# Harness and leashes? Letting ur rat outside



## Cookie_Rat12 (Feb 5, 2016)

I'm thinking of getting a rat harness. Is it safe to bring rats outside on a leash and harness? Will they escape?How do I teach them to wear it? And not wiggle out?Best brands?Thanks for any other information available!!


----------



## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Almost all rats will escape out of harnesses. Rat are just designed to wiggle out of everything. Also some rats may be scared or stressed in a harness so if you are going to use one put them in it inside and see how they react.


----------



## Cookie_Rat12 (Feb 5, 2016)

Thanks. Is there any other way to walk them outside?


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

By outside, do you mean on the street? A park? Or maybe just your backyard? I wouldn't risk taking my rats outside on a leash. They can get out of it too easily, and of course there are cats, dogs...that could scare or attack your rats.


----------



## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

I have leashes for my rats but I would never let them on the ground outside even with the leashes because of the dangers, and though mine work well there is a possibility of them getting out. The leashes are just used as insurance for when we go to an unfamiliar place. Anytime we go outside the rats are always in a carrier, in my pocket, or riding on my shoulder.


----------



## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

I just carry mine around, no leash or harness. Once Inky crawled out of my pocket when I was adjusting my dog's gentle leader and went exploring a bit and when i stood up she was sitting on my shoe waiting to be picked up <3


----------



## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

If they are really bonded to you I keep them in my hood, shoulder or for my old boys just carry them.


----------



## Pixxiies (Jan 25, 2016)

Last week I purchased a harness and leash. I haven't received it yet. I know that rats are very good at escaping these harnesses so I sought out what people recommend, a 'figure 8' harness. It's a really simple design that you could do yourself with some elastic ribbon or paracord but I couldn't be bothered making one. There aren't many people that are currently making these (a lot of the vendors have shut up shop). I'll post the link below to the one I found on Etsy. I'm not planning on using this to let my rats roam free outdoors, rather, I'm planning to use it as a extra level of security when I have my rats on my shoulder while I'm out and about. I have a feeling its not going to work very well... I plan on trying it out at home a lot before I even attempt using it. It was about $10 so I wont feel to bad if it ends up in the trash, oh well.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/256540...=gallery&ga_search_query=rat&ref=sr_gallery_7

Does anyone use any other products to tote their furry babies around? I know bonding pouches and rat tubes (spelling) are common but they tend to have open tops. I'm overly paranoid about the safety of my rats so if I invested in anything like this I would enjoy the added security of being able to zip the rat inside if they got too excited. I found this product on Etsy... it's an infinity scarf that zips up and has grommets for venting. I thought it was pretty cool but I didn't want to jump on it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/259572...283d220095861704075b93ef8ec2bbdfce5:259572972


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

You meant the ratoob. I have two, I love them


----------



## Pixxiies (Jan 25, 2016)

Yes, Gribouilli! Ratoob's! I was so close to purchasing one. Do you use them around the house or have you ventured out of the house with your ratties in them?


----------



## ElectricPaladin (Jan 18, 2016)

Both of my rats will happily sit inside my hood no matter where I'm walking... unfortunately, I live in California, so it's only cold enough for me to wear a hood for part of the year. I got a harness and tried it out on both of them, but I couldn't even get them to sit still enough for me to put it on, let alone leave it on.


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I've never ventured out with them. The ratoob was perfect to bond with my neutered male and spend much more time with him than I could have otherwise...my female rats wouldn't have him, always attacking him. He will have two neutered friends soon, but in the meantime, I really believe the ratoob kept him from getting lonely and depressed.


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Pixxiies-the infinity scarf you can close seems great. You never know, and being able to secure your rats if outside is an option I would want to have. Also I will have to buy another scarf if I ever wanted to take my rats outside, as I'm not going outside with the colorful owl pattern on my ratoobs, lol. Thinking about it, I should have picked them in black and dark grey.


----------



## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

what about something like this?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/209662...a_search_query=bonding pouch&ref=sr_gallery_7


----------



## Pixxiies (Jan 25, 2016)

That's actually a great point about bonding with your lone male, Gribouilli. I'm going to have to consider that for my boys. I understand what your saying about the ratoob. Don't be afraid of color! But it does look kind of silly the way it hangs around your neck, it reminds me of how cliche snuggies were when they first came out. 

Kay - those pouches look awesome too! I like the mesh so they can see outside. My one fear about the infinity scarf was scaring my boys with no view outside... but then again maybe the darkness would be comforting.


