Quality Time With Your Pet Pig

With our busy lives and having a pet pig it's important that we remember to spend some quality time with them. Whether it's 5-10 minutes here and there or an hour or more. Make that time with them count.

For most people with an inside pig this can be an easy thing to do. Let them sit or lay with you while catching a favorite show on TV or catching up on reading. We did this for several years with Ziggy and Flower. Every afternoon we would stop what we were doing and take a break to watch a favorite show. The pigs had an hour of our attention and even learned to recognize the opening music. Take this time to love on them and groom them..they will look forward to it. Ours knew that I would be checking their ears and eyes and picking off any flakes that they had.

Years later when it was just one house pig we would go for evening walks around the property and even the cat would tag along. It was quality time that we spent together. As well as that hour with me sitting on floor in the evening with him.

Now all of the pigs here live outside and it is harder spending quality time with those that want it, especially now that life is busier. Yes there are some days when a real effort had to be made to spend that extra 5-10 minutes that they want. Rudy is that pig that is always into something and we have to wonder if he is doing it for the attention. He really just wants 5-10 minutes of our time for a belly rub and to be loved on. Gracie seems to be more independent and does enjoy a belly rub, but is always alert...never seems to really relax. Harley also enjoys a good belly rub. Of the rest 3 don't want to be touched and the other 3 will let you touch them, but are always cautious. They seem to be fine with a roof over their heads and food in their tummies.

Now with Porky who was an outside pet even before coming here seems to go through stages as to how much attention he wants. The end of summer we started taking a walk around part of the yard shortly before he was to go in his pen for the night. It is our one on one time. He hasn't been much for belly rubs until lately or letting me clean his face, but now he wants the belly rubs and puts up with me trying to clean his face...to a point. We have missed some of our walks lately with Hurricane Irma and trying to get things cleaned up, but we are continuing to bond and have our one on one quality time every evening. Remember it is about quality not quantity...make that 5-10 minutes count! They will remember.

Dottie and Porky