Okay, I'm short on sleep so I am also sending this to Bill in case he wants
me to touch it up since I don't trust my own judgement right now.
 
Too worked up from this morning (and too happy from Meltdown actually
fighting her 10 a.m.  meds) to nap so I decided to read the FML.  Makes me
think that when Meltdown does go maybe instead of looking for a handicapped
young one we should instead find one or more with biting problems to take in.
 
Let me say it one more time (This is the part where I might become nasty, I
expect):  NEVER THINK THAT VIOLENCE WILL STOP BITING BITING, and USE FERRET
BODY LANGUAGE AND VOCALIZATIONS (NOT HUMAN ONES) with a hard case.
 
Q:  When should an individual be expected to be more likely to be hard to
train?
 
A:
1. When it has suffered abuse in it's past.
2. When it is actually of fur fitch stock  (but, yes, they can be tamed,
   too.)
3. When it suffers from a handicap(s).
   Examples: deafness (more common among blazes, pandas, and all-white
   strains), blindness, retardation (extremely rare -- we have heard
   of only two or three true cases other than our late Ruffie)
4. When it is in pain.
 
What should you do with such a ferret?
 
First of all do your damnest to NEVER use violence (though it does happen
some times that a bite will startle or just hurt so bad that you can't help
having a normal reflex action -- after all, we are animals, too).  DO NOT
flick, choke, hit, or so on.
 
Instead you want to teach the animal to TRUST you implicitly.  That means
that you WILL get a cage or have an enclosed ferret area (such as an unused
and ferret-proofed bathroom), and when you can not supervise the animal it
will be in the cage which it will come to recognize as a secure place (They
ARE denning animals) where it can unwind.  Whenever the ferret bites you
will scruff it (if it is not one which has an especially hard time with
scruffing) and you may drag it for a short while on it's back (that way the
claws won't get caught in anything and hurt, plus you have placed it into a
surrender position but not done anything worse than showing that you are
boss), you may hiss at it, but you will ALWAYS put it in the cage for a
while for time out.  Some people use VERY GENTLE shaking; I have impaired
and on and off again sensory nerves to my upper limbs so I NEVER even try
that -- also I am just too familiar with how a brain floats, that there are
some thin attachments there, that the underside of it's cavity is a lot
rougher than one would expect in many animals, that it bounces around too
hard with some trauma, and how soft it is unpreserved.
 
If the ferret is fast and hard to catch then interact with it in an area
which is small and does not have hidey holes so that not being able to catch
it will not impede the training.
 
Be consistent and be patient.
 
Look for clues in the ferret's behavior which will guide you in it's
training.  (Pretend that you are a field biolist unwinding the behavioral
code of a novel species if that helps.) What will you learn to change?  Many
things, probably.  For instance if it is deaf or blind you will have to be
very careful to never startle it.  If it is deaf or partly deaf you will
also need to use tricks such as floor banging to get attention and later you
can devise easy hand signals.
 
If it is in pain then do what you can for the pain -- get a vet's
appointment and have it checked out (something which should be done ALWAYS
with a new animal or with anything puzzling, anyway), look for shed
deciduous teeth which have become stuck between the erupting permanent teeth
so the ferret keeps trying to "teethe" them out, check for tight muscles,
ear infections, injured areas (such as previously broken tails) or sore
joints which might respond well to daily massage, and so on.
 
The hardest ferret we ever had to teach to not bite was Ruffle and she also
bit the worst -- frustration bites, so she'd canine bite in series.  She was
multiply handicapped, in pain, and retarded so our shins especially were a
constant mass of bites and bruises for three years.  Then one day she
figured out that the words we said meant something.  (We have a REALLY
restricted form of baby talk we use with them, and for her it was even more
restricted.  Record yourself for a long time and notice how MANY words you
use and how many complicated sentence structures.  Also make note if your
intonation does not fit your words --this is ESPECIALLY important for those
with slight hearing or little word experience since your words may say
"no-no" but your intonation might say "Oh, cutesy, cutesy, cutesy you, high
pitched subordinate here".) Ruffie never bit again once she caught on that
we'd say things and allow her choices (around here thing like nose bumps
mean "yes"), even when her health was failing and she was in such a rough
way.  She was harder than any battered, neglected, deaf, whatever ferret we
ever had, but she also later became the most gentle and kindest soul you'd
ever want to meet.  She was just very confused and frustrated for her first
few years so she acted out then.  You know, once she learned she'd even give
HERSELF times-out whenever she felt herself getting too excited.  She would
move away a bit and lie down with her back to everyone till she was calm
again.
 
Yes it takes a lot of time, and patience, and sometimes you will have to
give yourself times-out, too.  If you can't manage it then find someone who
can.  Also, remember that sometimes there can be a personality clash and
certain individuals just may not be suited to you.  Find them someone who
will love them, too.  Even when you get along just fine someone else may be
better for a given ferret.  We got Harley over his fears and he trusted us
and liked us, but when he met our friend Judy (who also knows what she is
doing with animals which have been abused) the two fell COMPLETELY in love.
Yes, we miss him, but he's were he's happiest and that's what counts.
 
Maybe this will help a ferret out there.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1824]