I posted a few days back about my new, now 8 week old female kit.  Thanks to
those that responded with info about contacts in my area.  We're connected
to the local ferret scene now I think.
 
I've named her "Kes", partially in honor of the Star Trek Voyager character.
It was kind of funny since I had been trying for days to think of a name
and then while looking at her sleeping on my lap it occurred to me that her
ears reminded my slightly of Kes'.  And I liked that character anyway...
 
You might also remember that I have a Belgian Sheepdog.  These are
typically pretty high-energy dogs and Tika is no exception.  I didn't
ask for advice on introducing them b/c I have a fair bit of experience
with dog training and with my dog in particular.  ;>
 
Background: Tika grew up with an Abysinnian and they used to play together
quite well.  But that was when she was under a year and she's 3 now, so I
doubted she would remember.  The other thing is that although she's
high-energy, she's very focused on me and we've done quite a bit of
obedience training and some herding.  So she's got a bit of a clue about
listening to me.  She's also got one of the best temperaments I've seen in
a Belgian, at least WRT aggressiveness.  (She's a bit too people friendly
for the breed standard but it suits my lifestyle.)
 
Getting back to the story....
 
So here we have one defenseless kit, one first time ferret owner, and one
dog that is frantic to check out the kit.  I let them sniff noses through
various barriers for the first day.  Dog learns that ferrets have teeth.
(I _knew_ that Tika would have to get bitten on the nose at least once.  ;>
Kes exhibits almost no fear of the dog.  (My boyfriend had warned me that
ferrets were pretty fearless - perhaps too much so for their own good.)
 
Second day I allow the dog and ferret to be on the ground at the same time
with no barriers except myself.  Dog _really_ wants to get to ferret.  We
allow some face to face sniffing with both animals being held.  From Tika's
reactions I pretty much decide that this is going to take months, mainly
because I can't take a chance on even one bite b/c the ferret is so small,
and because Tika seems so keyed up.  Even though I didn't think she would
hurt Kes, I couldn't be sure.  Depressed owner.
 
Third day.  Owner gets bright idea.  I made a soft muzzle for Tika (who has
_never_ been muzzled before) which means that she's slightly distracted AND
more importantly, I'm not so tense, so she relaxes.  Breakthough.  I just
let the two of them interact.  I loosen and eventually remove the muzzle
when I'm sure she won't bite without provocation.  No problems.  I order
the dog on a down stay and the ferret proceeds to pounce on her.  She deals
and I keep Kes from chewing on her too much.
 
All of a sudden a light goes on in Tika's head.  "Puppy!" It's hard to
explain this unless you're pretty familiar with dog body language, but Kes
suddenly fell into an understood class.  Tika relaxed, rolled slightly and
put her head lower - all the things she does so that a small puppy can play
on her.  (She's very good with pups.) I couldn't believe it.  I watched
with growing amazement as Tika would pull back her nose to avoid direct
scores by ferret teeth, but lower her head so that Kes could pounce on her
ruff and even ears.  When Kes would start to lose interest, Tika would give
her a playful shove with her nose.  Even when the ferret was hanging from a
baby-grip on her cheek, Tika was gentle with lowering her down and waiting
for her to let go.  (Other than direct eye or nose bites, I was not too
worried because Kes is still pretty small and doesn't choose to bite very
hard most of the time.)
 
Kes also liked chewing on Tika's feet - which can be quite sensitive
between the pads, but she would just nudge her away or pull her foot back
if it bothered her.  (At one point she had both feet tucked under her
so Kes would leave them alone.)  Meanwhile Kes is having the time of her
life.  She finds that she can crawl under Tika's chest from the front,
and then out under one of her forelegs on the side.  Or crawl from one side
to another under her belly by her back legs.  (Occasionally when she stops
underneath Tika in the middle, Tika will sit up to see what's going on.)
 
The last couple of days I have allowed them more freedom to chase one
another a little with the ferret pouncing out at the dog from under the
couch.  They will run around one of the chairs, with Kes usually winning
because Tika forgets that she can just run under her.  Occasionally when
Kes is under the couch and won't come out, Tika will lie down and be
fairly still and quiet while Kes comes back out and crawls on her.  After
a bit of that Tika will get up and one of them will instigate some more
chase.  ;>
 
DON'T BE ALARMED.  I am not going to let them be unsupervised together
AT ALL.  But I can sit in my chair now instead of hovering by the dog's
shoulder and watch as they play.  Kes usually heads for the dog as soon
as I let her out of her cage and the dog into the area.  I think they
are going to be great friends.
 
Although this is a ferret list, I just wanted to say that I'm very proud
of Tika.  I expected a lot of her as the "big sister" and she seems to
be taking it in stride.  They'll both have to adjust their play as Kes
gets bigger and perhaps starts to bite harder when they play excitedly,
but I think that together we'll get it worked out.
 
(In fact, I'm a tiny bit jealous of how well they get along.  I want Kes
to bond to me too!  ;>  Actually, she seems to be, I'm just being silly.)
 
Safe fun and frolicing to all the furries...
 
.Terri
Kes & Tika
[Posted in FML issue 1320]