Howdy & dooks.
 
Well, it's happening again.  This time it's breeding practices and there
seem to be a lot of people out there with their noses bent out of shape
(perhaps rightly, perhaps not).  People use this list to socialize and
to learn; we are all doing both with every digest.  If you want to express
an opinion which is different from someone else's -- or want to respond
to a post from someone who is not using best practices in caring for
their ferts (remember: they, in hopefully all cases, do care about their
ferts) -- please do so politely.  If a person feels attacked by a response
to their post, they will most likely dismiss it and not learn from it...
they may respond forcefully (turning the heat up a notch)... and,
eventually, may leave the FML and not have this VERY valuable resource at
their disposal (which can only lead to ferts receiving sub-standard care).
 
Some guidelines that I have learned over the years:
 
1) Be very careful about using CAPITALS, _underlines_, or *any*
punctuation which adds emphasis to a word.  Not to say don't use them,
but carefully analyze their context in the sentence: is it positive or
negative?  Try to emphasize the positive... not the negative.
 
2) Avoid asking questions, especially "why" questions unless it is as a
true request for information, not rhetorial.
 
3) Re-read your post several times before sending it to make sure that it
is as clear and accurate as possible; people may misinterpret your intent
otherwise.  Squabbles have broken out on this list due to semantics
before.
 
I'm not going to address breeding ferrets, but take these two (ficticious)
posts about disciplining a biting ferret (any resemblance to actual posts
is purely coincidental) and decide which you would rather read:
 
 (A) "I feel that to thump a ferret on the nose merely serves to break down
 the trust between the ferret and the owner and could actually lead to
 increased biting out of a fear response.  It is possible that the ferret
 may stop biting you, but that does not mean that the behavior change will
 transfer to other people."
 
   OR. . .
 
 (B) "I would NEVER hit my ferret for biting.  WHY would anyone think that
 hurting an animal would make it stop biting?... GET REAL, like your ferret
 is ever going to trust you NOW!"
 
The answer I would give to post (B): people have learned through the
discipline they received as a child that corporal punishment is an
acceptable form of discipline.  Also, much of the expert advice that
you will receive from the "experts" will include punishment -- often
corporal -- as a strategy because little academic research has been done
to support positive methods of behavior modification.  Punishment also
fulfills an emotional need of the person doing the punishing; this can
amplify the psychological justification for punishment.  Last, punishment
is easy; it can take years of positive intervention to achieve results.
 
I do not endorse punishment, but remember that people have reasons.  They
have opinions.  They will, in some cases, be different from your own.  But
you will never be able to effectively change someone's mind without facts
to back up your position... and the ability present them in a respectful
manner.
 
Andy, Cody, Lily, Tripod Bob, (& waiting not-so-patiently to take in
Oscar & Witzy)
[Posted in FML issue 3111]