In response to Frank who was wondering where the Canadian breeder was
and whether they are only shipping to the Northwest region of U.S. -
the breeder is Real Canadian Ferrets and is located in Manitoba.
Unfortunately, they do not have a website.

In terms of whether they are restricting shipment to only the
Northwest, I have a friend in Southwest Arizona who told me that the
manager of the local pet store informed her he was waiting for his
shipment of kits from the Canadian breeder. As far as I know the store
was not a big chain like Petco but a small private retail outlet.

Our rescue ferret organization recently took in two surrenders who
were Real Canadian Ferrets - one of these integrated nicely into his
adoptive home and got along well with the family's fuzzy, the other did
not. The one that did not was never viciously aggressive. However, a
real handful. He could climb out of anything, more nippier than normal,
would destroy his cage when confined, spooky intelligent, extremely
dominant with any living being he encountered, etc. He is also typical
of this breed - huge!

Our vet tech worked with the family to assist them deal with his
behaviours and it was not successful. We were extremely hesitant to
separate a bonded pair, however, this fuzzy was quite independent and
did not even sleep with his companion. After consulting with people
experienced with this breed and getting some input from experienced
shelter directors - we agreed to take the little guy back into foster
care with the understanding that if he grieved his companion or vice
versa - we would take both back.

Story has a happy ending because Fred, who remained in the adoptive
home has continued to thrive, and George, the terror, has gone to a
home that has a great deal of experience with challenging ferrets,
having raised a European polecat/ferret mix (came from England).

I visited the home on the weekend and George is also thriving, clearly
loved and has been integrated with 2 sprites and one polecat mix. Of
interest George is huge as stated, but is dwarfed by Weasel(polecat
mix) who is the size of a small dog and is not overweight! Magnificent
animal!

The point of the story is that Real Canadian Ferrets can be challenging
but tremendously rewarding for the right experienced ferret person.

Tressie A. Dutchyn, PhD (c)
Dalhousie University
Research Project Coordinator
Community Health & Epidemiology
http://port.mcgill.ca/dutchyn.htm

[Posted in FML 6090]