>Northern or Arctic breeds - also not a good bet.  I don't know why but for
>every 1 bad story I've heard about X breed or mix I've heard 5 that involve
>Huskies (and dead ferrets).  So Huskies, Samoyed's, Malamutes - I'd think
>more than twice.
 
It's simple.  Sled dogs were bred to hunt their own food, and, in most
arctic regions, it does't pay to be too picky--you eat aything that moves.
So huskies will kill anything and eat it--their hunting instinct makes
them seem almost catlike.
 
Working breeds seem to be the absolute best dogs to have with ferrets,
probably because the hunting instinct has been neglected and they've been
bred for intelligence and obedience.  Rottweilers seem to be universally
amazing.  They were ratters, but that was a long time ago; for a long
time after that, they hauled carts around.  Very solid breed.  Boxers are
usually great as well despite having been ratters at some point.  Newfies
are wonderful.  I assume St. Bernards would be too.
 
We've had very good luck with herding breeds.  Aussie Shepherds in
particular are very playful and ferretlike but don't usually mouth the
ferret at all--they like to chase and be chased, which most ferrets think
is a great game.
 
Every retriever I've ever met has loved the ferrets and been very gentle.
We had a beagle live with us for a while and he loved the ferrets.  There
are other miscellaneous breeds out there as well: Shih Tzus don't usually
have a mean bone in their bodies and they're not much bigger than ferrets
anyway.
 
And don't forget the miracle of shelter dogs and crossbreeds.  A good
portion of the time, crossbreeds are actually significantly less
high-strung than the pure breeds they're descended from.
 
Can you tell I have a ferret that loves dogs?  She introduces herself to
them quite often.
 
Re: collars--we have collar/harness sets for all our kids; we got the ones
from the Ferret Store that are called 5 in 1 because the collar and harness
separate and have a matching leash.  They're nice, if a bit pricey.  They
have plastic clips instead of velcro and they're actually ferret-sized.
Half the harnesses out there seem to be made for VERY BIG ferrets, or maybe
small cats, whatever they say on the tag. :-)  Anyway, our crew doesn't
wear the collars often at all, usually just for cosmetic purposes if
someone's coming over.  They always wear the whole harness if they're
going outside anyway, even if they're going to be in a carrier.  Sometimes
the harness stays on around the house for a while, but not too often.  It
doesn't do much good around the house anyway; when we need to find our
ferrets, they're asleep somewhere.  When they're not asleep, finding them
is very, very easy--we just follow the suspicious noises.  If something is
making scraping, dragging, falling, breaking, or spilling noises, it's
probably not the cats.
 
Lisette--I loved your story about your Little deaf guy.  My friend's ferret
is deaf and it was most of a year before we realized he wasn't just
unintelligent. :-)
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
plus two adorable young (baby!) rescues, Leopold and Gwen
and the evil geriatric girls who take apart the house, Sam and Taz
and, of course, the abused and slowly recovering Sadie and Ivory.
[Posted in FML issue 3000]