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When you bring your new pig home from the airport, or pick up from me, it will be nervous and scared, since he/she has left all the litter mates and familiar surroundings behind. It takes some adjusting to their new home. For the firsts two days, you need to allow time to spend holding your piglet, wrapped securely in a blanket. Make sure his/her legs are completely snug and wrapped. This gives them security--kind of like the "Thunder Shirt" wraps they sell for dogs who experience anxiety. |
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Watching TV is a good time for both you and piggy to relax and get to know one another. Once they are comfortable with you, you will need to begin rubbing them all over and handling their hooves. This builds trust for later when you have to file nails or give baths. If you are patient and hold your piglets the way I recommend, the piglet will be following you everywhere in 24-48 hours.
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You will NOT have good results if you turn your piglet loose in the house without bonding with him first...If he is scared, instinct is to run, and then you just go backwards on the trust because you have to corner them and catch them. This is why holding/bonding is so important. |
The first few days is a great bonding period. but after these initial "welcoming in" stages, you will want to let your piglet have his alone time in his area. There can be a fine line between spending enough time, and too much time. While you want to take the time to get to k now your piglet and have him or her trust you, you also want to make sure you do not lavish too much attention on your baby, or he will come to expect attention all of the time. This is also true of using food as a training tool--you don't want them expecting a treat every time you are near them.
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Socializing the new piglet with your existing pets is all depending on your animal. The piglet will automatically want to follow around a dog or cat as a best friend, but sometimes the dog may not like this at first and think it is an invasion of their space...so you might have to go about this gradually. |
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