Pushing a Ball
Avoid balls that can be easily chewed. This includes rubber and latex balls. Golf balls, tennis balls, ping pong balls, and whiffle balls are perfect for ferrets to roll around. They are also safest for ferrets to play with. Balls with bells or rattles inside can also be fun to chase. Avoid balls that are small enough to be picked up in their hands or mouth. These can be a choking hazard.
Guide the ferret to the ball with a treat. Hold a small treat in your hand, and use it to draw the ferret towards the ball. Touch the treat against the ball. Once the ferret touches the ball with its head, give it the treat. Repeat this three or four times. You can buy prepackaged semi-moist ferret treats at the pet store. You might also give your ferret a small piece of cooked meat. If the ferret won't go to the ball, put the treat away, and try again another time.
Reward the ferret when it pushes the ball forward. Once the ferret understands how to touch the ball, encourage it to push it forward. Start saying "push" when you want the ferret to move the ball with its head, and only reward it when it manages to roll it a few inches forward. At this point, you should stop giving the ferret treats whenever it touches the ball. The ball must move before you give it a treat. Practice this trick once or twice a day until your ferret can push the ball on command.
Chasing the Ball
Bounce a ball for your ferret. Take a lightweight bouncing ball, such as a tennis ball or ping pong ball, and bounce it across the room. Avoid hitting any fragile objects. The ferret will go racing after it.
Roll out balls in a straight line. You can also just roll the ball for your ferret to chase. Whiffle balls, golf balls, and ping pong balls are good for rolling. Quickly flick or toss the ball forward. Let your ferret run after it.
Rub a little bit of salmon oil on the ball to encourage hesitant ferrets. One drop of oil is all that you need. Your ferret may go scrambling after it, and it will try to lick the oil off the ball afterwards. While many ferrets don't enjoy the taste of fish meat, many do like the taste of fish oil. If yours won't take salmon oil, try using liquid FerreTone instead.
Bringing the Ball Back
Use clicker training to teach your ferret commands. Start by clicking your clicker and immediately giving the ferret a treat. When the ferret learns to expect a treat when it hears a click, give your ferret a click and a treat whenever your ferret does something you like, such as touching the ball. The ferret will learn to do things you want it to do in order to get a treat. You can get a clicker at a pet store or online.
Teach your ferret the “come” command. If you want your ferret to bring a ball back to you, it is important to teach the ferret to return on command. Place the ferret about 3 feet (0.91 m) away from you. Hold a treat in your hand, and say “come.” Give it the treat when it comes to you. As it gets better at coming on command, start putting the ferret farther and farther away until it comes running from 10 feet (3.0 m) away. This command can take up to two weeks to teach successfully.
Ask your ferret to come after it gets the ball. Toss or bounce the ball, and let the ferret chase it for a few seconds before saying “come.” The ferret should return to you. It may or may not roll the ball towards you.
Reward the ferret when it brings the ball back. If the ferret pushes the ball back towards you, give it a treat. This will encourage it to repeat this behavior in the future.
Fetch the ball yourself if the ferret doesn’t bring it back. If you keep taking the ball and tossing it for your ferret, it may start bringing you the ball to encourage you to continue.
Repeat the game a few times. You might only toss the ball a few times before your ferret gets bored. If you play this game daily, your ferret may learn to return the ball in a couple weeks. Don’t be discouraged if your ferret doesn’t learn how to play fetch properly. You can continue to play catch with it, but you may have to retrieve the ball yourself.
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