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Post by Klarissa on Sept 17, 2015 12:03:46 GMT -5
I'm going to give a strong no, to letting the ferret & dog interact. I have two dogs (free roam) and two ferrets (have their own room). It only takes an accident, a quick second, and you could be burying your ferret.
My dogs are not allowed to stare at the ferrets, focus on the ferrets, whimper, or show any signs of excited/aroused behavior towards the ferrets. I do not get excited with the ferrets, while the dogs are present. The ferrets are not allowed to taunt & tease the dogs either.
For one, even if the dog gets along with cats, says nothing about him getting along with ferrets. My mini Aussie was a wonderful mother to some rescue kittens. She loved licking then, and cuddling them. She loves mothering my other dog & my parents enormous goofy standard poodle. My Mini Aussie was raised in a house with many many cats. My Mini Aussie wants my ferrets dead. I don't know if its the smell, or the way they move, but she wants to attack them.
Second, your roommate is bringing home a sizable & strong dog. Boxers are known for literally boxing while they play, and one swipe could seriously injure your ferret. Pit bulls, boxers and bulldogs are part of group of dogs known as molossers. Other then the Saint Bernard & Newfie, most were used as guard dogs & often have low bite inhibition. If your ferret bites the dog, the dog is probably going to bite back.
I'm not dog breed prejudice. I am a dog handler, I love all dogs. But breeds do have specific behavioral traits. It's what makes them so good at breed specific jobs, but can also make them a pain in other regards.
Its up to you of course, but I think the risk outweighs the benefit here. Both the dog and the ferret should be trained to mind each others space.
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Post by crazylady on Sept 17, 2015 12:39:49 GMT -5
Hi Klarissa is giving you good advice it all depends on the dog for example I owned a parson jack russel terrier he hated cats yet worked wonderfully with my ferrets they gave each other respect he died unfortunately so I replaced him with a boarder terrier ( huge mistake even though I love him lol) Billy hates anything that moves cats birds other dogs ferrets ( even though I have had him from the age of six weeks ) he is good at letting me know if I have any escaped ferrets in the ferret house the howling is his way of saying let me at them lol Ben my plumber terrier is friendly with anything and works along side my ferrets no problem ( even though the breed was used for foxs ) and my sons whippet is also a big softy where the ferrets are concerned he is so soft mouthed he has been known to pick them up and carry them back to my son unharmed if your unsure of his temperament I would avoid any contact take care bye for now Bev
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Bonbon
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Post by Bonbon on Sept 17, 2015 13:04:04 GMT -5
In all honesty I'm terrified of the dog and how it will react to my cat and ferret. I want keen on them interacting, and I probably won't let them, but now it really limits my ferret to the bedroom as his only play area. Thanks for the advice even though I pretry much had the same mind set.
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Post by Klarissa on Sept 17, 2015 13:30:36 GMT -5
When my dachshund was a puppy, he got along well with the ferrets (I had four at the time). But my doxie was only a wee 5lbs I had to worry about him, rather than the ferrets. As far as limited space for your ferret, I wouldn't sweat it too much. My ferrets have their own small room (50 sq ft + their sleeping mansion). At night I let them play in my bedroom for an hour or two. And a few times a week I put the dogs away (in the bedroom, their dog run, or the bathroom) and let the ferrets run around the apartment. I actually like it better this way - the rest of the apartment stays as some super exciting mystery playland I also put the ferrets in the bathroom while I shower. They love sprinting in & out of the shower, then burrowing in some towels. As far as the dog, when I first got my ferrets whenever the dogs would fixate in the ferrets I'd make a really awful buzzer noise, ask them to sit, and when they were calm (ears back, looking at me, quiet) I'd give them a treat. Now my dogs pay little attention to the ferrets.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 14:08:59 GMT -5
Learning so much here! Thanks a million to you seasoned owners. With regard to the box of rice- my two absolutely love it! Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. I also notice that they are less aromatic when they have lots of dig time. Lol.I don't think that they are stinky. I am fortunate to have an engineer hubby who has been indulging me and my ideas for building Ferret Nirvana for Bandit and Olive. He is allergic to them, but he admires them from afar. Occasionally he pets them, and then runs to wash his hands! He wants to make the rice box more accessible for them, and told me that next time he is at Sam's Club, he will pick up one of those huge 50 pound bags of rice. ?
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Bonbon
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Post by Bonbon on Sept 17, 2015 22:59:48 GMT -5
The only thing about this dog that worries me is the fact it won't be mine. I will have to walk on egg shells to make sure it behaves and if I have to disipline my roommate may not like it....but I worked at a zoo training bobcats, foxes and vultures, etc. I don't take misbehavior from animals. I respect them and I'll work with them, but if they do somethin wrong they will know. I want to give my riomajmte the book, don't shoot the dog because by far it's the best behavioral training book I've found. But I doubt he would take the time to clicker train, or even train the dog....
