Lisa asked:
>I was wondering a couple of things about dogs and ferrets that I was
>hoping to get some help with:...
 
Hi Lisa,
I recently brought two 8 week old ferret girls into my home.  I have
two mini dachshunds (weiner dogs) and my boyfriend has two cats..I am
allergic to cats, so they have a room all to themselves.
 
Doxies are hunting dogs by nature, so I knew that getting them acquainted
with the ferrets would require strict supervision.
 
My dogs are indoor dogs, except for pee/poo time.  They are 3 and 4 years
old, and 11 and 17 pounds.  I have had the 3 year old since she was a
puppy and the 4 year old since he was about 1.  They both listen to me
for the most part, in case I have to stop them from playing to hard with
the new babies.
 
Most of the literature I've read, and I have read a lot, says you should
really never leave the dogs with the ferrets unattended.  My ferrets have
a special ferret-proof play area when they are not in their cage, and
this area is off limits to the dogs unless I let them enter it.  One dog
can jump over and get to them, but she won't because I've yelled at her
enough times for it.
 
When I want to let them play together I sit with all of them, and watch
VERY closely.  The bigger dog is the one I am more cautious of, only
because he's heavy and when he plays with them he sometimes wants to
lean on them to get them to hold still.
 
The ferrets seem to like playing with the dogs, and vice versa.  They
jump on the dog's backs and bite them and tease them...amazingly the dogs
don't get upset by the bites.  My smaller dog sometimes runs away from
the ferrets when she gets too much nipping from them.  The larger one is
getting better every time he plays with them...sometimes I just hold him
in my lap and let the ferrets sniff him...last night I put the ferrets on
his back and they licked his ears and got along very well.
 
I will probably never leave them alone together, because one accident is
all it takes...the fuzzies are much too small and fragile to take that
chance.
 
The less of a hunting dog you get the better... ferrets are like small
prey...so you have to be careful.
 
Good luck and feel free to ask if you have any other questions!
 
Angela (Minky and Pandora...joker and cleo the weiners)
[Posted in FML issue 3874]