Clicker Training Rats

This is an article I wrote with my friend Sally Rowe for Pro.rat.a the National Fancy Rat Societies magazine and it first appeared in the November/December 2005 issue, please note I have now graduated, so this article is a little bit out of date.

We are in our final year of a three year Animal Behaviour degree and as part of our course this year we were required to train an animal of our choice to do a series of tasks on cue. We decided to train a rat, Bramble, to do agility type tasks (to ring a bell, jump through hoop, run through a tube and into a box). The training was very successful and with the increasing interest in rats for agility we though we would share our enjoyable experiences with you.

 Things to consider before you start

If you get the choice of rats, one that is active, sociable and highly food motivated is likely to be a good choice. Obviously the rat you choose must be healthy and physically able to carry out the task you want it to do. Underlying health problems such as respiratory problems could cause undue stress during training or the rat may simply be too ill to learn.

Bramble showing how food motivated she is, as she tries to pry fingers apart for a treat

The training method

The training method we used was “clicker training” this is widely used with many species and we found it very useful to communicate what we wanted Bramble to do. Commercial clickers come in many different forms and are widely available on many internet sites. Basically a clicker is a small device that produces a clicking sound when pressed, you could use a click top biro for example and some rats may even prefer this as commercial clickers can sometimes be quite loud and startling. Alternatively you can keep the clicker at a distance from your rat or use a multi-tonal clicker set on the quietest setting so as not to scare your rat.

Some examples of commercially brought clickers

The clicker tells the rat what it has done right. To teach this, make the clicking sound and give the animal a treat. Repeat this until they look expectantly for a treat when they hear the click. This now becomes a rewarding sound. Food is the most suitable treat, but remember to keep treats small and as healthy as possible so you don’t end up with a fat rat! Once your rat is reliably seeking a treat on hearing the click, you can start to use the clicker to train.

Tips on training…

When choosing an area to train make sure it is somewhere with few distractions and allow your rat to have some time to explore the area before you start training. Keep in mind during any training that it should be fun for both you and your rat. Do not force your rat to do anything it doesn’t want to and remember just like people animals have off days, so don’t be afraid to call it a day if things aren’t going to plan.

Training sessions should be short (no longer then 15 minutes) to prevent your rat from getting bored. Each task should be trained in a number of small steps, this aids your rat in fully understanding what you want it to do and gives it a positive experience to fall back on.

Examples of training…

The Tunnel

One of the first tasks we trained Bramble was a tunnel, she picked this up very quickly and is a good first task for both of you to gain confidence. Place your rat near the tunnel, click and reward any movement toward the tunnel. Gradually increase criteria so the rat has to get closer to (and eventually into) the tunnel before it gets a reward. You may find your rat goes straight into the tunnel, click and reward this. When your rat is reliably going inside the tunnel, work increasingly to get them out the other side. This may be harder then getting them to go into the tunnel in the first place as rats tend to like small dark spaces! Work towards your rat going all the way through the tunnel and coming back to you for your reward.

Bramble going through the tunnel

The Jump

A suitable next task to train might be a jump. This could be a pole or as we used a hoop jump. Again click and reward any small movements towards the jump. Start with a low jump and only raise it when your rat is going over confidently. This will also discourage them from going underneath. You may find initially that your rat just climbs over the jump, this may be down to the individual rat or may change as their confidence improves.

You should find that if your rat fully understands what you require of him/her then once you raise the jump they should still jump over as going underneath hasn’t been rewarded. However if your rat is still determined to take the easy the route under, try putting something in the way to block its path for a number of attempts.  

One method that maybe helpful in getting your rat to go over the jump, is known as “luring”. This is literally encouraging or luring your rat over with a food treat and can be useful for other tasks too.

Bramble and the hoop jump at its highest position

Other ideas of tasks you can train your rat…

Once you’ve mastered the above tasks and you and your rat are confident with clicker training why not try training you rat to: go up a ladder, walk over a tight-rope, ‘weave’ in and out of poles, go to a marked point (also known as marker training or stationing), rear up on command, retrieve an object and come when called. The tasks you and your rat can achieve are only restricted by your imagination!

Good luck in your future training! And we hope you have as much fun as we did. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you and your rat can achieve and training is certainly a great way to increase the bond between you and your pet. Why not have a go with your other animals too as its not just rats that can be trained in this way.

 If you would like to find out more about the training we did and how to train your rats please visit The Podel's Rat Training website by clicking here!

We would like to thank Serendipity stud for Bramble and her cage mate Fizz who were brilliant subjects for training and are proving to be wonderful companions.

Last updated 26th August 2008

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Disclaimer = I do not claim to be an authority on rodents or rats and any information on this page is just opinions and advice and is by no means a substitute for good books or veterinary advice.  All the toys on the toys page are just ideas and may not have been tried out so it is up to you to implement them and judge there safety.