Posted April 27th, 2011 by Nealia
I know Nealia has not been bloggin’ lately, but I expect her to be back soon. We just got back from Chapter 14 Spring Premiere Horse Show in West Springfield, MA. This is always a good event and even despite the cold, rainy and windy weather it didnt damper the spirit of this horse show. Before I get in to the pig situation I want to give a few shout outs to some of our new teams this year. Mary Mitkish had a successful show with her 2 new horses as the 2011 season will be the first full show season to see Mary and her 5 gaited pony, Top Dawg and her other new mount The Fabulous Truth (aka Trudy). You will see Mary and Trudy in show pleasure and equitation this season. Right behind Mary is her Mom who has co leased CH Callaways Royal Request and was the Adult Country Pleasure Reserve Grand Champion at the show. Mary Elias brought out her new western horse, Happy Seventy Fifth, where Jason show cased the horse in the Western Open classes and Mary broke the ice showing Happy with skill in a couple of western classes. This is a stunning team and her new mount keeps turning heads. Theresa Scott is teamed up with Top Beat this year which is a new equitation team for us. Theresa is also showing western for Nealia and helping get out a few of the rescues at the shows as a test for the evaluation process. Mary Mitkish also took on the challenge of showing Steeleto, a SBR horse at this show. We had another Academy rider who has now graduated in to the big leagues and at this show started her show career with Some Kind of Magic in country pleasure junior exhibitor. Its just a beginning but we expect a lot from this new team. Meghann Belser is showing Pat Johnson’s famous, CH A Magic Surprise, who got the reserve champion spot in western championship. Nealia and I were all very proud of all the members of the North Wind show team.
It was Mary Elias’s purchase of Happy Seventy Fifth from agents Gene and Annalize van der Walt that got us in the pig business. Once you have met their Bacon Nealia could not resist. You have read Nealia’s prior posts that described a less than perfect start with a well…wild baby pig. Now Binky is about 6 months and has found her place in our family. She has even adjusted being around the dogs. What I was not expecting was my relationship with her. Since we got her in the winter she stayed pretty much in the house and even the barn on most days was too cold except for an hour visit or so. Even after about an hour she comes up under my chair in center ring and gunts. That means I am cold Dad. So up she comes and lays on my chest covered with a horse cooler. Now since I am working mostly from my office at home she and I have developed a bond. Most days she is with me in the office sleeping either at my feet or next to my chair. Ocassionally when my waste basket is full of paper that is fair game to tip that over and root around in the papers under my desk for a while. I will admit that some of the attention comes from feeding her as that is my job mostly. Nealia has had to rein me in on the treats which consist of green grapes, pieces of apple or a few slices of carrot or a few cheerios. Boy did I get it the first time we went to pig camp! She is too heavy, I was told. The first time she was still on a mix of baby feed and adult feed. That could have been part of it, but when they told me she should only get 1 grape a day that was a shocker. One grape! What’s in one grape? Sugar I guess……news to me. I guess I didnt connect the dots on that one. I also learned that watermellon is also full of sugar, not just water. Also this is new info as well. Where have I been? I am not saying that grapes and watermellon are on my diet food list, but whats wrong with a few grapes and a slice of watermellon in the summer? See what you learn when you get a pig?
Binky is our 2 year old child so to speak. You almost have to approach her on that level. Remeber when your kids were small and the first weekend they stayed with the grandparents? They were angels and when the kids get back home holy terror strikes for a couple days. Well maybe Binky did that to us as well. Last weekend was her first horse show and she was an angel. She stayed in the heated stall with the dogs. She had her own section with her crate and large dog pillow. Did you know pigs sleep under pillows, not on top? Be careful where you walk! More than once our dogs have been surprized sleeping on the dog pillow and Binky creating an earthquake rooting to get under the pillow. She came out of her stall at the show on her leash did her chores outside everytime, visited with people and checked for interesting things on the ground. She even slept in our hotel room each night in her crate. Did her chores outside and ate breakfast in the room. Not one mess ever and not a peep either. She was perfect! I didnt mention that in addition to us and the pig we also had 6 dogs in the room. I wonder if Red Roof really knows what their “Pet Friendly” policy really means? I am not telling them. We get home and all is back to normal. She comes in my office and is mad about something and pee’s right in front of me. Then that night since she did so well in the hotel we brought her crate in the bedroom and in she goes. Well she would have no part of that. It was like the Tazmanian devil in a box. So back to the laundry room which is her space. She was so good at the show that once home she let loose. Is this like a 2 year old or what?!
