Canine similarities?

[SADCAT]

I think rats are like dogs in some ways and certainly of all of the small rodents they do show remarkable intelligence. But they are not as bright as a dog, certainly all my dogs have been brighter than my any of my rats, even our lurcher who is not sharpest tool in the box! Is still a somewhat brighter. That is not taking anything away from rats, they are still very intelligent little beasts, it`s just that dog`s are brighter.

I think pretty much everyone on this board with disagree with that, hehe. Plus I believe it's been proven through many scientific tests and studies on both animals that rats are in fact more intelligent than dogs. Rats are always featured in animal intelligence documentaries, but I've never seen dogs featured in them, and if they are, it's very brief. I've worked with countless hundreds of dogs at the Humane Society, dogs from every possible background and every possible breed, and none came close to the intelligence I've seen in my many ratties, mine and other people's.

[amymckee]

My rats DON'T eat other animal poo or their own and they don't eat barf either.  

Mine have eaten wall plaster, solid deodorant, vaseline, and hot sauce. I would compare them to a baby in this way- they are terribly smart, but still eat everything.

[rogermerriman]

I certainly have not seen any studies to prove your point if you have one please post and I will gladly eat my hat! Though one thing to remember is that intelligence testing is difficult and with problems with the the tests. For example the IQ test does not measure intelligences it simply measures how good you are at IQ tests  though it is still a useful tool as it can highlight if someone has learning difficulty such as dyslexia, and will still give a rough idea of the test subjects intelligences.

[SADCAT]

I believe they gave the animals problem solving tests more than anything. For instance they might have put food somewhere and the animal had to preform a series of tasks to get at the food, and they measured how long it took. The rats could solve these problems very fast, almost as fast as the parrots. But the dogs took very long, and usually just gave up and went off to do something else, it was hard to keep their attention for very long As far as studies, I don't know the exact name of the show, but you might be able to find some information about it at discovery.com or exn.ca. There were several documentaries about animal intelligence, one of which was three hours long. Perhaps they have copies for sale, or at least a summary of the shows. Try looking up "animal intelligence".

[kenancy]

I agree with you on all points.  They are a smaller version of a dog, only cuter.

[Mousie's Mom]

Oh Suebee!!!!

Now I'll remember that when they are giving me lip kisses......ewww.

I didn't know that they do eat their own poo from time to time.

I'll just go on believing that my girls are too dignified for that.  :-)  hee hee

[Yresim]

I think rats are MUCH smarter than dogs (closer to cats in terms of intelligence).  

I always tell people that rats are a mix between dogs and cats, with the merits of both species (and very few flaws).  

Like cats, rats are intelligent and independent.  They know what they want, and they know how to get it.  They do not eat poo or barf, and they are mostly nocturnal.

Like dogs, rats are friendly and trainable.  

This makes them the perfect pet in my eyes.  I think that the rat-owners who believe that rats are no better than dogs may want to consider getting a dog and seeing for themselves.  

P.S.  I like dogs.  But that doesn't mean I don't see their flaws, and see how rats improve upon them.  Rats are better animals because they have to be: there are a lot of things out there that want to eat them and/or are big enough to step on them.  Then again, mice are also near the bottom of the totem pole, and they are pretty dumb/unfriendly (combining the worst traits of cats & dogs).

[Yresim]

it`s just that dog`s are brighter.

What ON EARTH gave you that idea?!?!?!?!  ::horrified::

[Catalyst]

Don't get me wrong, I love rats...

But there's nothing like a dog.

And I do truly believe dogs are smarter than rats, just because rats show more interest in completing tasks does not mean they're more intelligent. Maybe the dogs just get bored with it all....I guess we'll never know.

Oh, and dogs are also more in tuned with humans emotionally.

[Yresim]

Don't get me wrong: I don't have anything against dogs.  I love dogs.  And you're right: there is nothing like a dog.  A companion that is always there for you, always seems to understand your emotions, and will respect you and follow you off the ends of the earth.  They are the most loyal creatures I have ever spent time with.  

But they're pretty dumb (although mixed breeds do tend to be smarter than pure breeds).  They do not do much creative problem-solving (although they train well).

Rats are still very friendly, but smarter.  They won't follow you off the ends of the earth, but they can figure out how to solve problems they've never seen before.  To me, that denotes a level of higher intelligence.

[Catalyst]

I guess I just value a dog's way of intelligence more than a rats, personally, it means more to me.

[Ali]

I picked up my first girls when they were due to be gassed after animal behaviour experiments we had been carrying out in the lab.

They were fairly standard 'Pavlov's box' type experiments - starting with tap the lever, and you get a snack, progressing to tap the lever on the right when the light goes off, tap the lever on the left when the light comes on, and you get a snack etc etc.

On average it took the rats around 45 minutes to pick this up, which I reckon is pretty good going! I can't imagine a dog learning this as quickly, but I'm not sure that it's because they're less intelligent than rats. I think the WAY that they think, and their powers of concentration, are probably different.

There are lots of things that dogs do that I couldn't imagine rats being able to do, and vice versa.

Still - that's my opinion on intelligence. I still stand firm on my opinion that rats are like dogs in many many ways, and that being able to describe rats as being similar to dogs is at least a good starting point!  

[whispurrr]

Wow, I've also described them as 'little dogs' to people, but I had no idea anyone else was using this description.

I think they're very like dogs in the way that when I come home from uni, all three of them stand on their hind legs, against the cage door, 'asking' me to let them out to play.

[Meghan]

It's pretty common for rats to eat poo though; ours may do it when you're not looking.  It helps them use more of the nutrients in the food, like a cow with her cud.

[DesertSands]

Well... actually, rats do eat their own feces from time to time... it's called  coprophagy:

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/coprophagy.htm

I am NEVER going to show this thread to my husband! LOL, he'd never be able to handle the rats again. He's just reached the point now where he thinks it's cute when they kiss his hands. Can you imagine what he'd say if he knew about coprophagy?? ROFL!