----------



## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

I stuck one of my rats in a backpack once and he was so freaked out he drooled...


----------



## 2ratshack (Sep 13, 2014)

Personally I wouldn't take my rat outside unless it was a true blue shoulder rat. Meaning they stick with you, and their recall is on point. Its too dangerous for a little rattie out in the world, and if they did happen to get away from you, it's unlikely you'd get them back.


----------



## Cookie_Rat12 (Feb 5, 2016)

Thanks everybody! Thanks Pixxiies for the links! I'll look into it 🙂


----------



## Bookwormjess (Dec 4, 2015)

I used to take my rat in a canvas backpack with a bit of bedding in it she would hang out on my shoulder for the most part but id stick her in there or shed go herself every hour or so to do her business then come back out. She was a lone rat so being able to take her everywhere ment she wouldn'tget as bored and lonely.


----------



## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Mine only go outside in hoodies. I personally bought two kitten leashes/harnesses before I got my first rats. Name plates and everything.

Know what I did with them? Used them for my puppy and kitten training class. That was over two years ago.

Ignoring all the animals that eat rats, a rat's teeth can cut through wood and cinder block, so forgive me if I think a nylon or paracord leash is pointless.


----------



## AllAnimalsLover (Feb 14, 2016)

I know that my local pet store sells a play pen for rats. I have never used one for my rats but I have ferrets and bought the play pen as soon as I got my ferrets. It is great for outside. Just make sure the bars aren't big enough for your rat to slip through first. My ferrets didn't take well to walking. They would wear the harness but they would walk a few feet and then lie down. But they loved going outside so I used the play pen. Works great. I made sure to put a tarp down though because the ferrets like to dig and I feared they would tunnel under the pen. So my suggestion would to be to buy a play pen made specifically for rats or ferrets (so that they don't escape by climbing the thing). They are made out of the same material as most cages are. Of course be sure to evaluate the natural dangers in your area before letting your rats outside. hope this helps.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

So... yes our rats go outdoors...


Cloudy Rat










Fuzzy Rat











Maxi Rat










and Misty Rat along side Cloudy Rat.









These four rats are highly trained and tested true shoulder rats. Although their skills vary or varied each was safe to put down on the ground and most would walk at heel, two went back to the car on their own and one could find the house from over half a mile away.


As to leashes and harnesses... I strongly advise against them! Rats are escape artists and if they panic they are gone. A leash and harness will only give you a false sense of security and that will get your rat lost or killed.

Training a shoulder rat is done at a safe site and rats are tested so they never panic... our final exam looks like this:

And yes that's Maxi Rat under the town fireworks during the final fountain with rockets and bombs going off above and it's dark and we are in a huge crowd.. and I'm not restraining her.








Once our rats pass their final exam and earn their 'Rat' surnames, we can pretty much trust them not to panic and do something stupid that will get them killed... but once they qualify and become true shoulder rats they still have a lot to learn to become really skillful ones.


There's noting safe about taking rats outdoors! With lots of training and practice on your part you can shift the odds in your favor... Tying a rat onto a string to shortcut the process is no substitute for proper training and testing and is a great way to get your rat killed or lost....

We love taking our shoulder rats outdoors and traveling with them... so if I'm telling you not to take your rats out on a string, trust me... I know what I'm talking about. A rat that panics is a rat that's just seconds away from being dead or lost. True shoulder rats need a special personality and lots of training and need to be tested under fire, and the trainer needs to be experienced, there is a reason why there are so few true shoulder rats in the world.

I'm happy to post more pics and videos if you like to see more shoulder rat activities, but for the most part unless you really want to commit to the training and risks, your rats are safest indoors.


----------



## LovedeLitu (Jan 3, 2016)

Silly question but, how and when would you know your rat is completely bonded to you?


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

We train at a 40 acre safe site. A park on a peninsula surrounded by water. And basically you test as you go. You walk and see if your rat follows, she what she does if you get farther away or if strangers show up etc. Basically you look for signs of panic or a tendency to wander off instead of pack with you. You practice you commands and your management techniques and you learn to spot little hazards and get your head on a swivel.

