My new dog won't leave my pet rats alone?
I have two baby rats, and a new dog that we just got on Saturday.
The dog is *obsessed* with the rats to the point where we can’t even let her in the same room because she will be barking, whining, jumping, scratching everything trying to get to them.
She has been sleeping in our room, but last night it got so bad that we had to put her in the living room with a baby gate so she couldn’t come scratch our door all night.
I’ve tried holding her up to the cage and letting her sniff them out, but it just makes her go crazy and try to scramble out of my hands into the cage.
How can I get her to realize that the rats are not for her?
We’ve tried telling her "No!", I even have a dog whistle app on my ipod, but it hasn’t been working.
I really just can’t take another sleepless night. Plus, it isn’t fair to her to be locked up in the living room, and it isn’t fair to the rats to be put through this stress of a maniac dog.
By the way… normally, she is a saint.
I just don’t know why the rats interest her so much.
She’s an adult terrier mix. We think she’s a silky or yorkie mix.
4 Comments on “My new dog won't leave my pet rats alone?”
Teach the LEAVE IT command. Pretty obvious, i suppose.
Like cherry said, ‘Prey drive’ Get a fluffy rag tied to some string, drag it on the floor for your dog to chase, fun fun fun!
What kind of dog is it? Sounds like a dog who is perhaps, by ancestry, a hunter/predatory dog.Terriers love to chase small furries! In my experience, dogs such as these are driven by instinct. You can’t blame it for having these feelings?
Many dogs are bred to actually hunt and kill these type of animal.
The prey drive in your dog is something to be expected.
I agree that it’s not fair to the rats to live with the dog barking and scrambling to get at them, but I disagree that it’s unfair for your dog to sleep downstairs. my dogs sleep downstairs, and I don’t think I’m cruel to them.
Just keep them apart. Holding her up to the cage is not going to help… it’ll just frustrate everyone involved.
You have not told us what breed your dog is. Jack Russels are bred for killing rats and rabbits. It is always difficult introducing a new pet into a house with existing pets. If you have pets of any sort, it’s best to get a puppy as they accept their surrounding and assume all animals in the house are family. You need to do what is best for you not your dog. My Lab always slept in the hall under the stairs as that is where we put him from day 1. You can trick your dog into staying away with a water spray, when your dog goes near it, spray you dogs head and then quickly hide the Spray behind your back. Your dog will then think he is going to get wet every time he goes near the cage. Good luck