Piggy Question

Question
Hello my name is Tess and I have a mini pot bellied pig. I got her as a gift about 3 months ago. When we got her she was 6 months old and potty trained. this is my first pet so I am still learning. For about the last month and a half she keeps going potty in the same spot in the house in front of my room mates door. She peeps and poops there, sometimes we don't realize for a few hours. We have cleaned it up and tried to put her outside when it happens and I now know pigs don't take well to discipline. We try our hardest to keep an eye on her but she continues to go potty there. My room mate is fed up with it and wants us to get rid of the pig. There has to be something we can do to fix this. She also keeps going potty in her kennel. She sleeps there and I have to take all the bedding out and wash it on a weekly basis. I give her a bath about once a week or more if she has poop all over her. From going to never having a pet to having to deal with poop in the house on a daily basis isn't fun at all. My son who is 7 is besties with the piggy.She sleeps in his bed mos nights and they snuggle and it's great. His room seems to be the only place she won't go potty so we try to keep her in there a lot while we are home. But she loves to roam the house, she jumps on the couch and sleeps next to the dog a lot which is great. I need to igure out this going potty thing asap before I am forced to give her up which will breaks my son's heart. Please help....

Thank you, Tess

Answer
Pigs learn quickly but unlearn slowly. Right now your pig has learned some bad habits. She can re-learn new ones, but it will take time. Even after she seems to have "relearned", she will still remember. So she needs a new routine, and she needs to stick to it for a very long time.

The best thing to do is start potty training all over at the beginning. Your pig is about 9 months old, so she should be able to hold her potty for about 2 hours. But, she's still pretty young, and still may not realize she has to go until it's too late for her to hold it.

Pigs normally do not like to potty in their beds. However, a pig locked in a crate for a long time will not have a choice. After a few times of being forced to potty in bed, piggy becomes used to it.

The trick to training a pig is to set the pig up to succeed. For potty training, this means making sure piggy doesn't have an opportunity to have an accidental potty in the wrong place. She's used to pottying in the kennel, so to start over, she needs a new safe space and new bedding. A small room like a laundry room or bathroom will work. If the choice is a bedroom, get a toddler fence and give her just one corner. Put a litter box and her new bedding in her space. Put a piece of her poop in the litter box so she knows what it's for.

A good litter box has low sides, because pigs do not like to step up to go potty. It needs to be big enough for piggy to turn around comfortably, and have a non-slip surface so piggy will not fall while pottying. Cat liter is not a good choice because pigs often eat cat litter and that can be fatal. Pine shavings, shredded newspaper or paper pellets work well. Some people use puppy pee pads, some use old towels that are washed daily, and some people use no litter at all, just a non-slip rubber mat, and the box is hosed out.

When you can not be right beside piggy, put her in her safe space. Pigs do not like to travel far to potty and young piglets simply can't hold it long enough to travel. So keep her right near her box unless she is right next to you.

Take her to the litter box or outside first thing in the morning when she wakes up, or any time she wakes up from a nap. Make her potty before every meal, and every couple of hours when she is awake. The idea is to keep her so empty she doesn't have a chance to make a potty mistake. It can help to set a timer and take her to the box or outside every hour or so. Keeping her on a harness and lead helps too, because you can be more aware of her body language and cues.

Piggy may seem to catch on after a week or two, but you will need to keep the routine going. It may take as long as 6 months for her to forget her potty mistakes.

Never let her linger near your rommates door. Clean the area with any quality product designed to remove pet urine odors. Put her on a harness and lead when you must walk her down that hallway, never let her wander there by herself.