AboutHelen Morrison Expertise Pot-bellied or other miniature pet pig care, including diet, housing, training, health care. Can provide information about zoning, adoption, supplies, and organizations. Questions about any kind of pet swine are welcome!
Experience Fifteen years experience owning, raising, and caring for small pet swine, including "Vietnamese" pot-bellied pigs.
Organizations Pigs of Great Fortune
Publications Animals Exotic and Small
I am the Swine Contributing Editor
Question QUESTION: Hi,
I just got a baby pot bellied pig that is about 8 weeks old. At first he stunk all the time and now that is going away but I am having some challenges. He seems to like to mark things. Mostly me:( If I push him away he gets aggressive and snorts really loud. i am wondering if neutering is going to help this situation. I know not to ever hit a pig. I have had Neopolitan Mastiffs most of my life and now I have nothing and wanted something different. I want to make this work best for both of us so any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
ANSWER: Yes you will see a behavior change a few weeks after your piglet is neutered. Neutered males are a lot more mellow.
Pigs are much, much smarter than dogs, with much more independent will. Dogs work together as a pack. Pigs congregate in herds as social animals, and there is a pecking order, but each animal still acts independently. Dogs want only to please their owners. Pigs want to please themselves!
Pigs are as smart as a three year old child. They understand the word "No", but don't like to hear it. They may pout or throw a temper tantrum. They learn just by watching. I used to keep a cupboard tied shut to keep my pig out of it. One afternoon the pig watched me untie the yarn and open the cupboard. After I closed the cupboard and retied it shut, he walked up, untied the yarn, and opened the cupboard!
Dogs are happier when a human is "Alpha dog" or in charge. Pigs want to be "Alpha pig", so a pig kept as a house pet will think he is a person and try to be "Alpha person".
Gentle but firm disciple is important in the first year of a pigs life. It is VERY easy to spoil a pig - and next to impossible to correct habitual bad behavior, because the pig has learned that the bad behavior is OK and being a smart, independent pig, wants to continue.
I recommend Priscilla Valentine's book on training pigs (it's available on Amazon). She is a professional animal trainer and you might have seen her pig Nellie on TV. Harness training is very important because once a pig is harness trained he will remember all his life, and it's much easier to take a harness trained pig out to the vet and such.
Yahoo groups has several discussion groups devoted to pot-bellied pigs, you might want to visit some of them. I believe Priscilla is on Pig Info and Chat.
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QUESTION: Two more things. Is a dog harness ok or do I need to order a pig harness? Will I ever be able to put bedding in with my pig again since he urinates on them? Can it be corrected? Thanks again for your help:)
Donna Hardin
Answer Pig harnesses are better. They're easier to put on (they fit under the pig then fasten over the back, the pig doesn't have to put his head through), and less likely to slip and choke the pig.
Pigs normally don't urinate where they sleep, but intact males secrete a very smelly liquid. It's a way of marking their territory. So that might be what you are finding in the bedding, and if so, that will also stop when he is neutered.
If the problem really is pottying in bed, then take him to potty before he goes in, and don't leave him in for more than 6 hours. Even that is a very long time for a piglet to "hold it". A better solution is to give him a set up where he has access to both his bed and a litter box.
