What factors influence responsiveness to training?

[Julia]

I don't have a rat as yet, but if I got one I would love to teach it to run a miniature dog agility course and maybe do a bit of tracking. So I'm wondering what kind of rat would be the easiest to teach. What should I be looking for in regards to age, gender, personality etc.?

And if a rat is doing a lot of fun, positively reinforced training and has both quality and quantity time with me, is it still necessary to multiple rats?

[christie]

Oh damn there is a really good website that i found ages ago that showed step by step how to train rats to do something like this. Sadly though i cant remember what one it was. I remember how to do it though.
I would go for a baby that way you can build the trust right from a young age and get to know its personality as it grows. Because that will prolly help you to decide what kinda things to train it and what type of treats would be the best reward to just from getting to know him/her.
But you can only train them for a short amount of time at a time. So yes i would say that even if you were training one you would still need to have a friend for him/her.

[wulfyskingdom]

ahh... perfect tutorial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNOgpQLDZH8

If you have a look, this you tube user has quite a few rat videos on teaching them tricks. Its great to watch, and I've taught 3 of my boys to spin and one of those to also walk

I guess in the world of new rat ownership, you need to get your rats comfortable with you first and with their surrounds.

Age wise, they grow up pretty quickly so perhaps they would start learning from only a few months old.

Gender wise, boys might be easier to teach technical tricks that need a bit more "attention", girls may be easier to teach agility courses though as they are rather active. Two of my boys that are 18 months old absolutely refuse to do the spin and walking tricks because they are lazy but they will bound up a full flight of stairs for a treat. You will find it'll depend on the rat's personallity as to how well they train, i guess like dogs some will pick it up easier than others.

If you or someone you know are handy cardboard or wood you can make mazes and other things. Not to mention, a rat agility or play area is really easy and cheap to make out of things you already have or can buy from the hardware store

[maesie]

I've been thinking of trying to train my girls. Milli who is 5 1/2mths would be my best bet as she is more willing and easyer to get her to focus... Daisy would be a hopeless case... she a crazy girl, but she may follow Milli if I can train her first. Will be checking out those links.

[skitch]

I've trained a couple of rats to do the 'spin' trick and taught a couple of them to jump (clumsily!) over hurdles. Food and repitition is the key. I find that they kind of 'forget' if you dont practice it with them every day early. You have to find the food that your rats will go crazy for.. for me, it was always little drops of chocolate custard.. I could get them to do just about anything for a tiny little drop!

I second what others have said about bonding with the rat and letting it get used to you. It's probably best to start off young, a couple of months or so. In my experience girls seem to be more eager to learn.. my boys all seem so lazy and unmotivated.. they'll seem interested for a while but quickly get tired and want to nap lol.

[cassie]

Interesting topic I look forward to trying something similar with my rats....one day!

ETA: I meant when I get my rats!

[chocrats]

I've taught two of my girls to do the spin trick, and one of my boys does it when he wants to. I find it harder to train boys.. but the other girls don't seem interested, even for the yummiest treats! I must have weird rats