How to Shoulder Train a Pet Ferret

While our furry friends provide companionship, they also can learn to listen to commands and understand what we want them to do. Ferrets are not like dogs that desire to please, but with a little coercion and bribery, you can teach them all kinds of tricks and commands.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Get your ferret's attention. If your ferret is excited, the likelihood of being able to train him to do anything is slim to none. Make sure he is worn out enough to pay attention, but not too tired that he won't want to listen.

2. Put your ferret on your shoulders and assign a command word. Say "Up," "Come here," or another word that signifies the action of what you want your pet ferret to do. By providing a consistent word with the action of getting on your shoulder, he will begin to associate the words with the action.

3. Reward your pet with treats. When your ferret stays on your shoulders, offer it treats for staying on, regardless of how long it remains there. The time will increase as you continue this, but be sure to give him adequate incentive to continue training. Ferrets are intelligent and curious creatures, so be sure to offer a variety of treats to keep their interest.

4. Keep at it. Though it may seem time consuming at first, once your ferret begins to associate the command word with the action of getting on your shoulders, it will begin to understand that good things will happen if he listens. Continue these steps in longer and longer time intervals to get the point across to your furry friend that you want him on your shoulders.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that your pet ferret has a very short attention span, so you'll want to limit these training sessions to 5 minutes or so each.

[jillmaria]

on 8/8/2009 A great way I taught my ferret to shoulder sit was to take a small wastebasket, fill it with crumpled paper or old grocery bags, and hold it chest-high in front of me. When my ferret would try to slide forward off my shoulder (which they invariably do), I would 'catch' her in the wastebasket. This only required a few slides to train her on the shoulder for life!!:)