Thursday, October 21, 2010

A bit of a setback today...

...but a prime example of what I've been saying. I cannot stress this enough...it is SO important to understand this before you bring a house pig home.

I had to run into town today to drop my daughter off at work, so I had to cut MacGyver's 10am walk short. I've been taking him out between 4-5 hours every day...either walking or standing as he digs for China - and even this is not enough. I cannot stress enough how much pigs NEED this outlet for their energy. Because I had to leave, I had to rush his time outside this morning and bring him back in before he was ready. I wasn't gone very long before my other daughter (who was still home) called to tell me that he was destroying our house! He had smashed his way through the gate separating him from the other pigs (thank God they were outside) and was moving the living room furniture around! There was nothing she could do. This went on for 2 hours.

When I got home, it looked like a tornado had hit my living room...I really should have taken pictures! Cassidy met me at the door with a smile (which really surprised me after the 5 or 6 frantic phone calls I had received in the hour leading up to this moment telling me to COME HOME NOW!) and informed me that MacGyver finally tuckered out and went to sleep just as I was pulling in to the drive way. You gotta love my kids! I was braced for her wrath, but instead I got a smile. :o) She offered to clean up the mess (bless her heart) while I took MacGyver out for a longer walk. An hour later, I brought him back in and he's been sleeping like a baby ever since. This is normal.

This is exactly what happens when people who don't have the space, time or patience decide to bring home a pot-bellied pig. It's not always as noticable when the pig is small, but becomes VERY obvious when it matures and has the brute force a grown pig has behind it. When a pig can't release it's energy by rooting, bad things ALWAYS happen. They become destructive and wreck things and then they are considered too difficult to handle or have in the house. Then they are sent outside to live alone, where they only get worse. They become wild and even more difficult to handle and then nobody wants them. People need to realize this. Was it a pain in the butt having him do this today? Absolutely. Does it mean he's a rotten beast? Not at all. Unfortunately, because MacGyver has already been through the senario I just mentioned, he IS wild right now and the only way for me to change that is to be with him all the time. That means he can only go outside when I am able to take him on a leash or I wouldn't be able to catch him again. I cut his time short today...not him. If you have a pig who isn't getting enough outside activity, doing what he loves to do (root, root and root some more), he WILL BE DESTRUCTIVE and it's YOUR fault not his. This is the kind of thing that makes people give up on their pigs and it's the kind of thing that leads to them being abandoned, abused and slaughtered. A wild adult pig is almost impossible to find a good home for. This isn't an exception to the rule...this IS the rule with pigs.

Once I can let him out free with the other pigs, this won't be a problem. My other pigs are able to spend as much time outdoors as they want and usually just sleep when they do come inside. It will take some time and won't always be easy to get him to that point, but I know it will be worth it. He's worth it.

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