When I can, I bring one of the pups into the house to do a bit of basic training and get them used to the collar and leash. I don’t leave a collar on any of the pups since they are still really playful. Right now I am working with basic sit and working on the down with them. I am baking home made treats, so they really want to work for me!
For now, I am luring them into the sit or down position by holding a treat above and just a little behind their nose for the sit, or moving down between their paws and then pulling it slowly away from them to encourage them to lie down. After they start responding well to that, then I will add the commands “sit” and “down.” I’ll see if I can get a video or two up sometime later this week showing how I do it.
In the meantime, here’s some snapshots of Colt and Nellie.
Rat Race Rat Terriers 
Hey, I have a Rat Terrier puppy he’s four months old. I’m trying to train him. He knows to sit but anything else is a real struggle because he has so much energy. Since you have Rat Terriers could you please give me some tips and tricks? I don’t want him to grow up with bad habits and he’s already biting.
Thanks for taking a look at my blog! I jumped over to your blog, interesting articles. Cute pup! Is that the Rattie pup you are talking about? Love his tail!
There are several things that I do to help nip the nipping habit. Depending on the situation and how they are biting, I will hold their mouth shut, flick their nose with a stern “no”, keep my hand, fingers or what have you in their mouth so they feel awkward and uncomfortable, or, the best way, quickly give them something better to chew on besides your hand or other body part. Distract his attention when he starts to nip. Wiggle a soft, long toy past him or toss a ball, if he likes balls, and encourage him to get it.
Also, be aware of what you are doing with your hands to help discourage nipping. Try keeping them a bit more out of reach for him when possible, and don’t engage as much with him with your hands. Try not to get him too wound up and excited. Keep your hands soothing and calming if he bites too much. If you are petting him and he bites your hand, hold your hand still. Don’t react. He’ll want you to keep petting him or instigate play. He won’t understand why the hand stopped moving and will usually spit it out. If he continues to gnaw on you, give him a firm “no” and get him a chew toy. Teach him what is appropriate to chew on.
Give him a few warnings at first, but if he still continues to bite, stop all play or petting. Ignore him or get up and leave. He wants your attention, so he doesn’t want to be ignored, especially at this young age. He’s smart enough to put two and two together and figure that when he bites, the play ends and you walk away. That’s no fun for him.
Remember that going through the teething stage may cause them to bite more too.
Also, make sure you take him for nice walks and play games with him. Do you have access to a puppy play group? Doggy day care? Puppy obedience class? Let him burn off some of his energy in a fun and healthy way. He’ll listen to you more readily when he’s not wound up. And his tendency to bite won’t be as high.
Keep in mind that he’s just a little pup and still exploring his world. When he interacts with his littermates, they bite and chew on each other all the time, so he doesn’t understand that humans just don’t like playing that way.
Let me know if this helps at all and how he does!
I will be regularly posting on the training of my pups as they grow older on here and on their personal blog site, wwww.diaryofadeckerratterrierlitter.wordpress.com. At least that’s the plan anyway! They too are 4 months old, so hopefully my posts will help you with your pup. And, it will give me a bit more incentive to post stuff! LOL
So helpful! Seriously thank you so much. It’s often frustrating because I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. Although very expensive, I did get a trainer to help me so hopefully I learn to teach him better. I don’t know how you can keep up with so many Rat Terrier puppies at once! Just one is difficult for me lol. Then again, this is my first dog. Anyway, thank you. I will definitely keep checking out your blog so I can learn a few things that’ll help me
You are very welcome. Glad I could help. It is always good to have some help, especially if this is your first dog. You may also want to talk to the breeder if that is where you bought the pup from and ask if they have any thoughts or advise to offer.