Just *training*

Question
QUESTION: My wonderful little baby, Wilson Julius Woland Shapiro, is the most wonderfullest weasel forever. He is working on 5 months old, hasn't been sick, produces enormous quantities of creamy-chocolatey ferret poops and when he is not pooping spends most of his time sleeping in his cage (voluntarily) or running under all the furniture in my house.

I want to teach my weasel two things: 1 to poop in the litter and 2 to come to a squeeky toy. I only wish that I could give him some kind of positive reinforcement when he behaves well. He currently lives on Marshall ferret diet, (though after reading some answers I'm definitely getting him a second brand for mixing and tasting purposes), and I would like to feed him either that or some other food as a treat when he does well, but the problem is that when he's out of the cage for playtime, he's not interested in anything but more playtime! So how can I teach him to take treats or some other reinforcement for training purposes?

ANSWER: Hi Danni and Wilson Julius Woland Shapiro,

For the litter training, you will never see your ferret fully litter trained 100% of the time. What I mean is, ferrets aren't like cats. They aren't programmed to go in the litter box. This, again, is going to take time and patience on your part. As a rule, ferrets don't poop where they sleep, eat or play. Litter training in the cage is easy. Fill his cage with blankets (or tee shirts, sweatshirts, receiving blankets, anything snuggly) and when you do that, make sure the bedding us under the litter box. The next step is to put a little bit of his poop in the litter box so he knows that is where he is supposed to go. When you see him going potty somewhere else (better yet, backing up somewhere to go potty), lift him up and put him in his litter box. After he's done, make sure to praise him and you can try hand feeding him a piece of his food. Kibble hand fed can be a treat and he will see it as bonding with you. (With that, make sure that he isn't faking it when he gets in the litter box. If he thinks all he has to do for a treat is get in the litter box, he'll start to just get in and not go, so just be weary of that.) For his playtimes, you should have a litter box in all the corners because if a ferret is out playing and they have to go, they have to go *now* and if the litter box is far away, he probably won't make it. The best place to start litter training outside the cage is the bathroom because on the tile, mistakes are easy to clean up and it is generally a small area. Keep him in the bathroom for a while when you get him out to play and see if he goes (because a ferret that just wakes up from a long nap usually has to go potty) and after he goes, you can let him run around if you like. If you don't have litter boxes in the all the corners, you can put newspaper or paper  towel if you like, (I have found Bounty to be useful) but with that, make sure all messes are cleaned up and disinfected promptly, because if not, your little guy will urinate in the corner and keep going back to that corner based on smell and he will always use it! Here is a GREAT disinfectant and it is all natural:

http://www.petco.com/product/8438/Nature-s-Miracle-Just-for-Ferrets-Stain-and-Od

With the training for getting Wilson to come to you, here is a little trick from Ferrets for Dummies, 2nd edition, by Kim Schilling:

1. Grab a treat, such as a piece of kibble, and call out Wilson's name. If she doesn't notice you calling her name, you can always try patting the ground and try again, or a squeaky toy, if you like (as a side note on squeaky toys, I wouldn't let Wilson, or any ferret play with them, because they (ferrets) can so easily chew into the toy and get that squeaker and they could choke on it!).
2. Get down and tell him you've got something great to show him, all the while, calling his name.
3. If he is interested and goes toward you, definitely give him the treat.
4. Move farther away from him and repeat the exercise. Soon, he'll start to associate his name with a treat and for a while, you're definitely going to want to give him a treat every time he comes to his name.

If you want to make if difficult for him, you can always try hiding somewhere and calling his name. Be sure to give him that treat!

With any kind of animal training, you should award "successful approximations". What I mean by that is, if he doesn't come to you all the way when you call him, but he looks at you and appears interested, maybe comes to you a little, he should get a treat because that shows him more encouragement to come to you.

Remember, patience and encouragement is key, and it will take a while, because ferrets have such short attention spans, but please try not to lose your temper and never, ever hit your ferret because that will just make him fear you and that will make him aggressive towards you. (Not that you would hit your ferret,  I was just making sure to say that!)


