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Pot bellied pig aggression

22 9:16:19

Question
Hi!  We have a pot bellied pig who turned one year old in late January.  He has always been very good natured.  We live in the city but with a decent sized yard.  He spends nice days outside grazing but is in during the winter except bathroom breaks.  We live in Calgary Alberta so winter is pretty long here.  Anyway, around Christmas time Georgie started getting snarly and charged at my 24 year old stepson.  They know each other but Mike has been away working out of town for a few months.  Also, over Christmas but worsening since then Georgie is behaving like this now with my husband.  He works out of town and is away 3 weeks and home 1.  The time he is away its just me and our 3 kids here, 9, 10 and 12 years old.  So far he has been good with them but has got a little vocal with my son's friend just a week or so ago. We use the spray bottle on him for minor transgressions such as getting into the rabbits corner and litterbox which is in our kitchen and for rubbing up against the sofa.  When he gets all snarly and ferocious however the water just makes him more mad.  We chase him back into his kennel when he gets like this and give him a good shove if he charges.  It hasn't been long but I do see it getting worse.  We love the little guy but do need some good advice.  What do you suggest??

Answer
This is way more complex than I can answer in the amount of characters they allow me.
In short, the pig is testing you for dominance.....pigs are herd animals with pecking orders.
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Try not to spoil the pig, teach him more tricks, have visitors stand up to him, consider buying another pig ...the shoulder push is a good idea, one that we use!
We do not spray the pigs....encourage people to stand up to him, and firmly make him retreat, but without punisishing.
Priscilla Valentine