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Post by unclejoe on Sept 18, 2015 8:31:22 GMT -5
As room mates, you guys should be equals, but since you already have ferrets, I think every step should be taken to protect them and their space. Your room mate needs to work with you to train the dog. Honestly, there's nothing worse than an untrained dog in a small apartment, and not just because of your ferrets. When i was younger, I lived with a couple who got a golden lab puppy on a whim. They spent no time training it, and pretty much kept it in a spare room when they didn't feel like dealing with it. It crapped all over the room and was never housebroken. So they put a leash on it and hooked it to the door knob to limit where it crapped. It pulled the door knob off, and it took them an hour to get the door open. Not to mention the barking, jumping and slobbering on you, and stealing people food off the coffee table. It ate anything and everything, and once swallowed a bottle cap. After they got the vet bill for that, they got rid of the dog. I was renting a room in their house, so I had no say, but they didn't mind me walking the dog, which they should have been doing. I don't know what your relationship with your roommate is, but protect your rights and ferrets.
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Bonbon
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Post by Bonbon on Sept 18, 2015 10:20:40 GMT -5
I have a pretty good relationship with my roommate. His our best man at our wedding. And if he let's me I'll help to train the dog, I've trained several other animals and I'm an animal lover, so I would never let what happened to your roommates dog happen to this one. I will have to talk with him again, last time we talked it seemed like he wasn't going to get one.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 17:07:22 GMT -5
I have a husky mix (about 80lbs), which are usually known for their prey drive. Well, Lycan (the dog) is TERRIFIED of little Haggis. I mean like, tail between his legs, hides outside scared from just smelling his hammock. I can get Lycan to be in the same room briefly if I pet him and tell him what a good boy he is, and will take 1/2 a sniff if I hold Haggis for him. He doesn't want to be in the same room, or really even near him, which is nice, because I really don't worry about the dog trying to harass him when I'm gone (although I still keep them separate). It's funny, you never know how animals are going to react to each other.
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Post by unclejoe on Sept 19, 2015 8:12:13 GMT -5
I've had 3 dogs since I got ferrets, and the only one that played rough was a yorkie. He would carry them around like toys, so he had to be rehomed. My 120 lb chocolate lab mix loved them, and our shih tzu is still a bit intimidated by them and gives them their space.
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Bonbon
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Post by Bonbon on Sept 20, 2015 20:57:11 GMT -5
So my roommate did get a puppy today. She's cute and very well behaved so far. She is part lab and part border collie so luckily not too aggressive breed wise. She introduced well to the cat and my roommate wanted her to at least get the scent of the ferret. Her and bonbon, are nuts. Although their play has to be watched by all three of us in the home and I've set up multiple escape routes for bonbon. She pretty much just bounces and does the dog play stance every time bonbon, pokes his head out of a tunnel. She hasaid nose booked him, and no open mouth, but I'm still uneasy about it, and their play will be kept to a minimum.
Bonbon has been doing good with his raw chicken breast treats and I'm thinking of trying soupie with him. Does anyone know where the recipe for it is? I foun dB it once but I can't seem to find it again.
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Bonbon
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Post by Bonbon on Sept 25, 2015 6:50:16 GMT -5
Alright so I'm fairly upset right now because I had posted a video of Bonbons to my instagram of him playing in a plastic ball with some ball pit balls, he was enjoying himself so I decided to record him. He was flopping about and borrowing in the balls. BUT if he showed he wanted out I took him out asap. Heck he crawled into it because I had to clean the inside of his ball pit pen. So I needed a place for the balls and I figured it was a convent place for him and I would know where he was at while cleaning it. But the reason I'm upset is because these people commented on the video saying how cruel I was to my ferret....that really hurt. Bonbons has a fantastic home. And they were yelling at me for the ball saying it was a hamster one. It wasnt, I double checked and I only bought the ball originally for him to explore the apartment until litter box trained... so he rarely uses it anymore. Plus it has a ferret age limit it says up to 6 months and bonbon is not even 3 months. The syore told me there is a larger one for adult ferrets i could order online, but i would rather have my ferret free range. I'm actually really upset by this and I wasn't sure where to post this comment.
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Post by Klarissa on Sept 25, 2015 8:47:20 GMT -5
Ignore them! What do they know? Clearly nothing, because they would have known Bonbon was having fun Ferrents always know their ferrets best. Internet is a cruel place, that's why I love HFF. It's a safe haven. Next time share with us! We love pictures & videos . Plus, if we ever thought something was wrong we'd be much nicer about letting you know. I'm sorry the internet is full jerks. Try & brush 'em off. Bonbon has a great home - you know it, we know it, but most importantly I'm sure Bonbon knows it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2015 10:20:58 GMT -5
Isn't it sad that you feel that you have to put a disclaimer on everything? Just like with human babies, everyone has an opinion on how to raise your kids. What they are seeing is literally a snapshot of your ferret's life, not the whole situation. Ignore them if you can!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2015 10:31:02 GMT -5
Wish I was talented enough to Photoshop those glasses onto a ferret!
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