No the safe site isn't real world, but it's a safe place for a rat to wash out of the program, but it builds your rats core competence and it gives you a running start into the real world. Misty doesn't have the best outdoor vision and likes to stay close while Fuzzy Rat was fearless and had to explore everything, but she always came back to us after about 45 minutes. In other words if you had somewhere to be in half an hour, you didn't let her climb a tree on a nice day or get off on a solo adventure... But when she did take off, all you had to do was sit down and wait and she would come back to the precise place she left you when she got tired of exploring. Every rat is different, but they have to be predictable. If a rat panics, it bolts and hunkers down somewhere or runs into traffic and it's gone. A rat like this should never be taken outside beyond the safe site. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Even with the best rat, shoulder ratting is dangerous, the world is full of places and ways a rat can get killed. It's all about risk management and working with a predictable rat as well as being to spot danger and staying ahead of it. I wrote a thread on the subject, but this is an activity for only certain special rats people willing to put in the time to do it right. Tying a rat to a string and hoping for the best is just asking for trouble.








Fuzzy Rat and Amelia at the safe site... Fuzzy Rat is exploring the grass and coming towards us, while Amelia is frozen and hiding in the tree.


----------



## mis.kay (May 29, 2015)

I think it would be amazing to be able to go outside exploring with your rattie friend. But even with my heart rat, Baby, who would follow me at foot all around my room, hang out in my hood when I went around the house, and come to her name every time without hesitation. I was terrified to bring her out! I had the confidence in her, but there was always that "What if..." moment that would hold me back.

Now I feel I may have spoiled her possibilities, but at the same time I would have never forgiven myself if that "What if..." came to life.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Mis.Kay,

My wife is rat phobic... I mean standing on a chair screaming and out of control rat phobic. It took her a year to stop bleaching the furniture and floors after the rats were out of the cage, I glass topped everything I could and then we had to adapt playtime into an outdoor activity. She's better, but still can't be in the same room with our girls. After the first time Fuzzy Rat ran off on her own to explore and I sweated bullets for 45 minutes trying to convince my then 5 year old daughter that her 4 week old rat loved her and would come back... and amazingly enough she did. After that we moved play time to our safe site. That's where we discovered that rats can run right up brick walls... and evaporate into even small ornamental plantings, but as she really had nowhere to go, we could wait her out and she always came right back... There were trees there too, which my daughter could climb, so we let Fuzzy Rat climb trees and again she always came back down. From there we moved on to the playground, the local park, stores, restaurants etc. On the 4th of July, we decided to take her along and she really got a kick out of the fireworks and I think I knew then that she would never panic and run away or bolt into traffic. I could literally put her down, someplace reasonably safe and let her go play on her own. This is the only rat I trusted like that.

Still bad things happen. Last summer we took Cloud and Misty to the park. Working with two rats is 10 times more hazardous as working with one. Cloud weebled down the fence and climbed onto a branch and fell into the salt marsh at low tide. I was elsewhere and my daughter got distracted... two safety nets gone... A little girl claimed she saw Cloud heading for the playground I was waiting for my daughter at, but Cloud never turned up there. The playground had filled up with kids and Cloud isn't that bold around people... strike three. Naturally I tried to search the marsh, but that was completely futile. Marshes are horrible terrain to find a rat in... things still getting worse. So I waited about an hour and low and behold there was Cloud waiting to be picked up exactly under the branch where she fell into the marsh... bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and Cloud bats it out of the park. That's what great true shoulder rats do... they don't panic, they think and they are predictable. When Cloud couldn't find me, mostly because we were looking for her, she went to the place she felt she was most likely to be found, which she no doubt scent marked as soon as she hit the ground. Sure it was stressful to lose her, it was the first time we ever lost Cloud, but I knew she was good and I trusted her to be working with me. Which she was or this story would have a very sad ending.

In the real world stupid stuff happens all of the time, the best plans go sideways and it's not too hard to get even a highly trained shoulder rat killed, but rats don't get lost, if they want to come home. Even with years of experience, we screwed up. To make matters worse, I found myself traipsing through the salt marsh tall grass, with Misty on my shoulder... which put the second rat one jump away from gone... And now I'm relying on Misty not to do anything stupid. Long story short our true shoulder rats didn't screw up, both performed flawlessly and everyone came home together. Safer shoulder ratting rely's on at least two levels of safety... a smart trainer who predicts hazards and avoids them and a rat that's competent and confident that doesn't screw up when you do.

The idea of taking a terrified rat outside tied to a string scares me, because I know how fast things go wrong. You aren't looking for all of the dangers and your rat isn't prepared for the real world so there's a piece of string instead of multiple layers of safety net protecting your rat. 

We had to make a commitment to training shoulder rats, and once we developed the method, got good at it and we had a rat that was outdoor competent it became second nature.

