[Gpdd] BEHAVIOUR Getting a piggy to trust you.

[Penny Charlesworth]

I missed the original post about this. That's the downside of having the posts delivered individually. One does not now if any are missing.

Having always had a herd of piggies, gaining the trust of one is never a problem. A new boar will be paired up with another and a new sow or already neutered boar can go into an existing group, where the newcomer rapidly learns from the other/s that the person bearing veggies is to be trusted.

Within a matter of days, sometimes sooner, the new one will be at the front of the pen shouting for food along with the other residents and quickly realises that being picked up means a cuddle or an extra treat. 

Herd behaviour is a lot different to the single piggy and I hope that more GPDDers with single piggies will offer help here.

Can I remember having only one piggy? I started with just one back in the sixties. He lived in my bedroom and was my contant companion, being carried around everywhere and enjoying runs in the garden with my tortoises. How did I gain his trust? I believe that it was innate, his mother being the much loved pet of the lady who ran our local petshop, back when petshops were just that - not vast hangers full of pet products and a lot of uncaring staff. He was picked up and loved from day one and continued in that vein for all of his seven years. I visited him every day until he was weaned and came home.

It was not long before he was joined by another boar, who, initially, was scared, having come from a home where he was generally ignored but he soon learned what it was to be loved and became as friendly as my original piggy.

The numbers just grew after that and it has always been the case of adding another to the herd.

Bless you Scobie and Digger, who started me on the road to Piggyfriends all those years ago.

Good luck to all new piggy slaves. Remember that two is always better than one and three is even better and maybe four.......................if you have the room. They are herd animals and love company.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.