is really scared of other dogs, so she mostly just wants to be with people. She's more a fan of cats, but I was worried how it would go over with the ratties and she has been absolutely marvelous. So thankfully all is well. She does run up to any visitors though and demands their attention 100%.


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