Taking Your Ferret Outside

2010
02.01

In Training Your Ferret | Tags: ferret leash training, ferret leashes, ferrets in Florida, taking your ferret outside, Training Your Ferret

Bun, Outside Ferret

Bun has hardly ever been outside in his short life of just over one year. We live in Florida, so the weather is rarely ferret-compatible. But this winter has been cooler, some days hitting only in the high 60s, and cloudy…PERFECT ferret weather. It reminds them of the Mother Land.

Bun actually does have a leash, but since he never goes on walks, he thinks it’s just a toy and he likes to keep it stashed in his little ferret den in the closet. Today I slipped it on, and he was so curious about being outdoors he didn’t even try to worm out of it. I think this is a good way to train your ferret to use a leash. Wait until good weather, take them outside and they’ll be so happy and distracted by the Great Outdoors they won’t mind the leash.

He was pretty curious on the deck, but once he hit the mulch-covered dirt lawn we have, he went feral. First thing he did was dive into the dirt and just roll, around and around. He was, I think, trying to tunnel into it. He kept pushing along on his belly, then rolling around, like a cat rolling in catnip, alternating with tunneling motions that went nowhere but across the dirt.

Bun especially liked the small Asparagus Fern he have, and wound his body around the base of it, getting the leash all tangled. After we came in, he stayed by the door a long time, looking out at the rain. Sometimes he’d jump up and try to get through the blinds, back to the Great Outdoors.