Hi,
I am responding to the post about Chows and ferrets.  I have a
chow/shepherd mix.  She is a sweet loving dog too but she is 65 lbs of
dog.  When she has been allowed near the ferrets, which is rare, it is
one ferret at a time and I am standing guard.  I don't think she wants to
hurt the ferret but she really, really wants to play and it would only
take one paw to do in the ferret, or a nose for that matter because she
tends to want to nose them too and she has a strong head and neck so the
nose can be bad as well.  I keep the ferrets gated to the upstairs of my
home and the dog is downstairs.  I do not let them coexist.  This dog has
killed 2 oppossums in the back yard which is her domain.  I don't want
any of my ferrets to be her next play thing.  So, for me, gating them
away from each other is the only solution.  Of note, I had a Sheltie
previously and he got along with the ferrets ok, he basically didn't pay
any attention to them and he certainly never tried to play with or hurt
them.
 
Ann
[Posted in FML issue 4594]