Rogue with Familiar/Animal Companion?

[Frathe]

I had the idea of a Rogue character who has a pet rat that can pick pockets and locks, so the rat could free their owner from prison and such in classic thief pet style. Unfortunately, Rogues have no way to get Animal Companions, and I need the Rogue for Open Lock and Disable Device, etc., as class skills. The obvious solution is multiclassing, but the best solution would suggest a companion that received its master's skill ranks, and Ranger Animal Companions, my first thought, do not. It seems like the Wizard/Sorcerer Familiar would actually be a better fit, because they can use their master's skill ranks. But I don't really like the useless dangling one level of Wizard/Sorcerer just to get a companion, when spellcasting really wasn't part of the concept.

TL;DR: How could I get a familiar/animal companion for a rogue that could use its owner's skill ranks, without multiclassing into wizard/sorcerer?

[TaiLiu]

The feat Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) ought to be worth a look.

[skycycle blues]

It's not exactly what you're looking for, but if you go with Beguiler instead of Rogue and take the feat Obtain Familiar (Complete Arcane) at level 3, you can do exactly what you're looking to do with it. You lose out on sneak attack, but gain loads of useful spells with a comparable skill list (I don't think you lose anything major).

[Gullara]

Spellthief should be able to take Obtain Familiar as well. Not only that, but you actually gain a die of Sneak Attack and you have plenty of the same class skills. So a dip into Spellthief should suit your needs just fine.