It’s getting late and I will leave our current pig venture to another post in the blog.
Until another time. MLM
Posted March 19th, 2011 by Nealia
I know if you are reading this, it sounds like my piggy did not work out too well but, things are really pretty good around here, pig and all. My only complaint is the spiteful peeing once in a while. Binky likes a routine and she likes to be around everyone…that is everyone who LIVES in this house. Binky KNOWS her people and she is not sure if anyone else should come in the house and stay for any length of time. Sherrill comes in and works in the office with Mark about once a week and let’s just say Binky does not like to share her #1 man. This usually means after a couple of hours, Binky walks in the office, looks at Sherrill, and pees. Binky will run to the door as soon as she has everyone’s attention. I think that is Pig Latin for your time is up, you need to go home. I am thinking if everyone did that when they had guests in the house, they would soon have no guests. The new saying should be smart like a pig.
Binky is very much like a small, sometimes naughty child. If she feels left out or ignored she will “act out” by peeing. After a busy day with work and a busy evening cleaning up after Binky, I was just about to thrown in the towel. That night while trying to go to sleep I told Mark, “You know what? Binky is acting like a child that needs attention!” The next day after work I was much more careful to keep her busy little mind VERY BUSY with stuff to do. It worked! No accidentally-on-purpose accidents!! In the the long run, spending more time with Binky saved me time with no clean up of toxic waste (pig pee).
Binky loves being part of the action. When the dogs run to the door barking to greet Mark or Jason, Binky is right in the middle of the pack. I must say it is a little weird to hear dogs barking wildly on the other side of the door, and open it to find one small little pig standing in the middle of the dogs with her tail wagging wildly. Binky’s reaction is always the same, I walk in, Binky greets me then runs to her cage to show me she has no food in her bowl. That trick does not work on me because she always cleans her plate in 3.5 seconds and then spends the next several hours trying to trick us into believing she is starving.
Our routine has changed a little and one of the big changes is Binky will not go to bed early anymore. She likes to lay down in front of the sofa and have me lay a blanket over her so she can nap, but still be with the family. We still do not allow Binky to sleep in our room. Why you ask? #1) she SNORES BIG TIME!! #2) she pees! or maybe I should say #1) she goes #1 and #2) she SNORES!
Yesterday the weather was perfect and Binky spent the day running around in our backyard. Now I know that sounds like “what could go wrong” but let me tell you about Binky’s “BIG ADVENTURE”. Monday Mark took Binky in the backyard and showed her “around”. Mark had a temporary brain freeze and walked her around the fence in the backyard. The “hole” in that was we had a hole in the fence in a far corner, which Mark did not apparently notice or “forgot” how smart pigs are. Mark thought nothing of the hole but Binky made a mental map and a “Plan”. On Tuesday morning when Mark and I woke up Binky was waiting for us to give her breakfast in her room just like always. My day started out like every day but as soon as I got to the barn Jason told me that Lalo told him that when he (Lalo)went out in the back field to empty the manure Binky was out there rooting in the dirt. Of course Binky does not really “know” Lalo so she would NOT let him catch her. Binky thought nothing of being a little bear “snack”, but she would have no part of “stranger danger”!! Lalo had to chase her all the way back to our house, and of course she used the hole in the fence to get back in. Needless to say we fixed the hole that morning so we would not have Binky running amok in the 1000 acres of woods that surround our house. Yes, we are surrounded by 1000 acres of state land: see our website to view pictures. The funny part of the whole thing was Mark was totally “SURPRISED” that Binky found the hole and got out. All I could say was “Mark pigs are the fourth smartest animal on this planet…. humans, primates, dolphin/whales, THEN PIGS!!!
Mark and I both love Binky and enjoy her “pigness”, BUT I cannot say the same thing for our dogs. My dogs seem to have an invisible target or sign on them that makes them easy pickins for a crafty little pig.
Posted March 4th, 2011 by Nealia
Today in the barn Angie reminded me of something I said recently. I got to thinking and I remembered a bunch of things I never thought I would say …..so here goes.
I never thought I would say, “Mark I would like a baby pig for Christmas!”
I never thought I would HEAR, “The pig is going to make your car stink!”
I never thought I would say, “OH ICK !!! The pig just pooped on me!”
I never thought I would stand outside in the middle of winter and say to a baby pig, “PEE!! PEE!!! PEE!!!” Followed by, “Good Binky! Let’s go get a grape!”
