Guinea Hog that Jumps up

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
We have a female, 9 month old American Guinea Hog that was given to us by a neighbor. She is probably about 65lbs. At her former home all she did was run the pasture since weaning. As a result she was rather thin when we got her. Well, she has discovered that she LOVES being fed. We are careful not to overfeed her but she does need to be confined more than she was at her previous home so isn't getting everything from pasture.

Anyway, she gets excited about food and jumps up. Her pen has two doors-a top one and a bottom. I unlatch the top one to feed her. I like clicker training and right now have her to where she will sit when she sees me and I am working on reinforcing the duration of that.

That's all fine when she's in her pen and most of the time she's fine when she's allowed out to root around but sometimes she does get excited. She hasn't actually jumped on me yet. I try to stop it when I see the thought forming. So far, stomping my foot at her and saying "no" firmly is working but I would like to know what else I can do to keep her from jumping up. I'm also somewhat afraid she will bite. She doesn't seem really aggressive but she did snap at my dog once-didn't bite him or continue to go after him but did snap at him. There was a persimmon on the ground and she wanted it! We have had large farm hogs in the past and I never even thought about them  biting me and they never tried to jump up.

Anyway, I want to stop this before it gets started and have a nice pet pig! Any help would be VERY appreciated!

ANSWER: Guinea hogs are cousins of farm hogs, but they behave differently. Farm hogs have been bred for thousands of years for docile temperament as well as meat. Guinea hogs are much less domesticated.

Pigs see the world as a ladder, with each person, pet and pig having his or her own rung. Naturally, the pig wants to be as high on the ladder as possible. Pig will challenge other pigs, pets and people that he thinks he can beat. If a person, pet or pig is very high on the ladder, the pig will respect and accept that.

Harness and trick training will help a lot. Trick training isn't about tricks, it's about the person and the pig learning to communicate with each other. The person learns the pigs body language, and the pig learns to obey and respect the person. This puts the person above the pig on that social ladder.

Harness training reinforces that respect. And in many cases, it really is about respect. The pig respects the fact that he is on a harness and lead. A large pig can easily drag a person, so it isn't a matter of physical dominance at all. If it was about who's bigger and stronger, the pig wins. It's about how the pig views his world ladder.

You are on the right track with clicker training. Making her sit and stay that way until you've set down her food dish is a good first step to controlling the jumping up. If she learns that she must sit to get dinner, she will sit!

The snap with the dog over the persimmon is an example of piggy displaying dominance over doggy. Piggy was not interested in hurting the dog or even chasing him. She wanted the persimmon, and felt she was above the dog on the ladder and entitled to it, so she took it.

Keep a close eye on the snapping situation. It may be limited to situations like you've described. It's also important that Piggy learn to respect other people in general as being higher on the ladder. You can do that by having other people make piggy perform tricks, or sit with the clicker.

John Vincent at Top Hogs has trained many "wild" pigs. I recommend his dvds "Amazing Pig Tricks" and "There's a Pig in the House". Now I realize your pig is not in the house, but you might find some useful information in how he uses his methods. I also recommend the book "Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training" by Priscilla Valentine. Pris really understands how pigs think and why they do the things they do. Your pig is probably going to be more energetic and "wild" or "skittish" than the average pot-bellied pig due to breeding, but every pig is trainable.




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks very much for your reply. Very helpful! One other thing, would you recommend a pot bellied pig as a companion for her? If yes, male or female? She is not isolated and has other livestock in the same area with her but no other pigs.

Answer
Yes, I think she would be happier with a companion pig. Pig friendships often start out a little rough, because the pigs must decide between themselves who is going to be top hog and who is going to be second fiddle. But after the two pigs reach an agreement (this may take a bit of time and some loud fighting), they will usually be fast friends.

As long as the companion pig is spayed or neutered, the sex won't matter. I totally recommend getting your guinea hog spayed, I am a firm believer in spaying and neutering. When pigs are spayed and neutered, their sex plays a tiny role in personality. Female tend to be more vocal, and are usually leaders in herd settings, but two female pigs will often form a very deep bond.

Pigs usually get along very well with other livestock animals like cows, llamas, sheep, goats, horses, etc. But not always. It's a good idea to always isolate the pigs at feeding time, because pigs can be aggressive about taking food from other animals dishes. That can really upset the other animals and cause a bit of unpleasant fighting. Larger animals, like horses or big goats, can seriously hurt or even kill a pig by kicking or butting.