Dear Feereteers, Stinky, excuse her name, is now nearly four months and I9m still fairly new at ferrets, but some of the things I read don9t fit with Stinky9s behaviour. I am supposed to train Stinky with the lure of treats, but Stinky does not like treats. She gets a healthy diet of chicken meat, chicken hearts, mackerel, ferret pellets and has no interest in the raisins, fruits, chocolates or cookies that she is supposed to like. Yes she steals stuff from the dining table. She steals anything she can lay her claws on, but only in order to dump the stuff somewhere in the house, without actually eating it. I always find back everything she steals. She just took it for the fun of stealing in general and annoying my girlfriend specifically. So what am I to use as treats? Stinky has to learn to come when we call or whistle her, but I am not going to starve her just so that she can learn the trick. Possibly Stinky is terribly spoiled. We go for many walks and outings, she gets the best of foods and cuddles all day long. But what9s wrong with that? Should I be more severe? Today Stinky started hissing at me out of frustration, just because I was not wearing any trousers. She could not climb up my bare legs. Of course I told off the spoiled brat. Hissing at me ! Imagine ! However, in general she is very well behaved, very careful with her nips and has developed many social graces, so punishments are not the appropriate means of teaching her anything new. And neither are treats, so what do I do? Patrick Faas (Amsterdam) [Posted in FML issue 2873]