I never thought I would say to Mark, “SSSHHH be quiet the pig is sleeping and I do not want her to wake up!!”
I never thought I would wake up in the morning and see a PIG looking in my bedroom door to see if Mark and I were up yet!! That was followed by, “Mark we have to get up because the pig is looking for us!”
I never thought I would EVER, EVER tell a pig (in a baby voice) that “she is so prrreetttyyy!!”
I never thought I would say in the barn, “OMG!! the pig almost peed on my foot!”
I never thought I would be bragging about how my pig only poos outside and never in the house, and from that thought, I never thought I would have a “House Pig”.
I never thought I would have to explain to an Amish guy that, “Yes I really do have a pig that lives in my house!”
And last but not least I NEVER thought I would be whining to Mark….(drum roll please)……. “OH OOOHHHH MMMAAARRRKKK the PIG PEED IN MY SHOE!!!!” And just for your information I found that out AFTER I put my foot IN my shoe!!
Just a small glimpse of my life with a baby pig!
Posted March 3rd, 2011 by Nealia
I know I have been more than a little late with my blog but it was not because we have a bad pig. The late blog is strictly because my brain told me not to write. I think that winter causes a lot trainers to get a little “down” and I am no exception. I am not sure if it is because of the short days, or maybe there are no shows in the winter to give us our high, but anyway my brain told me not to write and I did not write. Now I am getting emails and personal pleas to write about the pig so that is what I am doing.
The saying “buying a pig in a poke” is what I did. Basically for lack of a better term I bought a wild baby pig. I did check on the Internet and nowhere did I see anything that warned me of buying a wild baby pig. My pig was around people, but she was not “handled” prior to me buying her. After the first week things got better and we were able to get Binky on a schedule. Binky still did not like me petting her or, heaven forbid picking her up, but at least she was screaming a lot less and she was no longer biting me out of fear. Better than everything was that Binky stopped pooping on me. Every afternoon, Mark or I could get her to lay down with us and take a nap. The rest of her day was filled with her looking for food. I was brought back to what one person told me about pigs: Pigs are not dogs. Other than the obvious, pigs ARE totally different than dogs. I started liking my pig more when I stopped treating her like a dog and just accepted her as a pig.
Over the next few weeks I learned there are a whole bunch of different pig noises or a new pig language that I only had to listen to to know more about my pig. Pigs make a low grunting noise almost constantly when they are happy and just “rooting” around. This noise is soft and really very relaxing to listen to and it is almost always accompanied with a wagging tail. Yes, pigs wag their tails when they are happy. In that way, pigs are like dogs. When Jessie came home for a visit shortly after we got Binky she was very careful to ask if the pig wagging its tail meant it it was happy or mad. Jessie as a young child got bit by a cat, when I ask her if she did anything to make the cat mad she replied that she was playing with the cat and it was happy because it was wagging its tail. Then she told me with a totally surprised look, “The cat just bit me!” I told her cats wag their tails when they are angry or irritated, dogs wag their tails when they are happy. Needless to say, Jessie is a dog person to this day, and it was important to her to know the pig was happy. Back to Binky. Pigs wag their tails when they are happy and always when they are eating (which means they are REALLY HAPPY). Binky screams when she wants to be fed or let out of her cage. If we do not do what she wants fast enough, she talks while she is screaming. Binky KNOWS when she is supposed to be fed and she starts grousing about 30 minutes before dinner time. Grousing is like screaming, only not so loud. When Binky plays or runs she barks as she starts out. That noise sounds a little like a dog and Mark was convinced she learned it from our dogs. I do not think she did. I think it is like a startled sound made to warn all the pigs to run. When Binky is happy and laying around, you know, “piglaxxing”, she sucks her tongue and grits her teeth. The tongue sucking sounds like she is peeing, so it is a little nerve racking thinking she is peeing in the house, but the teeth grinding is JUST A LITTLE annoying! All in all at this point I am starting to enjoy my new baby. The next time I write I will tell you about her learning curve.
Posted February 3rd, 2011 by Nealia
After my breakthrough in the end of the first week things went much better. One thing I read a lot on the web was “Pigs are not Dogs.” Well DUH I thought, how could anyone think they are dogs. The more I was around Binky the more that statement came to be true and real to me. My dogs are loving, and loyal. In fact the dogs are like my soldiers, always marching with me going to the barn or going with me from room to room. My dogs are ALWAYS with me, always watching me for the next move, never questioning, and as a matter of fact, I am their job. Binky on the other hand is a slave to her stomach, always on the hunt for food. Binky marches up to me and does not look in my eyes with adoration like the dogs. No, Binky looks in my hands for food. Most of the time her motto is “No treat, No attention!” Once in a great while she will let me scratch her.
