Well there's an easy test for deafness. I've seen it done in old cowboy movies using only a Colt 45 fired off in the next room. I believe that it might be handled less dramatically and with less plaster damage if you were to omit the large caliber handgun, and substitute a loud whistle or such.
The actual history of shoulder rats likely goes back way before Jack Black. Shoulder rats keeping company with lonely old widows turns up anecdotally in witchcraft folklore pretty much since rats appear on the scene. Perhaps there's good reason to believe that shoulder rats were actually the first 'domestic rats'. But as things might not have worked out so well for the "crazy rat lady" or even the "crazy cat lady" three hundred years ago in an unenlightened age the myth and the legends might be a little bias.
So people watched trained rats in movies doing amazing things and often outdoors and nobody ever took notice of just how skillful Ben and his friends were... imagine not only were the rats performing, they were surrounded by bright lights and a camera crew and doing multiple takes often outdoors and most likely they were the best actors on the set and they sold the whole movie franchise.
Just a short time ago, when Fuzzy Rat evolved into a true shoulder rat, I went on line in search of other shoulder ratters that might give me some advise. And it turned out that shoulder rats were still only an urban legend. A certain "rat authority" wrote in response to my inquiry that "Rats are not dogs, they are small animals that must always be kept in a cage and allowed only limited and supervised access to rat proofed areas of the home." The poster went on to say that shoulder rats were only fiction and no such animals actually existed and that the mere discussion of shoulder rats would only serve to get innocent rats killed. I did however get a single private message from someone in the UK claiming that they had a true shoulder rat and wishing me great success and happiness with mine.
So, Fuzzy Rat certainly isn't the first true shoulder rat, she's just the prototype for the first training manual on the subject. She has remarkable hearing and eyesight and smell and a calm and cool disposition and is firmly pack bonded with her humans and she is intelligent and stubborn and she doesn't give up on being understood. And she is mostly white and doesn't look much like a wild rat so people don't recoil in panic. And she loves people, even strangers.
Hey, lets be honest, she was born to be the prototype and with no preexisting guide on the subject starting out with the perfect rat made everything possible.
Now that the first chapter has been written and there is a guide for everybody else to start out with, I honestly don't know where the limits are. I'm pretty sure that people who have met Fuzzy Rat would be more willing to accept a black rat for example. Perhaps with a really good safe site a deaf or even blind rat can be safely trained and workarounds for their handicaps can be achieved. Perhaps it might turn out that rats can learn sign language as easily as human language or that a certain blind rat might come to trust human touch so completely as to not freak out, ever... In fact I'm thinking that the next chapter in the evolution of shoulder rats is going to include certain rats that aren't going to necessarily be Fuzzy Rat clones at all.
But... from my personal experience hypersensitive, poorly bonded, aggressive or super shy rats will always wash out. The hypersensitive will panic and get into trouble, the poorly bonded will just leave you, the aggressive will bite someone and the super shy and agoraphobic will become undergarments or clothing accessories. With a really good safe site and lots of patience some of these rats might even be fixed or become limited shoulder rats. This year Amelia our agoraphobic has pulled off two meet and greets. Yes, for the outdoor one, I had to pry her out from under my coat, but after she was out she allowed herself to be handled by a perfect stranger and she jumped right back to me on command (and dove back under my coat). So, it was a lumpy meet and greet, not slick like Fuzzy Rat, but the humans involved were never the less impressed.
As to leashes.... first I don't trust them. Your betting your rats life on it's inability to do what comes most natural to a rat; squish out of something. And second I've noticed that dogs that are always kept on leashes are more prone to run away when they get free than dogs that normally free range with their masters, which never seem to run away. Years ago when I was young, I'd walk my dog in the state forest and when we reached the edge of the woods I'd just say "go" and my dog was gone, as soon as I whistled I'd hear scrambling somewhere in the distance and she would dash back to me from wherever she was exploring and she would stay with me until I gave the the "go" command again. We put away the leash when she was about 4 months old and for the next 14 years she never ran away again. Rats aren't dogs, but as there's no extensive body of work on shoulder rats, I take my inspiration wherever I can find it.
