Clover and her rats

[Sowa]

So I recently took in 2 rats. Clover has never seen one other then going to my friends and seeing them there. She will go into the room they are in and just whine. I've taken them out and let her smell them and get used to them but it's been maybe 2 weeks and she's still doing it. Any reason for this??

[Karen]

I'd just ignore the whining, and not let them out loose with her. A dog can kill a rat in a split second. She is undoubtedly curious, but she will stop the whining if you ignore it long enough!

[Freedom]

Agree!

Stop reacting to her whining -- she has trained YOU, lol. Or you can get a small treat and call her, 'come' and reward her. Just be cautious: If she is one of the rare dogs like my Willy, she will learn that whining means she gets a treat.

You need to get her to ignore them. I would not take them out and show her, this is too tempting. Clover has some hunter in her background and the rats quickly become 'prey.'

[Sowa]

I don't let them loose together. I held the rat to show her. She would never grab it out of my hands, she's trained better then that. She won't even take human food that drops on the floor until I tell her. I've tried ignoring her but after so long it gets annoying. I also call her and get her to "go to bed" which works til the next time she wanders into the room

[Karen]

I don't let them loose together. I held the rat to show her. She would never grab it out of my hands, she's trained better then that. She won't even take human food that drops on the floor until I tell her. I've tried ignoring her but after so long it gets annoying. I also call her and get her to "go to bed" which works til the next time she wanders into the room

Yup, she's got you down! Headphones with music that will down out her whining is my next suggestion!

[Steve Wisley]

Reminds me of a story a person told me about their cat. There was a bird building a nest in the shrub outside their picture window. The cat would sit in the window for hours and watch that bird. One day she started cry to go out. When they opened the door the cat made a beeline to the bird and caught it. You will have to keep them separated and get used to the whining. Maybe she will give up.