Because of this high food drive and a pig’s natural smarts, you can teach pigs tricks and stuff fairly easily, that is IF YOU are smarter than the pig. Mark’s oldest daughter came to our house to stay for a week. Since Kate had been in the Peace Corps in Africa I guess she did not find it as strange to have a pig in the house as most other people might. Maybe she just knows that I am a little off center some of the time and this was just another one of my slightly not normal moves. Anyway, Kate really seemed to like the pig and all of her non-dogness. Every morning while I was in the barn Kate would spend time with Binky and it was not too long that Kate and I decided to “teach” Binky her name. Since all pigs seemed to LOVE Cheerios and Binky was no exception, we used the cereal in our training method. Kate and I sat on the floor about seven feet apart, each armed with a handful of Cheerios. I would call Binky’s name several times and when she came to me to get the Cheerios I would have her sit (easy to do with pigs) and give her one Cheerio. I would then show her my open hand and say, “No more.” Kate then would call Binky’s name and show her the Cheerio. Binky would run to Kate, sit down, get her Cheerio and Kate would show her an open hand and say,”No more.” Kate and I had done the process about four times when Binky learned the whole idea of the game. We did not need to call her; as soon as she saw the open hand she turned her little self around and high tailed it to the other person to get her treat. Binky even learned (or taught me) to play the Cheerio food game with her and just me. Here is Binky’s version: I sit on the couch, Binky comes up, sits down when she see food in my hand, and gets her Cheerio. When I show Binky my open hand she turns and walks around the room in a loop and comes back to me for another Cheerio. Binky will play this game for as long as I give her a Cheerio. Binky will not play this game with apples or grapes as she just loves fruit so much she cannot tear herself away from the fruit. Binky can play the game longer than me as I have had enough after about an hour of “fun”.
As fun as a Binky is sounding, she still has a long way to go. I did not know: Pigs Pee A LOT!! The Internet stuff said pigs used a litter box naturally, which they do IF they are confined to the pig corral. If they are roaming the house, they will pee anywhere every 30 minutes or so. I cannot say this enough, PIGS ARE NOT LIKE CATS EITHER!!! Cats will go their litter box no matter where they are in the house. Pigs will not. Binky does, however, prefer to poo outside, PRAISE THE LORD!! Mark and I both have gotten into the habit of taking Binky outside every 20 to 30 minutes, if Binky pees or poos she gets a grape. Remember I said Binky could figure out the object to a game…well if you are not watching her Binky will go over to a favorite potty spot and just stand there for a few seconds. I guess you could say she pretends to potty just so she can get a grape. Well she only out-smarted me a few times, so now Mark and I have to bend over and watch her go. OMG I hope no one sees me bending over to see whether or not the pig potties. What has become of my life? I do believe it is a little off center. POOR MARK!
I still wonder if Binky likes me. I know she does not LOVE me. I do know that she knows me. Sometimes she will let me pet her and once in a while she will jump on the sofa to sit with me. When she does sit with me, I think to myself “She loves me!!” Then when she is tired of me adoring her, she jumps up, takes a snap at me (does not bite anymore) and jumps down. I can just hear her saying “no food, no lovin’.” I do know the way to a pig’s heart is through their stomach. I have to say even though she is not a dog she is inching her way into my heart.
Posted February 2nd, 2011 by Nealia
I want to start off by saying we love our pig and she is being quite successful in training us.
I had called Jason (my Son) before we got home and we had the “pig area” ready when we got home. I need to stop and tell you my first idea was to put the pig in our dressing area of our house. All the research I had done on the Internet said that pigs had no odor, were easily house trained and were almost born using a litter box. My research also said it was important to keep the piggy in a warm area and it should be a quiet place. I knew for a fact that Gene and Annalize’s pig lives in their house so I was sure that everything I read on the world wide web was true and accurate. When I was calling Jason to have him set up our “pig area” I had in my mind that it would be in Mark’s and my room. When Jason asked me “where do you want me to put the ex-pen?”, for some reason my inner voice said “the laundry room” ( which by the way is next to our kitchen) and for once, my outer voice also said the laundry room. I did have Jason go get a heater so the room would stay warmer. Mark looked so surprised to hear me say the laundry room, that it made me ask him why he was so surprised. Mark told me that he thought all along that the pig should start off in the laundry room but I seemed so intent on wanting her in our room that he decided that he would go with the old saying, “give them enough rope to hang themselves,” and he figured he would be proven right so why argue, let me figure it out myself. Isn’t my husband the best? He is sooo thoughtful of my feelings. Anyway when we got home everything was set up and ready. Thank You Jason!!