There's nothing more fun than a true shoulder rat, they are amazing to work with, but it's not something people should do on a whim or take lightly. Most rats can't be true shoulder rats and most people shouldn't take them outdoors. 

And by the way... this is what a great true shoulder rat looks like... 

https://vid.me/BzNQ 

And yes, this is the intrepid Fuzzy Rat leading me back to the car.

And here she is at the lake

https://vid.me/3edL

On her worst days Fuzzy Rat was only amazing, on her best... she was spectacular. With three other highly trained shoulder rats none ever came close... and that's fine... my heart most likely couldn't take another rat that car surfs on the side-view mirror, outside the car, at highway speed on the NJ Turnpike. All rats like to stick their heads out the window when you drive... but only the truly crazy ones try to ride the mirror and only the very lucky ones survive or are actually good enough to pull it off. 

And before anyone gets the idea that we put Fuzzy Rat in harms way on purpose, keep in mind she was fearless, brilliant and very clever and as sneaky as any rat could be... and once she set her mind on something she was going to do it despite our best efforts to stop her. I tell her stories and show her photos and vids so people can know what rats can do and be. But for the sake of your rats and your sanity, don't try this at home.... ever. Rats like Fuzzy Rat are one in a million, which means 999,999 rats are likely to get killed or lost trying the same things she did before another one shows up, consider your odds before you send your rat off to go play on his or her own outdoors.


----------



## Pixxiies (Jan 25, 2016)

Not to interrupt the conversation going on, but I just wanted to post an update on the paracord leash I ordered.

It's OKAY, depending on the personality of your rat and what your using it for. My cuddley rat is a little more spastic when it comes to being held down or looked at so it was impossible to get the leash on him and have it stay on. Linuce is a little more squishy so I was able to get it on him. You have to be super careful that the harness part is around their chest like an 8 and not just looped around. Even so, Linuce was able to wiggle out of it once he realized his movement was restricted. Their little arms are so tiny and retract in like a turtle head which makes it nearly impossible to keep something on. I'm assuming that you could try and pull it tighter around them but its not worth it, in my opinion.

I would never use this outside, rather, I would use it in a situation where I want an extra level of security when out with my rat.

I purchased the afformentioned infinity scarf with ventholes and a pocket that I posted previously... so I'll update about that when it comes in.


----------



## mis.kay (May 29, 2015)

I've seen those videos so many times Rat Daddy and they never get old. ^^ 

And I'm glad Linuce showed you his mad turtle skills before he was brought outside Pixxiies lol


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I sometimes grab a rat along when I take my daughter to school... so we do risk before breakfast... when I write that something is dangerous and very likely to get their rat lost or killed... please trust me. Leashes and harnesses sound like such a good idea... they feel like "safety." I know it sounds counter-intuitive but all of our experience tells me that when you take a rat outside, anything that feels like safety is going to get your rat lost or killed. Complacency kills rats just as fast as car doors will and one often leads to the other.


----------



## dguizzy (Jun 9, 2014)

I bought two infinity 8 leashes off of etsy and my rats HATED them. They immediately escaped out of them and I haven't tried putting them back on since. If I walk around my house, i'll let the rats be on my shoulder or if i'm wearing a hoodie in there. If I'm taking one rat to the vet, i'll let them again sit on my shoulder or put them in my hood. But i've never taken my rats outside otherwise. They are definitely not trained enough to where they and myself would feel comfortable. I'm hoping this spring/summer if it's not too hot or too cold that I will get a playpen and have them in there so they can explore my backyard in a safe area, being watched the entire time (most likely me sitting in the pen with them)

I would listen to Rat Daddy, he's an expert and knows his stuff


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

dguizzy,

Before you take your rats into your yard have someone else who doesn't live in your home check your yard for danger... As humans we feel super safe in our own yards while they are often death traps for rats... crawl spaces under porches, chain link fences with dogs on the other side and other dangers are easy for us to overlook because we feel so safe in our homes. My yard backs up to a highway exit ramp for example.

I'm not suggesting your yard isn't perfect, but just to be on the safe side let someone with fresh eyes check it out before your rats find what you overlooked.

In the upside down world of shoulder ratting... fearing danger means you are on your toes, which is good, feeling safe is the first step to complacency which can be fatal. I feel overall pretty confident in our rats, which I know down deep isn't a good thing, it's just hard to keep your anxiety level up when things go too well for too long.


----------

