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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxi!mhuxa!houxm!hou2a!murphy
From: murphy@hou2a.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: ferrets
Message-ID: <106@hou2a.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Aug-83 12:54:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: hou2a.106
Posted: Fri Aug 26 12:54:09 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Aug-83 22:08:12 EDT
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 38


      Are there any ferret-fanciers out there who know of a sure-fire
way of box-training a recalcitrant adult? I have three, a male and a
female, both 4 years old and neutered, and a year-old male, also neu-
tered. Both males were very easy to box train (tho they have an occa-
sional "accident"--always on linoleum; never on the carpet). However,
the female has resisted all efforts to be box-trained. I hesitate 
to speculate on the generalizations that can be drawn from this fact.
     One method I tried was to put her in an open-topped cardboard box
(sturdy enough to resist small but active claws) which just had room
enough in it for bed, food dish (guinea pig water bottle mounted out-
side with tube projecting inside through a hole in the box) and a
litter box ("Litter Green"). This forced her to choose between using
the litter box or fouling her bed; she chose the former. I confined
her to this box except when she was taken out for fun 'n' games
(and when I watched her like a hawk).
     The effect of this training was that she would start using the
regular strategically-located litter boxes I have in the apt., but
only for a while. Gradually she would revert to her old habits. So
back to "jail" she went; after a few days in the small box, she
re-learned to use litter boxes, but after release, as surely as
rocks roll down-hill, she would gradually un-learn the box training,
despite the good example set by the other two, and despite my 
picking her up and placing her in the litter box when she began to
make those old familiar moves. 
     This in-and-out of the small box routine is a hassle and I don't
like having the box cluttering up the apt. I also don't like having
to confine her like that. I'm looking for a one-shot cure.

      Any ideas?

     Incidentally, their names are Roscoe, Otis, and Minerva; they are
a joy to have around, tho at times they are enough to make a bishop
burn his bible.

                                             Rich Ganns
                                             BTL Holmdel, N.J.
                                             (201) 949-0315
                                                   389-2245