To get the pig out of the crate I used my blanket technique, and with just a little bit of ear piercing screams I got her in her “area”. She promptly ran in her crate and stayed until I fed her. Mark and I let her settle for a couple of hours until I could not stand it any more and went in to “bond” with her. Every time I went in the room she ran in her house and only looked at me. I knew she was thinking “That’s the &%!!#@#$&!! that stole me from my home.” I did start learning a few things about pigs. #1: pigs do not care what you are doing to them or how scared they are of you as long as you give them cheerios they will stop screaming and come out of the safe house to get the cheerios that I have in my fingers. #2: baby pigs (and most likely grown pigs) have sharp teeth and will bite the hand that feeds them. #3: all of the sayings like, “you eat like a pig”, or “messy as a pig”, or “squealing like a pig” are TRUE!!!!!! Who would have thought that I would find myself telling her things like, you are eating like a pig. Well DUH she IS A PIG!!! Thank GOD I did not put her in Mark’s and my room! You know the “messy like a pig” is more than true.
Over the next few days I spent hours sitting (not standing because pigs do not like living things standing over them, as they think you might eat them) next to her cage, and trying desperately to get her to “like” (trust) me. On the second day home I decided I needed to hold her and pet her. So out came the trusty blanket and after I caught her I took her screaming into my room to spend some “quiet” time with her. I did mange to get her to be quiet but it took a whole lot of cheerios. She would not scream but she would snap at me any time she had a chance. All of this time Brian (a friend of the family) would sit on the sofa and watch us. Every once in a while he would laugh and ask why I would jump every time the pig snapped at me. I told him I NEEDED my fingers to do my job!! Brian thought it was funny. Jason, I know, thinks I am in some mid-life crisis, and Mark just keeps on handing me more rope. All the time I was holding my pig trying to get her to like me she was either scared $#!tless or had a second line of defense; the first was the super sonic screaming and the second more subtle defense was pooing and peeing on me. The next five days for the pig and me went like this, me sitting for hours by her cage. The dogs sitting for hours outside the laundry room wanting to be with me and find out what the heck was making all the noise. Me getting the blanket, picking up the pig and carrying her through a pack of very excited dogs. Brian sitting on the sofa watching and laughing at the whole “pig” thing. Mark being very patient with the whole process. As much as the dogs wanted to know about the pig was how much Jason stayed away from the pig. The pig continued”pooing” on me, snapping at me and if she had a chance screaming in my ear. After I was finished having “fun” with the pig, I would have to take a shower. Every day it was the same….EVERY DAY!!!!
On the seventh day I had the pig home, just after the pig “snapped” at me and pooed on me, I SNAPPED!!!! I stormed back to the laundry room with the pig screaming in my ear and told Mark, as I went to take a shower, that the pig had to go to a different home as she did not like me!!!!!! Mark looked at me and said, “I think you are selling yourself short, I KNOW how good you are with the horses and dogs!” I stopped and looked at him with my mouth open to say something back and then he said, “You are smart! I think you can figure this out!” Mark told me to give the pig more time, as we had only had her one week. Mark wanted me to be a better person than I was being at that moment! I broke down and cried and told him he was right (as always) and that I would do more research and figure the whole pig thing out, AFTER I took a shower!! Mark’s last words to me as I went to take a shower were “NAME the pig!!!”
I did more reading and found nothing on “what if your pig hates you?” or “why does my pig POOP on me?” but what I did find that stuck out was, pigs are very smart and pigs get very bored!! Armed with a clean body and a new mind set I went back into the “pig’s” room. My new plan was to have her do something other than eating and being held (which by the way they are NOT that fond of). I thought, “I am going to get her to lead, and walk her around.” I put the leash onher and decided to just stay in the laundry room. GUESS WHAT? Even though I was sure she would turn into the Tasmanian Devil-pig, she did not. The pig walked around the room grunting softly with me following her on the end of her leash. After about 2 minutes of exploring “her” room I opened the door and we started walking through the house. NO SCREAMING, NO BITING, AND NO POOING!!! She did have an audience because I had locked the dogs outside and they were all standing noses to the door, wondering “WHAT the &#$%$# is THAT thing walking around our house?” The pig and I walked around the house, ate cheerios (without biting my hand) and had a grand ole time. Later that night when I went in to give her an apple treat for the night, I decided I would name her “Binky”. Why Binky you ask? Well, one of my favorite dogs was named “Dinky” and I wanted the pig to be named after her. Since the pig was not a dog I named her Binky which is not the same but is still close. From that point on Binky and I had a better relationship and I knew Mark was right! I COULD FIGURE IT OUT!!!
