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]