The guy whose ferrets were lost to something-or-other doesn't come into
contact with the fuzzies at work; we quarantine pretty carefully.  Usually,
the only diseases we see are fish with fin rot or the occasional case of a
hamster with wet tail, but the rules are fairly strict...
 
I wanted to add a note of encouragement to the discussion of the puppy and
ferret situation.  My friend Melissa has a slew of ferrets (actually only
four), as well as a dog and a couple of cats.  My fuzzies go over and play
quite a bit, too, so her dog has 10 ferret friends.  Granted, he's a
beagle, not a huge animal, but he really loves the ferrets.  My Tesseract
is his favorite--he'll chase her all over the house, and she'll chase him
back, nipping at his toes.  He would never hurt one of them, even by
accident--he doesn't mouth them at all, and is careful of where he steps.
I think, since you're teaching Merlin ferret manners starting in puppyhood,
by the time he's the huge beautiful fella he's going to be, he'll be
sleeping with them at night.  :-)
 
Remember what we fert folks like to tell other people?  Baby ferrets are
nippy, just like baby dogs.  Both need affectionate handling and consistent
training.  It sounds like what you're doing is just about perfect--let your
baby dog know it's okay to play with the ferrets, but not to chew on them
at all.
 
You should have seen me with my cats and ferrets--when I brought home my
first kit, and my half-grown Maine Coon adopted her, I was actually kind of
terrified.  It looked like they were being so rough!  Now, though, I know
that Zephyr (the cat) is an absolutely wonderful surrogate ferret.  A
silver mitt, even!  Later I brought home Amadeo, only a baby, at the same
time as I was helping a cat raise four-week-old kittens.  The little
cinnamon climbed into the box with the kittens, snuggled down, and screamed
bloody murder if I tried to take him out of there.  For three days I hardly
saw him, and he never did anything to hurt the kittens.  The mother cat
seemed to accept him--cleaned him like her own, and even nursed him once
or twice...
 
Anyway, all this is just my way of saying that ferrets can coexist
peacefully with just about anything they don't want to eat.  Sometimes it
just takes a little work.  Good luck!
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
[Posted in FML issue 2665]