Posted January 27th, 2011 by Nealia
Mark, the sweet baby pig and I had just made our first pit stop on the way home and we were back to driving. So far the sweet piglet was VERY quiet in her crate and Mark and I only heard soft grunting once in a while. So far so good. Mark and I always like traveling together in the car because we really like each other and this is one time when it is just us, no dogs, no phones, no TV just us…well us plus a tiny piglet. We had hoped to drive straight home as it would have been a 19 hour trip and with two drivers that would not be a big deal, but so far the trip was already behind schedule. Picking up the pig was supposed to just add 45 minutes to our trip but then we had to add a trip to Wal-Mart. We did not realize there would be holiday traffic. Wy we did not think there would be holiday traffic on New Year’s weekend is beyond me, but we both seemed to have had a “blond” moment on the whole trip as far as the traffic went. The traffic was bumper to bumper on Interstate 95 and that added a couple more hours on to our first day of driving.
It was late in the afternoon when we decided to stop for our second pit stop. Mark filled the car up with gas while I went inside. While Mark went inside to hunt and gather dinner I thought it would be a good time to “walk” the pig. I lead and handle horses for a living AND I have taught more than my share of puppies to walk on a leash, so how hard would this tiny, sweet little piglet be? After all she is already proving to be above normal in her crate/car behavior. HELL her poop did really stink! This was the perfect sweet baby pig. I decided that the best way to catch her was with the blanket again because I had held her in the car and fed her Cheerios at our first pit stop and that went well. Step 1: get the blanket on the piglet. Step 2: put my fingers in my ears to keep out the super sonic squealing coming out of my piglets mouth. OH WAIT, I NEED BOTH HANDS!! OK step 3: get the leash on the tiny baby pig with the super sonic screaming while keeping the blanket on her AND resisting the urge to put my fingers in my ears. Step 4: carry the screaming, wiggling, deliverance-like baby pig to the grass. Step 5: take the blanket off and walk the pig ……NOT! As soon as I put her down and removed the blanket my sweet baby piglet turned into a whirling devil, screaming, spinning, jumping. In fact the first thought that went through my head was of the cartoons of the Tasmanian Devil; You know, a smallish tornado where all you see is a foot, then a face, or an ear, or even a tail. All of this added to an even louder super sonic screaming. Just when I thought it could not get worse, I saw her harness starting to slip off. OMG I thought !!! If the harness comes off, the devil pig will be gone and fat me would never be able to catch her. So with the speed of a super hero I threw the blanket over her and picked her up. As I was carrying her to the car I looked around to see how many people were watching this scene of a lady trying to kill a Tasmanian Devil, otherwise known as my sweet baby pig. No one seemed to notice. I am glad I was not being killed and needed some one to help me.
When Mark returned to the car he must have seen an odd sight in the car, his wife panting wildly, face white as a sheet, and my eyes as big a silver dollars and my hair just a little more unruly than usual. The pig on the other hand had transformed into a sweet baby pig, because just as I put her in the cage I threw a handful of Cheerios at her. Mark looked at me and said “What happened to you?!!” After I calmed down I told him the story of how my sweet baby pig was an Amityville-Horror-Tasmanian-Devil- pig. Mark looked at me then looked at a very quiet little piglet grunting softly as she ate her treats, and he said “Maybe we should NOT drive straight home. We should get a hotel for the night so YOU can rest.” I think he was afraid to have me drive as he was sure I was WAAAAAY past being over-tired!!!!
Mark drove until about 10 pm (he said he did not need me to drive) before he decided it was time to stop for the night. Anyone who knows Mark, KNOWS he is not a rule-breaker or for that fact a rule-bender, so when he checked in the hotel I made him promise to only ask the hotel clerk if the hotel was pet friendly. I knew if he told them we had a pig they would not rent us a room. Mark came out and said he felt better as the hotel was indeed “pet friendly”. We decided (well me really) to leave the pig in her crate for the night as I did not want the wake the whole hotel with my super sonic pig. I knew we would have been asked to leave! So picture this: Mark and I carrying ( trying to sneak) an over-sized “dog” crate into the back door of the hotel.
