Dear Leslie-

I am sorry to say that I am the poster child for "Never, ever leave
them alone together unsupervised." But I think I have learned some
important things from it that might be of use to you, and I am past
the point at which having a few more nasty names thrown my way will
draw blood. Been there. Done that.

I lost a ferret to a dog when my landlord decided that she didn't
really need to keep a connecting door closed between my apartment
and hers. She just wasn't paying attention, she meant well. Her dog
didn't.There is a lesson there. Don't *trust* people to keep your
ferrets safe from a dog. Make whatever arrangements are necessary to
keep them apart *yourself*. See that it is done right, don't assume
that it will be done right in your absence. You are your ferrets
advocate.

Remember that your dog can't necessarily tell you when she isn't
feeling well. My dog Allis Chompers lived with ferrets for eleven years
without ever hurting one. I had a sense that she wasn't feeling quite
right, and made a vet appointment for her. Before she could go to it
my ferret bit her playfully and she, feeling like crap and grumpy, bit
back. My ferret died. Had I been supervising play time carefully I
might have been able to head that off. I wasn't. Many years of my dog
being gentle had lulled me into complacency. Unfortunately, it only
takes once. And it happens fast.

If you are going to have dogs and ferrets out together, remember to
put the dog's food dish up and out of reach. She might get jealous and
angry if a ferret tries eating out of it. The ferret will be interested
in her water dish, too. Does your dog have special toys? Put them up
and out of reach when the ferrets are out. A squirt bottle of water is
a good way to get the message across to a ferret to "leave the danged
dog alone!" They sometimes want to jump on a wagging tail, too.

When I posted to the FML about my dog Allis killing my ferret Ping, I
received an *awful* lot of private messages from people saying that
they had lost a ferret to a dog. I got these messages of loss from
shelter owners, breeders, people you'd think of as being 'ferret
experienced', and not just a schlep like me. I had no idea that it
happens so often! It's kind of a hidden problem because folks tend not
to post to the FML or another board when it happens. Off hand, I can't
think of *anyone* besides myself who has posted to the FML about a dog
attack in years. But privately, I can remember getting more than a
dozen FML member messages about losing a ferret to a dog. Trust me.
Dog attacks are not at all rare. People just don't tell!

Given all this, and that you have *six* ferrets to keep track of during
play time, I might stop and think twice about getting a dog right now.
Do you really *need* one for home protection? You will feel really,
really bad for the rest of your days if you lose one of your fuzzies
to someone you think of as a friend, and as a member of your family.
It will be very hard to convince a puppy to ignore the ferrets.

You ask about dog breeds. I lost one ferret to a Lab, and one to a
short-haired Border Collie. I hear that Terriers are a really bad
choice.

SIncerely-

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6296]