Also, I just want to remind you that ferret proofing something that is a continuous process, not something that you can do just once and you never have to worry about again. It sounds like you are letting Wilson run around your house, and while that is a very nice thought, again I just want to remind you that there are so many dangers around the home that we don't even think about but ferrets might think about. You know what I mean? Also, you should really watch where you step and I'm sure you've already started doing this without noticing, but it is a good idea to kind of "shuffle" around the house when he is out just in case he is hanging around near your feet. Don't wanna step on the little guy because that could go very wrong for Wilson, being such a small guy.

Also, just to mention, don't use cat litter or any kind of clumping or clay litter as that can be very, very dusty and can give your little guy a respiratory infection at the very least. Also, the clumping litter could get in your little guy's nose, eyes, heinies, you name it. Yesterday's News is the best kind of litter to use, because it is pelleted litter and it is the safest for you to use!

I hope this answers your questions and if you have further questions, concerns or if you need clarification, please don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck,
Emilee Andrews


**Follow up**

Hello again Danni and Wilson Julius Woland Shapiro! (By the way, that is the cutest name!)

I saw that you emailed in hopes of a follow up question and I am back now, so if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Emilee,

Thanks again for your help. I've been following the advice that you gave me in your original reply and I think I'm getting as much results as can be expected. The real difficulty is in the treat giving. WJWS isn't consistent in his desire for treats. At the moment what I'm doing is giving him his kibble by hand since that's the only thing he'll eat, but he is only motivated by the treat in the evening after he's spent the whole afternoon running around and not eating. So my *real* difficulty is in finding some motivation for him to behave well. For example, if he goes to his litter quickly after waking up, he never takes the treat and the only reward I can give him is to let him play in his special room for a few minutes.

Just for reference, his treats are 1. Marshall ferret diet and 2. (new since your first reply!) Nutriphase Gold ferret formula. I've tried giving him 3. Ferretvite, by the makers of Ferretone, but even after mixing it in his food for over a week, if I put a little on his tongue he just wipes his face on the floor, so I don't think he's interested.

If you have any ideas, that'd be great. Also, eventually I want to feed him some raw meats, but if I put chicken in his food bowl, he just ignores it until it's all dry and I have to throw it out.

Thanks in advance for your wonderful service in helping all of us new weasel parents!

Answer
Hi again Danni and Wilson Julius Woland Shapiro,

I'm so sorry you're having so much trouble with giving him treats. Our littlest baby boy is like that, too. He wants nothing to do with his treats or Ferretone and I'm at my wit's end! Ha ha. It took our other male a while to get used to Ferretone, but I suggest you try getting him on that. Put some on your finger and put it on his nose, tongue, gums! Anywhere he has to lick! (GENTLY, of course!!)

Also, I wouldn't say that Nutriphase Gold is up to par as far as quality goes. According to what I've read, brown rice and corn gluten meal are the second and third ingredients, and you don't want a food that has a corn product in the first three ingredients! Their little bellies can't digest the stuff! So, I would say sack the Nutriphase ! Here is a chart that ranks the foods that people normally feed to their ferrets and they rank the foods from 1-10, 10 being the best, of course.

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html

I wouldn't go below a nine on that chart, if I were you!

Another reward you can give him is lots and lots of praise and love! Tell him what a good boy he is and snuggle him and be happy when he goes in the litter box! Like I said, it is going to be a long and difficult process, but you just have to keep going with it! Patience is key!

With the raw meats, I would maybe try shredding it up and mixing it with his food. This is another time when Ferretone comes in handy because you could dribble some on the meat and that may entice him to eat it. You should go to your local library and see if they have a book called Ferrets for Dummies, by Kim Schilling (the second edition). That book answers many questions and it has a section on a more natural diet!

Also, just as a side note, ferrets need about three to four hours of out of cage play time a day and if you want to spread it out during the day, that is fine, but I would say he needs more than twenty minutes each time you let him out to play, if possible!

I hope this helps, and if you need anything else, as always, please feel free to let me know!

Sincerely,
Emilee Andrews