I really enjoyed this article Renee sent, partly because it was written
in the perspective of a non-pet person

> <http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-08-23/news/ferret-love/full>

what I am wondering now is how many people on the list have a close
relationship with a non-pet person. what do they think about your
ferrets? are they a closet ferret lover? if so, how do you get them
to "come out"?

for myself, my boyfriend claims to be a dog person, but while the
ferrets are around, he doesn't want more pets, while I would love to
get a dog and have it make friends with my ferrets. I think my bf is a
closet ferret lover, because I see him playing with them when he thinks
I'm not watching (and sometimes when I'm watching, to get brownie
points with me). he does dumb things, like use his hands with my
not-so-gentle kids (he also did this recently with a kitten). doesn't
seem to understand the ferrets shouldn't think of his hands as toys (or
him, which they do). whenver I ask him if he like ferrets, he'll say
they poop all over the floor, they bite, they are destructive, they
cost a lot... but recently I got him to admit if you take away all
that, they are kind of fun..

concessions I have to make with him:
- only 6 ferrets max. or I can trade 2 ferrets "credits" for a skunk,
  3 ferret "credits" for a pig. don't have enough credits for an otter
  or a wolverine
- no more adopting the unadoptable "bite" cases from the local shelter.
  Jolt and Cola are much better than they are
- my bitey little girls get locked up when we sleep
- when I go away (and he doesn't), my ferret sitter takes care of them
- no taking ferrets on road trips with us

sacrifices he had made that I really appreciate:
- bedroom is ferret room (other rooms were too small/inappropriate)
- cutting short a vacation to montreal because a ferret was sick
  when we got there (went straight to the emergency, and drove
  straight to our local vet hospital 6 hours away after napping for
  4-5 hours)

he also knows he'll be ditched before I'll ditched the ferrets.  he recently
compared dating a ferret owner (who doesn't smoke) as being better than
dating a smoker...

will anyone else share their experiences?

on a different note... anybody here fans of Irene Pepperberg? anyone
tried the model rival training technique for their kids? I'm trying to
use it in my latest litter training attempt. whoever goes in the box
gets a treat, and I'm going to try and make sure other ferrets are
watching, despite it being easier to give a treat when there's not
multiple ferrets fighting for it.

 <http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=Irene+Pepperberg+model+rival&btnG=Search&meta=>

Selina, Clef, Popcorn, Sorin, Mochi, Jolt & Cola

[Posted in FML 5709]