Cathy wrote:
>Here is my problem.  I have two ferrets.  Everyone is telling me that
>Beagle's are hunting dogs and he will kill my fuzzies.  I have not let
>out of cage yet because of the puppy.  They need to come out they are
>used to running free durning the day.  I'm scared he is going to hurt
>them.  I believe that if he grows up with them he will not hurt them.
>Am I right?
 
Cathy,
 
A young puppy, regardless of the breed, can be taught that the ferrets
are members of the family and that he has to respect them as such.  As
part of the rest of your puppy's training, introduce the ferrets to him
soon, with careful supervision.  Continuously remind him to be gentle,
and eventually he will learn.  The puppy will just want to play with
them at his age, but he needs to be taught to be gentle with them.  The
ferrets may want to bite his ears and nose and dig in his fur.  In fact,
it will be easier to train the puppy to play gently with the ferrets
than the other way around, LOL!
 
Are you crate-training the puppy?  I highly recommend that as part of a
good training program, and then you can let your ferrets run free while
the puppy is in his crate.  Just be sure that the ferrets can't squeeze
through the bars and get into the crate with the puppy.
 
I also have a hound, a 95 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback.  He grew up with six
ferrets, which he was introduced to at the age of two months.  He is now
five years old, and I trust him completely with the ferrets.  I really
believe that he loves them.  It took time, of course, about two years,
before he was mature enough that I trusted him to be careful enough not
to step on them, etc.  Rhodesian Ridgebacks were bred to hunt lions and
are tenacious hunters of all sorts of game.  So I had to laugh the other
day when I scolded Farina, my 1.5 lb.  ferret "huntress" for biting my
95 lb. lion-hunter dog!
 
Every dog is an individual, of course, and they will have varying degrees
of common sense as well as tolerance for ferret antics (like attaching
their teeth to a passing ear and going for a ride).  So you'll just have
to carefully supervise the ferret-dog interactions and see how their
relationship develops.  Most likely it will work out just fine.
 
Nancy and critters
[Posted in FML issue 4597]