Rat terrier...?

ORIGINAL: corgichick

I am thinking about getting a Rat Terrier...does anyone here own one or know anyone who owns one....?

What are their temperments like...?

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I know two people who own Rat Terriers. They are one of those dogs who turn into really shy and aggresive dogs without a lot of socialization. They're fragile dogs, and by that I do not mean their bodies but their attitudes. You must be careful about how you treat them and they are sensitive to scolding, esspecially physical scolding (spanking, smacking on the nose) that you may normally use as teqniques on larger dogs. They don't like rough treatment at all; Dexter, one of the Rat Terriers I know is very senstive towards touch, he is scared of kids and gets freaked out when someone follows him. Besides his shyness, he never bites and is rather laid back, he doesn't like people besides his own owner. He walks everywhere off leash, which you may be cautious about when it comes to other small dogs, but he amazingly listens very intently to his owner and follows her everywhere. They are very sensitive to rough treatment, as I said before, and will be scarred for life. Dexter was a rescue, and he is still totally freaked out after years out of the life of abuse.
 
The other one I know is obedient and does not run off, she was not shy but did end up biting someone because of a little too rough treatment.
 
They are normally not a kids dog, but they love their owners and just remember, socialization is EXTREMELY important.

the first rat terriers i met wereowned by a family i rode horses witrh. they had one that was small and cute, very calm, loved everyone, basically a little stuffed animal. then they got another one who was twice the size of the one they owned (all legs) and completely psycho. not in a really bad way though. she was just an excited little dog with more energy than i would know what to do with.

my best friend owns 2 rat terriers and one chih. they are the most well behaved rat terriers i have seen. however she got them when they were puppies from a respectable breeder and started training and socializing right away

any dog will be great with proper training and socializing.

i've only met one pure bred rat terrier and he was a spaz when strangers came around. he wasnt socialised and would bark and make a fuss the whole time strangers were around. these people lived deep in the woods, and.. surprise surprise, he was a hunting dog, and what else could he possibly hunt except squirrels (aka tree rats lol)

i'm sure if i was a member of the family he would have been a normal happy terrier type dog, but as long as you were just visiting he would just NOT shut up...
i always wanted to pet him, he looked so cute... but you couldnt get any closer than twenty feet.. if you tried he would run at warp speed the opposite direction...

I saw a rat terrier at my local Animal Control last week. Everytime I walked by his cage he would roll on his back wanting a belly rub. *LOL* He was cute. However, I find the smaller breeds like that to be less social than say a Lab or a Golden. 

I had a toy rat terrier that I ended up rehoming to my cousin because the older she got the more she disliked everyone but me. She was very nervous and shy and would run if you tried to approach her. She wasn't like that when I got her but as she matured she became very antisocial even though we were socializing her regularly. I got her from someone who rescued her from an Amish puppy mill so her breeding was probably horrible. She is happier at my cousin's because her kids are older and calmer and she can be carried around like a baby all day. I wanted her to act more like a dog and everything I read about them before I got her said that they were a more confident dog like the JRT. My info was wrong or my dog was not very rat terrier like. Either way I wouldn't get another one again. They just don't fit with my family and my needs in a dog.

I have 2 and just posted begging for help. 
 
both of ours are rescues that came from a very abusive home.  I've trained lots of dogs, though it's been almost exclusively large and giant breeds and only recently really got serious about it (in the last 5 years or so).
 
Anyway, we took them in and I thought if I can train a rottweiler, what's a wimpy little rat terrier?  Sheesh.  How dumb was I??
 
Socialization is insanely important with them.  Can't stress that enough.  And apparently some of them have strong work lines in them still.  I guess I've got one of those.  I'm going to try a bit of carting with him in the hopes that'll calm him down some. 
 
They can be the sweetest most loving little things, but you really - like every other single breed out there - need to find an excellent breeder and make sure your lifestyle suits them.  Then train, socialize, train, socialize, train, socialize...........

socialising is not a one shot deal unfortunately... i mean... you have to keep doing it or dont do it at all.... i found that out the hard way with a couple of dogs. we would take them EVERYWHERE when they were puppies... they loved people, would greet everyone and be friendly and pleasant... but after they were grown, work schedules took over, and we didnt think it needed to be kept up with because we did it when they were puppies.... but we found out otherwise when company would come over, or if we had to take them to the vet or just "out"
i'm sure some of it depends on the breed of dog, but i think it matters a lot if you keep up the social training.. otherwise they will get into their comfort zone and refuse to leave it or allow some stranger to invade it... they are dogs after all, descendants of wolves and wolves are territorial agressive with non-members.