7wk old male neutered mini pig

Question
HELP!! my husband and I got our mini pig almost 3wks ago,he was only a month old.We live in virginia and he was shipped by airlines from texas.I was told that before he was shipped little girls were dressing him up, carrying him around, pushing in stroller and so on, so he was socialized some. He wants nothing to do with us! We cant hardly pet him or anything, this is hard to type so I apoligize in advance for the broken up sentences, just typing what comes to mind. He wants food constantly and we cant pet him, he backs and or runs away when we reach are hand out, he only wants us if we have food. The breeder told me to keep picking him up and he will bond with us and get used to it. He squeals VERY LOUDLY and sometimes we are forced to put him back down. We try to hold him till he stops but sometimes it lasts for 15mins or more before he calms down, we were told to hold him till he stops. We have made little progress but it seems like if we make progress one day its like the next morning he forgets who we are. I'm starting to wonder if he needs more time and attention then we can provide.All we have tried to do is love the little guy, now he tries to snap at us and has this deep almost demanding "oink" or grunt like give me food. The little progress is that we can pet him in his bed(only on his terms) and do some things to him, but outside of his bed(wich he really loves) we cant do anything. Who wnats a pet that you cant touch?? I have read that the harness training is really good but we would have to hold himdown just to get something on him. He also has black spots in his ears taht wont wipe off, looks like a bunch of dirt is this mites? also has reddish brown gunk in his eyes that I am constantly trying to wipe. One good thing is he uses the cedar shavings box we have for him but the past few days he has been having some accidents. He now follows us arounf the house but petting him forget about it. I guess my main questions are is he still scared or just being stubborn? I feel like hes not even trainable if we can barely touch him but i also feel like if we can do that stuff to him when hes in his bed why cant we do it when hes not in it. I'm ready to give up! but we are getting so attached even though he doesnt like us. I am thinkig about trying to send him back refund or not but hate the thought of putting him through that traumatic flight again, but in the end I want to do what is in the best interest of the pig. Any and all advice would be Greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time in reading this, I have always dreamed about a pet pig and am extremely disappointed about the experience. I guess I only researched the good things about pigs. I dont want to confuse the poor guy I guess it comes down to send him back now or give him a little more time to come arond. Maybe it is possible he over bonded with this lady's daughter and misses her. I took the next 3 days off work and have devoted them to him and expect myself to make a discision by wednesday. Thanks for reading sorry its so random. The experience has been bad, bottom line is the only good thing is potty trained and can pet him only in his bed.

Answer
Your little piggy is confused. He's been through a lot in his short life.

The general rule of thumb is 1/2 cup of pot-bellied pig pellets per day for a piglet 15 lbs or less, plus fruits and veggies. Pigs naturally wean their babies at about 8 to 9 weeks, so your piggy is at the age where he should be willing to sample different kinds of food for treats.

It's good that he already associates you with food. So for now, feed him only from your hand. Start by sitting with him in a small, quiet room. Hold some pig pellets in your hand. Speak to him softly and quietly and let him come to you. Tell him you're going to touch him before you do it, for example "Touch piggy side, or Touch piggy ear". Stay calm and be persistent. Take a break for a few hours, then start again.

Piggy moms never pick up their babies. The only time a piglet is lifted is when a predator snatches them for dinner, so piglets naturally hate to be held. They need to learn to enjoy it.

Once he's eating from your hand as you touch him, let him climb all over you and explore in your lap. Continue feeding him only from your hand, but now only when he's sitting in your lap and you're holding him. The next step is to sit in a chair instead of on the floor, and finally, hold him while standing and feeding him.

At this point you can start feeding him from his dish again, and work on tricks like Spin or Sit. Trick training really isn't about the tricks, it's about piggy and owner learning to communicate with each other.

Take him to his potty box often, piglets his age usually need to go once an hour or so.

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. Her book is available from Amazon.com. Yahoo Groups has several groups devoted to pot-bellied pigs. PigInfoAndChat and PotSpot are two good ones. They are friendly groups and can give you lots of support and advice. Finally, some good websites about caring for and training pot-bellied pigs are farec.org and pigs4ever.com