I'm such a proud mom

[shilohismygirl]

I'm so excited because as of now, Shiloh, Oz, and Fiddler can all roll over. It took a few months, as I was away in AZ for awhile while my hubby was their sole caregiver, and didn't keep up with them, but the can all do it now, with no help (in early stages of the trick, they needed me to give them a little push over). I'm so excited. I'm also so happy that Fiddler (he learned roll over a little quicker) can now shake hands like a proper gentleman. The are so smart! The other two are learning to shake hands next, and Hiro is still learning roll over. Right now, he is really too young to care about treats or tricks, so we have one short session a day. I think I will teach Fiddler to jump next. Smart ferrets!

[sherrylynne]

They are so intelligent, it doesn't surprise me when I hear about people teaching them "tricks"! Wish I had the time and the patience
You do realize we have a rule here? By posting this- it means you HAVE to add a video of them doing this

[Heather]

I sent a post a while ago....but it disappeared
So...I will try again Congratulations on your training, how about telling us how you did it
ciao

[1]

You know what my tecneck would be? (example name hear) Hay Shadow want a belly rub?

[shilohismygirl]

Really, ferrets are very smart creatures, so it is no huge chore to teach them things-it amazes me that they are so smart. Tricks do take quite awhile for them to get though. For Fiddler, who is the most motivated about treats, it takes around 2 weeks to get a trick down. The rest could be working on it for a month or more-two to three minute sessions twice a day until they get it, plus practice for old ones. Hiro really won't tolerate anything more than a second of work, as he's young and his attention span is the size of a postage stamp, but he'll get it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLewPD6i-4c

That's of Fiddler rolling over, a few months ago. I need to get one of him shaking hands, as he's the only one who knows that trick well.

[sherrylynne]

Awww! What a little cutie

[mjohn143]

Do you mind telling us your method? I would love to teach my weasels some tricks!! I just need to find a treat they all like! Tubby MegaWeasel is the only one who will eat whatever you put in front of him. I left him out alone for 2 min and when I came back he had pulled someone's empty snackpack pudding cup out of the trash and was desperately trying to lick what he could out of it before I caught him. I was mad about the other trash he dumped out, but it was really cute.

[amylou]

Oh how kah-ute!! I was just reading about clicker training and how you can get them to do things this way like roll over or beg...etc. That is so adorable, what a smart feller!

[AnimalFarm2006]

lol Now they are going to start rolling over whenever you have a treat out. My loo loo has it programed that if she rolls over 50 times, She gets a treat. So...I have nine hungry looking ferrets, and one little ferret doing rollers in the back of the group.

Now time to teach her another trick. XD

[katt]

I have found that teaching a second trick is far harder than the first. The reason? They just keep trying to do the first trick for their treat! haha I am trying to get the idea of multiple tricks through Koda's thick little skull right now. He just keeps trying to "stand" and gets tired of having to do something other than "stand" and walks away.

[sherrylynne]

Hurricankatt- why does that not surprise me

[shilohismygirl]

Yes, hurricanekat, it can be rather hard to get them out of that mode of doing the first trick. They all start rolling over to get a treat, even when I don't want them to-But, it can be done! Fiddler will roll over by default but then, if I ask him to shake hands, he will. But, he will try and roll over first.