Altho I know this may sound ridiculous to many, (yeah, Karen, were you BORN YESTERDAY????) I would like to make a STATEMENT on talking to your ferrets! DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!!!!!! Not just cooing, whatnot, but actual talking. In a post to me about Morrow it was mentioned to me....and altho I have always talked to ALL of my animals as they were "hooman" (I am a bit strange to my friends that do not hold animals as priceless as I), there are times where I am caught up in what I'm doing (EAT, MORROW, please EAT! - thoughts) For the rest of my days, I will NEVER forget Morrow's face as I held her in front of mine, telling her that she needed to eat to get better, that I loved her so very, very much, that people from all over were concerned about her, and that people were telling her to FIGHT! She stared (ferret attention span leaves alot to be desired at times) for longer then even my hooman daughter listens when interested, intently at my face, my lips moving, for the entire time I was talking. I will swear to anyone that counters, that Morrow was totally aware of what I was saying. There was recognition in her eyes..... and Steve, >Can anyone offer advice on socializing ferrets and puppies? In particular, >I have a german shepherd puppy that I'd like to try and get to play nice >with the two ferts. I have a yellow lab, a deer tick hound a mini italian greyhound and a mini doxie. The mini grey and doxie were both introduced to fuzzies who were here first. To say the least, the mini greyhound believes he's a fert and when he first came home I was horrified to see the way he played with them. Constantly following them around with a newspaper if things got too rough in my opinion, swat~! Only to be reprimanded by the ferts who were having an absolute blast! Supervision, at first, is the key, without a doubt! My suggestion would be to actually sit down in the room and watch, unless of course your pup means business and is growling, obviously upset and is after a "kill". Make sure that he can *smell* their cages, surroundings, etc., so he can incorporate them as just a part of "the house" and to take into account that they belong there as well as he. Lots of attention too, to him, to avoid jealousy. >I'd like to have them all able to play together nicely, My two "biggies" do not play with the ferts at all....only the pups and to "hoomans" they do not look like they are playing nice! Big dogs come in, lay down and let the ferts run all over their bodies...unless of course, one fuzzie decides to nip. Then, they are "told" about it, get the message and move on. > I'm hoping that as the pup ages, he'll start to calm down a bit and won't >nip at the ferts The question is, is he nipping for play or nipping to hurt? Dogs *do* hold their bites when they are playing... Good luck! Karen & the ever loving 6 [Posted in FML issue 2025]