Gail- We've had a fair bit of success training one of our ferrets, Grendel, to walk on a leash. He won't heel, but he does go in a (more or less--perhaps straight by any ferret's definition) straight line and will go where we want him to go too. We did two things to get him used to the idea of taking walks. First, we took him outside and down town alot while we were holding him. This made it so "outside" wasn't so big and scary. Second, we let him run around the house with his harness on. This got him used to the idea that we weren't trying to strangle him when we put it on him. The leash training bit was a mixture of technique. We started by letting him walk wherever he wanted to go while he was on the leash. Then, when we tired of walking through bushes and crawling around underneath cars and garbage bins, we started encouraging him to walk towards my boyfriend while I held the leash. This worked some, but I think it was a combination of coaxing and me dragging him along behind that worked. We were very persistent about getting him to do it. He "walked" some after about an hour and the next day he was much better. We did this daily for about a month. We've never giving walking Grendel a second thought since. We can get his harness and leash (now a retractable one--A good idea, since ferrets tend to "walk" in spurts, stopping to smell, racing ahead) out now, put it on him and he'll run to the door. He still walks best on paths (I think he uses the edge of the concrete as a guide for "straight"). We also have three that don't walk. We have lived in a FFZ all their lives (Grendel lived in WA for a year). We just haven't given Gilbert the time needed to learn to walk and Miss Lily is absolutely terrified of OUTSIDE. We haven't had the time or the opportunity to try Boomer out. Also, not to discourage you, but just to let you know, Seldon, a friend's ferret, started going for walks with Grendel about a month after we started walking Grendel. Seldon has never learned to walk as well as Grendel, needs lots of encouragement, and won't go very far. Seldon's playmate Dors walks just like Grendel though and so now Seldon rides on a shoulder and Dors walks. It seems like some ferrets aren't as game as others. Best of luck with the walking. Grendel, Gilbert, Miss Lily and Boomer and their owners [Posted in FML issue 0718]