Dear Feereteers,
Stinky, excuse her name, is now nearly four months and I9m still fairly new
at ferrets, but some of the things I read don9t fit with Stinky9s
behaviour.  I am supposed to train Stinky with the lure of treats, but
Stinky does not like treats.  She gets a healthy diet of chicken meat,
chicken hearts, mackerel, ferret pellets and has no interest in the
raisins, fruits, chocolates or cookies that she is supposed to like.
 
Yes she steals stuff from the dining table.  She steals anything she can
lay her claws on, but only in order to dump the stuff somewhere in the
house, without actually eating it.  I always find back everything she
steals.  She just took it for the fun of stealing in general and annoying
my girlfriend specifically.
 
So what am I to use as treats?  Stinky has to learn to come when we call or
whistle her, but I am not going to starve her just so that she can learn
the trick.  Possibly Stinky is terribly spoiled.  We go for many walks and
outings, she gets the best of foods and cuddles all day long.  But what9s
wrong with that?
 
Should I be more severe?  Today Stinky started hissing at me out of
frustration, just because I was not wearing any trousers.  She could not
climb up my bare legs.  Of course I told off the spoiled brat.  Hissing at
me !  Imagine !  However, in general she is very well behaved, very careful
with her nips and has developed many social graces, so punishments are not
the appropriate means of teaching her anything new.  And neither are
treats, so what do I do?
 
Patrick Faas (Amsterdam)
[Posted in FML issue 2873]