To the person with the choclate lab and others with dogs and ferrets.  I
know you are all very careful with the two and monitor them closely.  I have
been thinking of getting a dog for quite some time.  Last week I mentioned
it to my vet and he told me they had had 3-4 ferrets killed by dogs in the
last 3 months.  In the 2 cases he himself treated (or in one case the ferret
died in the driveway on the way to the vet) he said the owners were
responsible owners and the dogs and ferrets had tolerated each other well up
until the point the dog just sort of "snapped" and grabbed and shook the
ferret.  I would imagine that even if you were standing right there you
wouldn't be fast enough to stop it, just rush the ferret to the vet.
However a dog can do great harm without even trying.  So Please Please be
very careful.
 
Mary who's still thinking about a dog, but starting to lean more toward a
cat:)
 
P.S.  One of the things I have been doing is researching breeds with
low-prey drives.  So far the herding group seems good.  Collies, Shelties,
Bearded Collies have good reputations for being relatively easy going and
good in multi animal households.
[Posted in FML issue 1827]