I was contacted by Kim Thornton who writes for Popular Dogs magazine and was asked my opinions on safe, effective ways to leave dogs home alone and prevent separation anxiety for the Rat Terrier. Thought this might be helpful to all our readers.

Hello Kim, Thank you for asking me to provide a little information on "Leaving The Rat Terrier Alone". I would say about half of the people who have my pups really do not leave them alone for very long. Maybe a little more than half. Others have no choice. Many take their dogs to work with them. This seems to be a new trend with companies, letting the dogs come to work. Some have a Dog Nanny and some send the dogs to Day Dog Care Centers and can watch their dogs on closed circuit T.V. A Doggie Bus picks them up and brings them home.

 Generally you cannot leave a Rat Terrier under about 2 years old to run loose alone in the house or when you come home, the furniture will be re arranged, chewed up, curtains or blinds opened permanently. The rest you can close your eyes and imagine. Tears will follow. Locking them in Laundry rooms or bathrooms do not work either. After about 2 1/2 years, they have finally grown out of most all of this but the hunting instinct usually sticks. Back yards with fences at least 6 feet high and no chance of digging through is of course OK. No children's wading pools or deep watering pans. Several drownings have occurred due to these 2 things. No plastics, wires, sharp objects or general debris that they may chew on. No poison plants. No insect, lawn or flower sprays.

 If you are going to leave them outside during the day, my solution to stray dogs, hawks and owls is the very large wire kennel with wire top, about 4 ft x 4 ft by 8 feet for my young small pups. It can be larger and it sets on the patio. They can also be anchored in the dirt and moved pretty easily from place to place. You can get a canvas top also to put on top. Put an igloo inside. This is good for safety for a few hours but one must check the food and water pan within a few hours. The dogs should be brought in at night and crate training is a real blessing. The Citronella Collars are a miracle if your pup is going to be barking when you leave. They are harmless and smell good.

Now even some 8 week old pups are very pack oriented from the beginning and they do not want to be away from their litter mates and will howl when they are separated. You then become their pack mate. Others are glad to be away from their litter mates and want to be independent from the beginning. When leaving the house do not make an issue with "by by, mom will be home soon" or make a big issue when returning. Wait awhile when you come home to acknowledge them. But the bad news is the Rat Terrier knows everything you are going to do and is onto your every vibe. So good luck on that one.

 The Rat Terriers have a little witch and a little Warlock in them so be prepared to deal with that every now and then. If they have another dog or another animal to bond with, this helps since they are pack oriented. Keep your dogs on a good healthy diet with no junk food. Rat Terriers are structured oriented and you want to make sure you have a good routine and schedule as they do not like change of any kind. They will be very bonded to certain toys and always love their blankets in their crates.

So give them something that they love when you are away and again don’t make a big deal about coming home and I missed you and all that, they know it. What that does is set in a higher bond and it makes it all that much harder to leave in the first place. Its also really good to have them be on there own for periods of time when you are not there so that they get used to being alone. You need to start that from when you first get your pup as pups really get set in there ways when they first go to their new homes.

Basically the Rat Terrier mellows with age and you can depend on them once they know house rules. Because they are such social dogs it can be a bit more difficult to make them understand that at times they must be alone. But they will get use to it provided you start young and let them sow there own oats too.

 Lou Compton-Blanco, Casa de Rats