Dogs and Ferrets: Howz That Work?

Here’s a confession. Once upon a time (many, many years ago), I nearly made an impulse buy at a local Petco. The store had a tiny, round dog bed full of baby ferrets. Nearly impossible to resist, all curled up like furry noodles, with pointy and eager faces, I came very close to caving in.

Having once been an owner of a so-called exotic pet, I’m glad I didn’t heed the impulse because … really … what do I know about ferrets?

Um, pretty much nothing.

Back in the day, when Tom designed and built exhibits for a museum for children in Denver, there was a ferret who lived there. They would let him out to play when the museum was closed, and he loved to play hide and seek. Tom adored him and thought he was super smart.

So, imagine how pleased I was to meet this fellow, named Snotface Critter, at BlogPaws last month. I’ve never held a ferret before, and he was @#$@# awesome!!!

He wore the cutest little vest that attached to a thin leash, and he was remarkably calm around all the people and dogs. I don’t know  … maybe ferrets are mellow?

What surprised me even more, though, was how well the various dogs in attendance handled Snotface’s presence.

In fact, this video of Snotface playing with Twiggy (a greyhound, who never lived at track or raced, but was raised by a family since puppyhood), floors me.

Twiggy is the “grandpuppy” of Yvonne Divita, one of the BlogPaws founders, who writes Scratchings and Sniffings, among other blogs. Clearly, I adored Twiggy instantly as well because she looks so much like Ginko.

Seriously, I cannot imagine trusting either of my dogs to play nicely with a ferret. I know that folks like Laura, over at The Dogs Are Really In Charge, clearly has a dog+ ferret system that works, but my dogs?

With their prey drive?

I’d fear a massacre.

We have wild ferrets who live around here, and Lilly has stared at them and chased them before. In fact, I once found her barking at a hole in the ground, and when I went to see what was up, this ferret popped its head out and screamed at me. That was years ago, and we haven’t seen one since, but there were three hanging around here at one point.

There was another video someone posted of Snotface playing with several dogs at BlogPaws, but I cannot find it again. One dog + one ferret scares me. Several dogs + one ferret … I’d need medication.

Maybe Twiggy is just super special. She recently helped welcome a dog rescued from a research lab into the extended family. He pretty much knew the lab and that’s it, and in this other video, she is teaching him to play. Clearly, Twiggy has awesome skills, across species.