Whatever your rats special challenge turn out to be, it's the same procedure. You go to your safe site and work on it together. And you learn, and your rat learns and you either succeed or you fail or you lean to set safe limits. In our house Amelia is the superstar, she causes very little damage (except for stealing and hiding things and food) and comes promptly when called, outdoors she's a mess; indoors Fuzzy Rat usually ignores commands, slices wiring and shreds documents to build secret nests. Outdoors she's the perfect puppy, she responds to commands, walks at heel, greets strangers and all but takes care of herself. That's why safe site experience is so critical and the key to shoulder rat success. It's the freedom to fail that allows the true shoulder rat to succeed.
Until you can get to your safe sites, work on bonding with your rats. Work on commands, like "come to daddy", or "come to mommy" and "up on hand" and get them to respond to their name (or similar hand signals if necessary). Don't worry about anything else other than the safety and security of your safe site. When you get to your chosen shrub or tree and you carry your rat around a little on shoulder and start letting him explore on the ground or in or under the shrub you just play it by ear. When he gets a little too far you call him back and when he comes you treat him like a king... In the worst case scenario, you run the little bugger down, squee-dunk him back into his carrier and take him home. With acres of open lawn that's actually not as hard as it sounds. BTW, did I ever mention that it's nice to have a kid along for the running down and squee-dunking thing if it comes up? Well if I forgot, it is. Kids also have a real blast with rats at the safe site, and you will have great fun watching them play together.
Animal handling is a team effort, both you and your shoulder rat learn and evolve together. There's no way your rat can predict how you will behave at the safe site and you don't know your rat yet. Right now it's all the unknown land ahead, the permutations of your future are mind boggling and maybe a little frightening. And if you aren't concerned and alert bad things will happen. So it's good to be a little afraid, it will keep you sharp.
Fuzzy Rat is now an old lady, she can't climb trees, and her large tumors make it hard for her to even walk and explore. Most of her life is behind her, and when she started out to be a shoulder rat at barely a month old she faced a very uncertain and dangerous world. Yesterday in the hallway she weebled to the front door and wanted to go outside where her life was and I suppose where she still thinks it is. If your rat has what it takes, you will never regret the decision to go to the safe site and you will never look back. Win, lose, or draw a rats life is short and a true shoulder rat should not waste it in a cage. Sure Fuzzy Rat lived life on the hairy edge and cheated getting killed dozens of times, but now that shes old and sick and tired imagine her memories and the thrills and love she shared with her family.
Take a close look at the recent photo of Fuzzy Rat, a commercial feeder rat pup with no future and a life expectancy of just days or hours. She's never had anything to lose but here she is now after a truly amazing life. Where ever you are thinking of going she's been there and done that. And shoulder rats aren't an urban legend any more and she's affected people throughout her travels. And now there's a safer method for training shoulder rats based on her adventures. Maybe Voda is on the verge of a fantastic life too, always be aware, and careful and cautious and ready to react and learn and add lots of love and patience and let him grow up to be what he's meant to be.
Although there remain tales untold, chances are that Fuzzy Rat won't be adding many new chapters to the shoulder rat knowledge base, perhaps little Voda, another orphaned commercial feeder bin refugee will carry the torch forward. I can't imagine a better mascot for a rat rescue or a better reason to train a shoulder rat. And if he works out, and if you ever print a promotional t-shirt of him keep me in mind.
There have probably always been shoulder rats, and there will always be more the object of having a safer training methodology is to try to make an otherwise risky process safer by sharing our experiences and learning from each other. My recommendations on which rat is most likely to be the best shoulder rat wasn't intended to imply that no other rats can be shoulder rats, just that you get a good head start by choosing the right rat up front. If your perfect shoulder rat turns out to be jet black, you get to deal with much more complicated human interactions and limitations on where you may be allowed to go, your life doesn't get impossible just more difficult. I can see where red eyes, near sighted or deaf would also pose challenges, but not necessarily wash a rat out completely. If you understand your rats limits and conscientiously manage them a slightly marginal rat can be successful too.
I'm not advocating stupidity either, if your rat can't cut it at the safe site, the game is over, quit while your rat is still alive.
