Samantha

Rat Terriers, also known as “Ratties,” can barely contain their huge hearts in their tiny bodies. Unlike the name suggests, these dogs are social, affectionate pups who love being around people. They crave your companionship and will be happy in any situation as long as you’re together. Full-grown, they typically weigh 8-25 pounds and stand 10-18 inches tall.

Rat Terriers are generally excellent with children of all ages. In fact, Rat Terriers love sleeping with people, especially kids. This breed is pack-oriented, so they enjoy the companionship of kids, adults, and other pets as long as they’re raised together. They're moderate barkers — they'll alert you when something's up but aren't excessive.

Rat Terriers thrive on activity and will be destructive if they get bored. Keep your Rattie busy with walks, runs, playtime, training, food puzzles, or sports. These dogs are particularly good at agility, rally, flyball, and tracking. Overall, their exercise needs are high.

Rat Terriers have short coats with a “pied” pattern (large patches of one or more colors with white). You may find Ratties with black, brown, tan, red, apricot, fawn, blue, white, or lemon coloring. Their coats tend to be low maintenance. Grooming-wise, this breed is low-maintenance.

Rat Terriers are best suited for apartments and smaller homes. Ratties need to live indoors and be surrounded by people. They are highly trainable and eager to learn.

The Havanese is very intelligent, happy-go-lucky, lively, and playful. They are quite affectionate and will become extremely attached to their human families. The Havanese are not known to be excessive barkers when taught at a young age not to bark unnecessarily, but they will alert you to strangers and make an excellent watch dog. Full-grown, they typically weigh 7-13 pounds and stand 8-12 inches tall.

Havaneses are generally excellent with children of all ages. The Havanese are also revered for their good nature with children and elderly folks, making a great match for young families and mature owners alike. They're fairly vocal dogs that bark regularly.

The easy-to-train Havanese is a good fit for apartment life. They are content to be playful and active indoors, and while they do not require a yard to play, they do need to be taken on daily walks. These pups are have an average demand for exercise and are well-suited to less active lifestyles. Overall, their exercise needs are moderate.

Havanese have several coat varieties for choose from. In addition to the short-haired Havanese, there is also the possibility for wavy, curly, or even corded hair. The Havanese exhibits a soft double coat on both the outer and undercoat. Grooming-wise, this breed is moderate. Havaneses are considered hypoallergenic, which can be a plus for allergy sufferers.

Havaneses are best suited for apartments and smaller homes. As long as your Havanese pup is properly socialized, they should be very friendly with other humans you welcome into the house, as well as other animals. They are fairly easy to train.