Rob,
 
I have an English Springer Spaniel (similar in personality to a cocker) who was
introduced to our resident ferrets as a puppy. My best advice is *supervise*.
Make sure you're always around when they're together so no one gets hurt. With a
puppy, your ferret is more likely to get injured by being stepped on, sat on or
tripped over than by any malice on the puppy's part.
 
We knew Maggie (dog) was going to grow to be bigger than the other pets, so we
worked on training *her* from the start. She was not allowed to harrass or chase
ferrets or cats. This takes time. Actually, the ferrets themselves taught her
respect. I don't know if she ever wore a ferret as an earring, but she still
bears a hairline scar on her lip from when she got too enthusiastic with one of
the boys. Now (6 years later) she ignores Silk unless he's stealing one of her
toys (we got him a Vermont flip for xmas but he still wants *her* chewman), and
he can crawl all over her when she naps. As long as the new addition is a puppy,
I don't foresee any problems.
 
Wendy and the clan
 
*******************************************************************************
Wendy Hudson  [log in to unmask]
The clan: Lloyd (husband)
          Maggie (english springer spaniel)
          Friday and Marcus (cats)
          Silk (ferret)
          Fletcher (bird)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0887]