bad piggy

Question
I recently got a 4 year old pot belly pig from a lady she is fixed and at first was friendly, I got her home and confined her to one area with litter box> She is very aggressive to me she bit my foot today and will try to use my carpet to go to the bathroom.When she bit me I was just giving her a grape and she was doing some tricks than she lunged and got me. I scolded her and got her back into her area, my wife likes her and I'm afraid of her what to do? help


Answer
Your piggy is frightened and confused. She does not understand that she was given away. She misses her home and is acting out in the only way she knows how. It's very kind of you to open your home and heart to her.

The trick here is to stop the bad behavior as quickly as possible while helping your piggy forget her old home and bond with you.

Be firm with the potty training. Go back to step 1 as if she was never trained. Before she's allowed to leave her room, make sure she either uses the box OR is taken DIRECTLY outside to potty (no stopping along the way!). Take her to potty before and after eating, as soon as she wakes up from naps, and every couple of hours in general.

If she has dribbled on your carpet, she may be able to smell it even tho no person can. So clean the area thoroughly with a pet odor/urine odor killing product.

Keep up with the training sessions, but keep them short. Take her out to potty, then have her do a few tricks, then back to her private area and let her settle down for a few minutes.

Pigs love to snurdle on feet. It's best to teach her not to do that. When she approaches feet to sniff, push her away and say "No", then immediately ask her to "sit" or "turn" or some other simple trick and reward her for the trick (you may need to keep a supply of treats handy at all times!).

I totally recommend the book Pot-Bellied Pig Behavior and Training by Priscilla Valentine from Amazon.com or valentinesperformingpigs.com Pris really understands pigs and how they think. Also, Yahoo has email groups devoted to pot-bellied pigs, I recommend PotSpot and PigInfoAndChat. On both lists you'll find lots of people who have adopted adult pigs and can give you lots of tips.