My mom thinks of rats as the giant, red eyed, sewer monsters that they are portrayed as on TV. My brother and his girlfriend have a pet rat, that she has never seen, and I fell in love with him. I had to give my dog to my grandma when my mom remarried because her new husband didn't like her, he thought she was too spoiled and that dogs aren't supposed to be in the house, even if they are tiny pom/chihuahua mixes and would have to battle mutant sized raccoons. I want a pet, something I can hang out with, take care of, and love. I've gotten kind of lonely since my brother moved out, I only have a temperamental 8 year old sister that wants nothing to do with me. I have done a lot of research on pet rats and how to take care of them, prices on supplies, about 140$, and found a rat rescue in my town that offers 10$ adoptions. I'm a 15 year old girl, old enough, and responsible enough to take care of a pet. I always took good care of my dog, cleaning up after her, grooming her, and feeding her. My mom wouldn’t even have to see the rat, expect for the occasional visit to the vet. I have 70$, enough to pay for half of the supplies. What are some ways I can try to convince her I am responsible enough, and that rats aren’t the nasty little creatures that they are represented as?
I've been mentioning to my mom that I love my brother's pet rat and would love to have one, but I haven't actually asked about it.
And any info you could supply will be very helpful.
I understand, I don't think you're being mean at all. I was planning on getting two.

Would two males be ok in a cage together? Or should I get two females.
So I barely bring up the topic and my mom yells at me. She wouldn't even listen to me and laughed when I brought up the subject of having to get rid of my dog. She doesn't seem to comprehend how much it breaks my heart to only get to see my dog once or twice a month at most, and then to have her look at me with her big eyes and have to leave her again. I just want something to love, I'd be happy with just about anything, but rats seem best for my lifestyle.

I love dogs-always have..was raised with them, etc. Anyways last year my husband said I could recuse a dog- I saved a Jack Russel from being euthanized. 9 months later he ran away and we never found him. So I rescued a chihuahua mix a few months later. He was the perfect dog! Until he bit one my neighbor's children. It broke my heart but I had to release him to Animal control. Why am I having bad luck with dogs? I just want to provide a loving home for a pooch and I would spoil it rotten. Am I rescuing the wrong breeds? Thanks.
I will add that I have children and the jack russel jumped our fence which is why he took off.
I had no choice but to release him to animal control..he broke the skin and the parents were involved. It broke my heart and he never did that before.
The entire family was in the backyard with the Pip when he jumped and we chased him for blocks. The chi (Rusty) was in the house with me and my daughter brought in her friend and he just went after her (I had him for 6 months and he never did that and in fact I had him professionally trained 1 on 1).
I never left my dogs unsupervised..ask my neighbors they were like my children. They even went on car rides with me. Pip had never tried to jump the fence before..he just happened to do that one time and that was it..he was gone even though we were all outside. Rusty was more of a terrier/chihuahua so he was never snippy before. I don't feel irresponsible towards the care of these animals.

I am really desperate. I lost my Foster home last night for him and am now looking for a good home locally. He has come so far from the worst of the worst condition and I hate to lose him for lack of a home. I carried his pic with me for 3 weeks before I found something for him. It breaks my heart that I will lose contact with him. Saturday he will go to another Rescue group if I can not find something for him. He is with me now. No young kids. No cats. Only dog preferably. He is a lap dog and a great companion. Wants to be where you are. Travels great. Housetrained. Neutered. Current on shots. Finishing up meds. May require 1 more round. We will cover the cost of that. This area has too many Chihuahua's I know. But he is very special. Thank you.

I have this two year old chihuahua that is scared of toys... I bought a loofa dog (those long creepy dogs with a huge smile) and he freaks out and runs away. I know why he is afraid - my sister was playing with him one day and made the toy (it was a stuffed dog with bulging eyes) attack him. She made growling noises and made it chase after him. Now I can't get him to play with anything and it breaks my heart since he used to adore them. Now the only toys I have had with him are stuffed animals (mostly stuffed dogs) and haven't tried any other toy because they are all ugly. haha Like he cares. But anyway, was wondering if someone had some sort of technique that works.