Pot belly behaviors

Question
I have a 5 month old female pot belly named Annabel!  We have had an easy time training her and she is really attached to me (momma).  We have only had her for 2 months, but have had no domination acts or aggression out of her!  This month though, she has become very physical we me right before I started my menstrual cycle and once I started she she stopped her jumping on me and biting me, but now she has started the behaviors again and I just finished my cycle.  She is not exerting any aggression toward my kids or other animals, just me!  I was wondering if there are any suggestions about what she is trying to gain or what she is sensing.... I love my Annabel and she is a joy, but I can't walk around my house without her jumping on my leg or biting my heals!  Is this normal for her sensing my menstrual cycle or could it be something else?

Answer
Is Annabel spayed? She is at the age for her cycles to start. The behavior you describe is typical of female pigs in heat who have picked a "mate".

As she gets older, the problem may get worse. During heat female pigs often forget their potty training. They may become escape artists and sneak out of pens or fences that previous seemed secure.

Spaying is the best solution. It eliminates the symptoms of heat and prevents uterine tumors. There's a list of vets that see pot-bellied pigs at www.farec.org If there are none near you, contact farec and ask if they can refer you to someone.

I highly 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. Because your piggy has already started to exhibit some aggression, she could benefit from a little extra training now to prevent the problem from growing worse. Priscilla goes into this in much more detail than I can here.