Ferrets and Dogs

I have had numerous questions sent to me about how ferrets interact with other animals, especially dogs.

As I’ve put on my website, I think there might be problems with certain breeds of dogs – like malamutes, greyhounds and various terrier breeds. I’ve known ferrets which have been killed by the first two breeds here in Perth and would think that the breeds of terriers would probably be inclined to chase and kill ferrets. But I would be delighted to be proved wrong so if anyone has a terrier and a ferret and they both live in perfect harmony, please let me know.

We had a very placid, gentle giant of a rottweiler when we first got ferrets and he accepted them without question. There was only one time of friction, when Fidget was a kit, that she must have annoyed him so much that he barked at her and she ended up like a stunned mullet. A very frightening experience for me and one I’d prefer not to go through again.

When Boris left us for the big kennel in the sky, we ended up with a 2-year old German Shepherd. Bonnie was not wanted by her present owners so we took her on. She wasn’t familiar with cats and certainly not with ferrets, but thankfully she fitted into our family without any ripples.

I made sure that I watched how she was with the ferrets for the first few days. My six were fairly mature at the time – CJ and Mulder were the youngest, at 3 and 2 years old respectively – and the only trouble they’d get up to was get under the blankets on the bed when Bonnie was lying there with us and poke her from underneath. It was so ridiculous to watch – these two carpet (or should I say, blanket?) sharks moving sinuously under the bedding before rising up to stick their noses against Bonnie’s side then backing away quickly, then finding another area to poke.

By the time I got my new lot of ferrets, Bonnie was used to their idiosyncrasies so was pretty laid back when around the youngsters and their irritating ways. However I have found that action speaks louder than words and so would like to share with you this adorable video made by the Hermanto family called “A Glimpse: a Puppy and a Ferret“.

It really is gorgeous to watch both animals playing together and certainly shows how ferrets and dogs can be the best of mates!

All-About-Ferrets.com

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