Hey There,
 
Got a couple of emails tonight from folks having some problems with getting
nailed hard.  Brought a couple of things to mind.  Or what is left of my
mind after dealing with Mizzou again today.
 
I will use Miss Natasha as an example, since one is dealing with the same
thing I am going through with her.
 
Miss Natasha came here as a very bad biter. She has once bitten me too the
finger bone and has drawn blood several times. All due to fear and over
stimulation. With work, time and cuddles, she is not a fear biter anymore.
 
However, we have moved onto the stage of "I bite to get what I want." That
is, she bites if I pick her up when she doesn't want to be held.  She bites
to get me to pick her up, and she bites if I scold her for biting in the
first place.
 
The last is kinda funny, on several levels.  First, if she nips me hard to
be picked up and I scruff her and scold her and then put her down, she will
sometimes run up to my feet, nip me and run off.  Not scared mind you, but
to get in the last word.  She doesn't hide when she does this, she just
leaves the area.  Being the blabbermouth I am, I hate letting her get the
last word so it can lead to some rather comical exchanges.
 
Like Maggie dancing around to make sure her feet aren't available to nip,
while Natasha is circling like jaws on a mission.  All the while I am saying
"No, Natasha, No!" At times I will run down the hall and jump onto my bed,
since she can't get up there.  Yes, she follows.  But it keeps her from
nipping, keeps me from scolding her and breaks the cycle.  And yes, slowly
but surely I am beginning to turn it into a game of chase, rather than a
game of not bite.  So now she sometimes asks to chase.
 
Now, if she does nip me for whatever reason, I will often pick her up as I
described before, my thumbs under the front legs and index fingers around
the head.  I will use a tap on the nose to make a point.  Let me be clear
as I can about what I mean as a tap.  Probably the same or less pressure
that one using to drum fingers on a table top.  It really is just to
accentuate what I am saying.  It is not a thump.  It is not a flick.  The
ferrets never flinch, they just know I am very serious when I do this.  I
will scruff and I will also do time outs.
 
Yes, even with a fear biter such as Natasha.  AFTER, REPEAT AFTER, I know
the fear is gone and the biting is for other reasons.  Fear biters still
need to be socialized after the trust is earned.  They still need to be
taught proper ways of asking and proper outlets for their anger.  If I have
any doubts about fear being present, I don't use the tap.
 
Some folks will bite the ferret when it nips.  You have to bite pretty hard
for it to make an impression.  Tough little buggers.  Some folks hiss (I
haven't had any luck with this, and it makes Miss Stella mad, she is after
all, queen).  You have to figure out what your ferrets will respond to.
Kinda like when a Mom uses your whole name to call you.  (you know, Margaret
Marie Merchant get over here this instant!) No one ever questions that.  ;-)
 
In fact, using their names is a very important part of making them
understand you.  They learn their names and will often respond much better
to a command preceeded by their name than just the command alone.  Yes, I
truly believe my ferrets know their names and not just the sounds or
rythyms.  I have too many names that end alike and when I use a name, I get
one ferret to look, not half a dozen.
 
So you have to earn trust, then you have to establish the pecking order.  It
may seem mean to some, but if my animals understand that when I say no in a
certain way I mean no, it can save their lives.  My dogs were always taught
and obeyed the command drop.  I could be 20 feet away and get them to drop
stuff they got into.  Ferrets aren't going to obey at this level certainly,
but you need as much of this as you can get.  And you get that by love and
understand, firm, but in a relationship of trust.  You don't get it by force
alone.  Or fear.
 
Margaret in Mid Mo
[Posted in FML issue 2399]