Like Rat Hotels?
I have decking all the way around the house and thought about putting those under the deck.
I can’t set rat traps as in the snap the neck kind due to a back injury I can’t bend over.
But the hotels I could use my handy grabbers to put under the deck and fetch them up when occupied.
Those are the best way in my opinion. You bait them, they throw the rat into the enclosed area. Dog can’t get to the bait and no poison needed. Only bad part is killing the disgusting creatures.
I haven’t much experience with rats but I do know they’re smarter than squirrels, and I’ve had those. I had squirrels that somehow thwarted traps, stole the food and got out, or knocked over the trap and picked the food out from between the bars.
Still, if you make a trap cozy you should be able to catch a rat. Get somebody else to do the bending. There are always folks happy to oblige, you only need to ask.
My squirrels, by the way, didn’t go for peanut butter as expected. They fell for it when I put in pieces of newspapers and a pizza crust! LOL, I think it was the dinosaur media that drew them in.