The night went well, and for that matter, so did the rest of our trip home. I thought it best to leave my sweet baby pig in her crate. My nerves, my pride and for that fact, my ears could not take any more this trip and a screaming pig. To this point Mark still had not heard the sweet piglet scream. I think he really did not believe me. Well, he believed me, he just thought I was stretching the truth a bit. He will find out, I thought ….when we get home.
Posted January 25th, 2011 by Nealia
Armed with a Febreze can, plastic bags, baby butt wipes and a stack of new towels, Mark, the pig and I head home to New Jersey. As I said before, the first 15 minutes in the car were almost total silence. All I could hear was a soft grunting coming from the crate. Anyone who knows me knows I cannot sit silent for long, so it did not take long before I started talking. Mark and I both were amazed at how quiet this pig was and I think that lulled me into thinking raising a baby mini pig was going to be a mini project.
After an hour in the car we needed to stop for gas and get lunch so we pulled around to the back of a McDonald’s so I could tend to the pig and Mark could hunt and gather our lunch caveman style, only in the year 2011 that just means go into the McDonald’s and bring the food back to the car. My job was to “watch” the pig. I watched the pig for about 5 minutes and then decided to take my sweet baby out and let her get to know me. Something that I did not know and I am quite sure I did not read on any website was, baby pigs have really sharp teeth, and will bite when they are scared. I also realized that even though I deal with 1000-pound horses every day and I never back down, that I could jump backwards out of the back of a car really fast when tiny, but really sharp baby pig teeth touch my hand. I looked around and saw that no one saw my backwards jump stunt, and even though I was just a little bit unnerved, I decided I needed a plan B. I took a blanket out of the back seat and used it to cover the pig, teeth and all. All I could think of was it did not look like this on the Internet. The minute the blanket touched the pig, the incredibly loud screaming started. And NO it was not me screaming, it was my super sonic pig screaming. I quickly wrapped up the pig and got to the front seat, grabbed the Cheerios and got in and closed the door. As loud as the pig scream was when I put the blanket on her, the sound was intensified to a new level in a closed up car. I was not sure what to do but I decided to try and give the pig some Cheerios. In my mind, missing a finger or two was a better option than losing my hearing. The minute, NO, the second the pig smelled the Cheerios at her nose the noise stopped and she happily munched on Cheerios as fast as I could get them to her mouth (or danger zone #1).
Everything was going great when Mark returned to the car with lunch. As Mark gets in the car he said, “Oh it is nice to see you and the pig getting along so well” or at least that is what I thought he said because my ears were still ringing. I just nodded my head yes. I had to put the pig back into her crate before I ate so I carefully got out of the car and opened the back seat door to put my sweet baby in her crate. It was then I learned about danger zone #2, and as I found out, I was literally able to scare the $#!t out of this pig. The pig’s danger zone #2 had produced a heaping pile of #2. “Oh CRAP!!!” I said in my best Wisconsin accent. Mark replies “What’s wrong?” I said, “Well the pig just pooed in the blanket.” I used the word ‘pooed’ because I thought it did not sound as stinky as the word $#!t did. I thought it was kind of like a new baby pooes not craps or $#!ts in their diaper. Mark replied “Funny, I do not smell anything” and it was then that I KNEW my husband had become more of a horse person than a New York Suit. I do have to admit the the piggy poo really did not have too much smell. Oh lucky day! The pig so far was quiet in the car (THANK GOD for that because I had already had a sample of what that would sound like in a closed up car) and baby piggy poo did not smell too bad!
Once again we were back to driving with only 19 hours left until we get home. So far, mostly good. I again was lulled into a dream of my perfect, sweet baby pig.
Posted January 24th, 2011 by Nealia
As you know I have picked out the pig and since Mark and I were going to Florida and that is were the pig was, we decided we would pick up the pig and NOT fly her on a plane. I talked to the man who had the pig and told him we would be driving the Excursion and we would have plenty of room for a crate and he agreed that would be suitable for our pig. Mark and I both knew that picking up the pig before we went to his mother’s house was not an option, we would get the pig on our way home. I did try and think of ANY way to ask Mark’s mother if she would mind if we brought a pig to stay for a few days but I was quite sure that most people who had a house decorated in white and cream colors from top to bottom, and whose house never had a speck of dirt, dust or anything even close to slightly pig-like would think I had lost my mind. As I think about it now I am sure most people probably think I have lost my mind!
