I replied personally to the original poster, but since this conversation is
continuing, I guess I'll add my input here.
 
When considering getting a dog to go with your ferrets, or even just to fit
into your lifestyle, always remember that dog breeds happened for a reason.
Different dog breeds have different jobs in life.  Herding, hunting, vermin
control, retrieving, guarding, fighting, lap warmers, eye candy, etc...
Therefore, it makes perfect sense that different breeds are going to have
vastly different personalities.  Even if they don't perform those functions
as a household pet, that personality is still genetically there.  You want
to take that into consideration when selecting a breed.
 
Yes, ultimately it comes down to the individual dog's personality.  But you
can increase your chances of a good match by researching your breed and
selecting a well-bred dog.  (All rules are thrown out the window with
backyard breeders and puppy mill dogs, where the integrity of the breed is
not maintained, often causing terrible personality and health problems.)
This is especially important with ferrets, for their safety you should
carefully select your breed.
 
For instance, terriers were generally bred to flush vermin out and kill
them.  Maybe not your best choice for a ferret pal.  Not to say it can't be
done, I'm sure there are many terriers who live happily with ferrets, but
if you have the choice it may not be worth the risk.  I would probably
avoid terriers and fighting breeds the most - any breed that was made to
kill, basically.
 
Hunting breeds weren't necessarily made to kill, consider pointers and
retrievers.  Your toy group is mostly just "eye candy".  But, they may be
downsized versions of the larger dogs, or bred to kill.  (Are dachshunds in
the toy group?  Definitely a killing breed - bred to go down burrows and
kill vermin.)
 
I'm not making any recommendations, nor do I know enough about the different
dog breeds to do so.  All I'm saying is that you should do your research
before buying a dog.  Never select a dog just because it's "cute" or cool.
 
A great starting point is just go to the Dogs and Dog Breeds sections of
Yahoo:
http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Zoology/Animals__Insects__and_Pets/
Mammals/Dogs/
http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Zoology/Animals__Insects__and_Pets/
Mammals/Dogs/Breeds/
 
Find the groups for the breed of dog you are interested in, and ask THEM.
They know their breed better we do.  Call the national/regional groups to
ask questions and for breeder/rescue references in your area.  Then, call
the breeders.  If they are a good breeder, they will be more than happy to
answer your questions.  If they don't, they aren't a good breeder.  Your
local Kennel club can refer you to breeders, too.
 
What did we decide on?  We have two Pembroke Welsh Corgis, plus we have one
that we are fostering.  Because of the ferrets, we focused on the herding
group.  Corgis were bred to drive livestock.  They have short legs for
cornering ability, and so that when cattle kick back, they don't get
smashed in the head.  They love to bark (makes sense for herding dogs,
eh?).  Tend to be pushy.  (again!)  They are easily trained, and sometimes
too smart for their own good.  Their specialty is driving the stock as
opposed to guarding it, so they don't have the extreme guard dog
personalities that some can get, which might make them leery of strangers.
The breed doesn't have many genetic health problems, and is fairly robust.
They are smallish (20-30 lbs.), but not too small, and they have a big dog
personality.  See how it works?  I'm not saying that PWCs are the dog for
everyone, they aren't.  But the breed's traits are what we were looking
for, and we don't mind the downsides.  (The breed originated in damp,
chilly Wales, they SHED.)  We've been thrilled with our choice, and if you
do your research, hopefully you will have many happy years with your dog of
choice.  And, your ferret will have a new best friend. :)
 
No matter how confident you are with your selection of breed.  Please
remember that all dogs have individual personalities.  Always introduce
your ferret and your puppy carefully, and do not allow them unsupervised
play until you are confident that nothing will happen.
 
Again, we don't need to be inundated with "my terrier/pit bull/dachshund
gets along great with my ferrets" posts.  All dogs are individuals.  All
I'm saying is that on AVERAGE, they may not be the best breed.  That
doesn't mean that with careful introductions and training you can't have a
good match with one individual dog.
 
- Nancy
 
P.S.  A great book to get started is Michelle Lowell's _Your Purebred
Puppy:  A Buyer's Guide_.  It has B/W pictures of all the breeds, and does
a good job of rating their different traits.  (Ease of training, activity
levels, sociability, etc...)  It's very high-level, but may help you narrow
your search if you don't know what you want.  Since I had to look it up to
get the exact name and author, here's the link to it at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805018921/002-0271804-2428063
 
-----
Nancy Stephens
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[Posted in FML issue 2407]