The principle in teaching most forms of living organisms is practically the same, teaching your ferret trick included. In undergraduate Psychology, we’ve been tasked with not only training human beings but also animals. In this light, it’s highly applicable to use repetition as the main tool in getting your pet to do ferret tricks. The main factors to consider when teaching anyone or any creature for that matter are the following:
a. Language
b. Intelligence
c. Interests
Language could either be a barrier or an aid when it comes to teaching humans. In animals, language is a barrier in most of the cases. Some theorists would say that animals with relatively high intelligence understand human language and words. Others would point to the distinct sound that an utterance could make that an animal might link to a repeated gesture. Hence, it is best to use words that are very distinct from each other when verbally training your ferret. For example, you shouldn’t use “works” with “words” to denote two different actions.
Ferrets respond to verbal commands like dogs do. Some might say the same but to a lesser extent than dogs. Mix verbal commands with repetitive gestures of approval or disapproval. For one, you can train your ferret to come to you by using a command or a distinct sound coupled with a reward – the best reward to give a ferret is food. If you would like, you can use the ferret’s name as the command to summon it. Doing so repeatedly with the emphasized reward of food is an effective means to get the attention of your ferret. Be sure however, that you use this command only in conjunction with the intention to call it. Never forget to give it its rewards.
After the training, there are times when you think that your command is not working. You might be using the right word, the right gesture and the right reward, but if your ferret’s interest is focused on another thing, it’s highly likely that it would not get distracted by you. Remember, ferrets are highly curious and inquisitive creatures. If at the moment that you called them they are somewhere investigating something of high interest, chances are that they would continue with what they are doing, especially if they are not hungry.
Another ferret trick that you could train your fuzzy to do is to stand. You could do this by getting its reward and raising it above its head to a level that is only slightly above it’s possible full height. Do this with the intention of convincing your ferret to reach it. Once it does the expected action, always give its reward. If it does not perform the action, repeat the process and start anew.
Ferrets are highly trainable creatures and that’s why they have been used for a long time by hunters. Trained ferrets are particularly useful for eliminating farm annoyances like rabbits. They would seek the rabbit once commanded and then eliminate them. This is both more humane and natural than shooting the poor bunny down. As such ferret tricks should not really be construed as tricks but rather as repetitive training and conditioning.
More ferret tricks and training is exposed at http://adopt-a-ferret-101.com/ferret-tricks.html
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