My week in Florida went a little slow as I was excited to get my new girl, and most of what we did in Florida was watch Bowl games. Anyone who KNOWS me KNOWS I do not give a flying flip about football or any other sport that does not include horses. I am sure that I must have watched about 1000 football games (Mark said 5 at most) and I can tell you now the ONLY thing that saved me from poking out my eyes was instant replay and those lines they put on TV that are not really on the field (line of scrimmage the blue one & the first down line the yellow one). Those two things sort of helped me understand what was going on. I also learned that 30 seconds left on the clock can totally change the outcome of a game and it can last up to 30 minutes.
At last it was time to go get the pig. Oh, did I tell you we decided to drive Mark’s car down (an Infinity)? Well, that comes into play when we get at the pig place. We drive up and the man says I thought you were bringing your truck! I told him plans had changed and we drove the car instead. One thing you have to know is Mark is picky about his car, almost no dogs are allowed in the car, no mud, or dirt, and he cleans it all the time. The (pig) man then proceeds to tell us that A) the pig will scream all the way home (20 hours) and B) the pig will for sure “stink up the car!!!!” I look at Mark’s face and I can see he looks as if he is made of stone! His face has not changed but he is staring straight ahead not blinking or moving. After I determine he is indeed breathing, I was hoping maybe he did not hear the “stink up the car ” part. NOOOOOOO he heard it ALL and with one quick movement he shot me a look that told me with no words that he would not tolerate ANY stinking pig smells!!!! I quickly shot into fast horse trainer mode and said “let’s just drive to Wal-Mart and get some cleaning supplies and a bunch of febreze……. Honey!” Mark said “that is an idea, let’s go before we take the pig.”
One trip to Wal-Mart and back to the pig farm and we pick up our new baby girl, KINDA…… Did you know that if pigs have not been handled much they are…. for lack of a better term… WILD! Did you know that a screaming pig is about like having a siren from a firetruck right next to you? Well I did not, but I do NOW!!! And I did not realize that not all pig people handle their baby pigs but you know what? I do now!
As we put the pig in the crate, and the crate in the car I was sure we would be driving for 20 hours with a screaming pig. I was equally sure we would be A) deaf, and B) divorced. Just before we started the car I looked at Mark and said “I love you”. Mark started the car and when it started to move the pig got quiet. Can you believe that? Mark and I drove in silence for the first 15 minutes for fear the sweet baby pig would start screaming…. but she did not. All we heard out of the pig were some low grunt-like noises. I can tell you then I was sure I was a pig whisperer and we had the sweetest pig in the world.
Check in tomorrow for our trip home with our little piggy angel baby.
Posted January 21st, 2011 by Nealia
I have been a very naughty blogger for a while but Mark has been after me to start blogging again. Several months ago I was at a barn in Kentucky and while I will not say who they are, I will say the transplants from South Africa , via Oregon, with their precious pig named Bacon made me want a mini pig.
Just before Christmas Mark asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I half joking said, a baby mini pig. Then I started doing research on the mini pigs, and the more I read the more I wanted a mini pig. First of all the pictures and videos of the tiny creatures got me hook, line and sinker. After all of 5 minutes on the world wide web, I learned Pigs are smart, clean, litter box trained (kinda) AND THEY ARE JUST TOOOO DAMN CUTE!!!!
What started kind of like a joke ended up into a full blown Internet (and almost a body cavity search ) for my soon to be new baby mini pig. I lost sleep because of the little porkers, I ate my meals thinking about swine and I can say for sure Mark (my husband) looked at more baby pig pictures than he will admit. After viewing 1000’s of the oinkers I finally choose my little piggie soul mate. KINDA!
I finally chose a black and white female pig that was labeled as tuxedo in color. How formal I thought! After all I know a lot about animals and this pig will be going to the horse shows with me, so she should be a little dressed up for traveling as she will be representing the mini pigs all across this great country. Maybe I should name her Sherry Templepig! As she will be so great, she will be an ambassador for her kind.
This was my dream before I got my precious darling swine. Tomorrow I will tell you about our trip to a foreign country (FLORIDA) to pick up Mark’s and my new baby.
Have you ever wondered why most baby mini pig websites do not show you any adult pigs?
Have you ever wondered where the term “squeal like a pig” comes from?
Well stay tuned right here, same blog, same blogger, and learn the answers to these VERY IMPORTANT questions.
I am THANKFUL for my Christmas present from Mark in 2010.