When kits are born their ears and eyes are closed. They can't hear themselves crying but everyone else sure can! Many years ago when I bred a few litters, my poor shepherd used to pace along the cage because he was so worried about the babies. The only time they were quiet was when they were sleeping it seemed, or when Shylow was allowed to lick them. Imagine a 95# shepherd licking something so tiny! One lick did it, and he had to lick each one before he was assured they were fine, for a little while anyway. Them Prissy (momma ferret) had to clean the dog cootoes off them when they were put back in the cage. As for raising ferrets with dogs, the younger the puppy the better in my opinion. I prefer large dogs but with the ferrets I knew a smaller dog would work better for us since the ferrets have free roam of the house. With toddler puppies like Serena, they often think they are a ferret, but still with some dog tendencies. It took several months before I felt comfortable letting Serena run the house when I was gone. I felt so bad leaving her in the plexiglassed off bathroom when I left for work, but until I was convinced she wouldn't hurt the ferrets that is where she stayed. Her brother who has ferret siblings but that don't run the house, is leery of the ferrets and will snap at them if they come too close. That behavior isn't allowed in our home so when he visits we are all on watch with him. With older and larger puppies it's necessary to keep a very watchful eye on them. A larger puppy could easily hurt a tiny ferret during play. When I had larger dogs I made sure they knew the ferrets were alpha and there was no allowance of misbehaving with them, no matter what the ferret did. My ferrets were caged at that time, very early on in my ferret care days and it was safer for them to be caged when I wasn't supervising. Dogs tend to snap quickly when startled and I was quick to reprimand them no matter what the reason even if they didn't mean to hurt anyone. Any dog with a higher prey drive would need close supervision. It only takes a second to let your guard down and something happen. One think I'd recommend is not allow tugging playing with the dog. Often dogs will tug and shake toys, if that was a ferret.... Serena never played/plays tug with me, it is a game not allowed. Always remember that dogs don't understand size differences and they will always be dogs. This morning Serena wouldn't come inside so I went to see what she was doing. A fledgling bird had somehow gotten into one of the wire cages behind the shed and couldn't get out. Serena wouldn't leave the area till I fixed the problem. Apparently she thinks she has pointer in her too (along with Rottie/Beagle/Bloodhound - only thinks she is - she is really a lhasa mix). The poor fledgling had feathers worn off above his beak from trying to go out through the wire. I'm guessing he got in through the bottom then went up the ramp to the top level and couldn't figure out how to get out. It took some doing but finally I got him back down the ramp and lifted the bottomless cage for him to escape. As soon as he was out he went through the fence and off to freedom. Even though Serena was clearly concerned, I would not trust her with a fledgling. They are much too fragile and she is much too rambunctious. Even though I trust her with the ferrets to be around, I watch her closely when she tries to play with them and any roughness is quickly corrected. She is too big and too heavy to trust her completely even in play. tle www.ferretfamilyservices.org pictures there of our home if anyone wants to look-see. [Posted in FML 6685]