Rob -
 
I agree with Wendy that a major fear with a puppy is that they'll accidentally
step on the ferrets.... even if your puppy is very good with them, and never
shows any malice, you still have to be very careful when they're together.  Of
course, our puppy is a *lot* bigger than a cocker spaniel (a Scottish Deerhound
- currently 7 months and 70-75 lbs!), but I think this would be a concern with
anything other than some of the tiny toys.  Puppies are just so clumsy, and in
general they are not used to being around creatures smaller than them.  You
also need to be careful with the ferrets hurting the puppy - from what I've
heard, ours isn't the only ferret to try and convince the puppy he's bigger
than he looks by biting the pup on the nose....   And while there's a limit to
the damage a ferret can do, the puppy might quickly decide that ferrets are
nasty things that deserve to be bitten in retaliation.  You have to make sure
you discipline the ferrets for being aggressive towards the dog just as you
discipline the puppy for anything remotely aggressive towards the ferrets.
        What we did first off (and are still doing), is disciplining the puppy
for anything open-mouthed - she's allowed to (gently!) nudge the ferrets with
her nose, but the minute she tries to open her mouth at them she gets yelled
at.  One of our ferrets (Shadow) is still scared of Gruagach (pronounced
"groogy"), to the point of refusing to play in the same room the dog is (if the
dog is awake).  We've put up a little childgate to one of their favorite rooms
to give them some space - the ferrets can climb over the gate, but the dog
won't, so the ferrets know they can always go into that room if the puppy keeps
following them through the rest of the house and they're fed up.  Our other
ferret (Fezzik) likes being where the dog is, but keeps trying to prove
dominance by biting;  we reprimand him whenever he does so (we usually scruff
him;  if we yell, he ignores us and the dog thinks we're yelling at her: she's
pretty insecure that way), and he's getting better about not biting (Fezzik,
that is), but its still a problem.
 
Hope this helps...
 
Rochelle (and Gruagach, puppy, Fezzik & Shadow, ferrets, and Sicard, iguana).
 
[Posted in FML issue 0888]