Re-Socializing our piglet?

Question
Our little Piglet was so socil when we had her in the house, she loved to cuddle and be held. but when she grew a bit, we moved outside into our barn. shortly after she got settled into our barn, we took her into the school to show her off. she didnt like being led of the leash amounst children trying to grab at her. wehn we brought her home she want back in tha barn. about a week after, we intorduced her to our other pigs and let her have full access of the lawn.it has been about three weeks since she was put on the lawn. but now, we can't come near her, she freaks out and runs away. our other pigs are calm and friendly, so they havent influenced her at all. how can we make her our sweet little girl again? we are desperate!

Answer
The problem here is that piggy had a couple of traumatic experiences, then was placed in an open herd setting before she had a chance to recover. She quickly learned that she is a pig, not a person, and prefers the company of pigs. This is fixable, but you'll have to start at square one as if piggy was never socialized.

Start by separating her from the other pigs, in her own private stall or pen. This may not be easy to do. You might be able to lure her in with food. Or, you may need to lure all the pigs in, then remove the others leaving her. You'll need to keep her separate for at least a couple of weeks.

Enter the stall or pen and sit on the floor with her dinner dish with 1/2 her dinner in your hands. Put the dish down. Softly call piggy to you. Let piggy approach you to eat. Don't move and continue to speak quietly. Let piggy eat, and sniff and explore you. Tell piggy what you are going to do before you do it, like "Touch Piggy Back" or "Rub Piggy Belly". Then leave. Go back an hour or so later, this time with the second half of dinner. You can also do this in between meals with a few low calorie treats.

It also helps to visit late in the evening after dinner during piggy sleepy time. Enter the pen and approach piggy slowly, speaking softly the whole time. Again, tell piggy what you're going to do before you do it. Sleepy piglets like tummy rubs, if they aren't startled.

After doing this for a few meals, piggy should be comfortable approaching you to eat. You should be able to rub piggy all over as she eats. Now it's time to start harness and potty training. Piggy may have unpleasant memories associated with the harness, so take it slow. If you can, start fresh with a brand new harness, or a harness that was used by your other pigs and smells like them.

At this point, if piggy comes to you when called, can wear a harness, and is not frightened when you enter the pen, you can return her to the herd. Continue to work with her, separate from the herd, on a daily basis. Eventually, she'll come to think of it as your special time together, when she can enjoy treats that the other pigs don't know about!

Finally, I highly recommend the book Pot Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine. Pris is a professional pig trainer and really understands how pigs think and why they do the things they do. She goes into socializing and potty training in much more detail than I can here. Her book is available on Amazon.