How to introduce ferret to prey drivey dog?

[Fran101]

Kenya is a sweet dog, to anyone and everything except rodents.

The only hope i have is that she does LOVE small dogs, is gentle with them, and has frequent playdates with my cousins 4 pound min pin. she also is fine with cats

The problem here is, she has already killed 2 hamsters. We tried everything to keep her away, the cage had a cover, the room they were in was blocked off,.. she got past all that , got out of her crate, and killed them when we weren't home. my 3rd hamster I found another home for.

Im hoping that she will see the new fert as a dog or cat and NOT as a rodent. but I dont know how to go about introductions.

I NEVER EVER plan on leaving them alone together, or even letting them play unspervised obviously, but I would like for them to be able to be out at the same time.

My cousin brought his ferret over. She was curious but not overly excited and OMG OMGOMG like she was with the hamsters. We put him down, she snigged him, She wagged her tail and playbowed and im hoping thats a good sign, like that she thinks its a dog. she was very calm and gentle but still very curious

The fert was very sleepy and wasn't interested in anything but taking a nap so I didnt get to see how she would react with a full on crazyhyper ferret.

So when i bring my ferret home, how should I go about interactions with them? How long should I wait? ect..

[MafiaPrincess]

Don't think I'd be introducing a prey animal to my dog that has killed prey animals. You can supervise all you want, but it doesn't take long at all to kill a small animal... and you can get decently hurt trying to get that small animal out of the dogs mouth..

Own it, but that doesn't mean they have to play together.

[Fran101]

Originally Posted by MafiaPrincess

Don't think I'd be introducing a prey animal to my dog that has killed prey animals. You can supervise all you want, but it doesn't take long at all to kill a small animal... and you can get decently hurt trying to get that small animal out of the dogs mouth..

Own it, but that doesn't mean they have to play together.

Fair enough.
I was HOPING they could be out together but thats really isnt a MUST

[Brattina88]

I would say on leash for sure, with treats, with places for the fert to hide if things got too intenste. Sometimes they surprise you, but if she doesn't react very well (ferrets can provoke like crazy, lol) I would just keep them seperated.

[Labyrinth]

Since she's killed small animals before, I'm gonna have to agree with MafiaPrincess on this one. If you've got a sturdy cage she can say hello to them through the cage, but with her history I don't think I'd let her near one without a barrier in between them that would keep her from getting one in her mouth. Better safe than sorry.

[sisco16]

my siberians are the same way. They killed my hamster to I woke up to pieces of him on my bed i was so distraught for days that they had eaten most of him. I to wanted a ferret for a long time but i will not get one untill i dont have siberians they are to prey driven towards small animals.

[germanshepardguy]

my dogs are mean to other dogs

Originally Posted by germanshepardguy

my dogs are mean to other dogs

Uhhh... ???