Carnitas and Maya

When we picked up our little piglet, Carnitas, we were considering getting two (or borrowing one until they found a home for the second one) because we were kind of worried about the pig being lonely. But the family we got the pig from mentioned that the pig would be more likely to bond with Aaron if there was only one pig, so we opted for the single pig. Of course we got it right before a cold spell and then massive rain, but we visited Carnitas each day to make sure she was OK.

The first day we got her home, she actually managed to get through the holes in the hog panels that we had used to build her pen (actually we used multi-purpose panels because they are taller and we will eventually use the pen for goats - didn't think that the pig could fit through the bigger holes!). We fixed that by putting up some scraps of corrugated metal we had along the bottom of the panels. While we were able to stop her from escaping, we learned that Carnitas could be very hard to catch, and so we didn't let her out of the pen the first few days. But after a few days, she got used to us and would actually come to us when we visited her, so we decided to let her out and to let Maya get comfortable around her. I remembered that at one of the 4H meetings I had asked how the pig would get along with out dog and one of the kids said that the pig would probably start thinking she was a dog. That has turned out to be true for Carnitas!

Carnitas actually tried to nurse from Maya. We were surprised that she would still have that instinct, and I am not sure that I would have recognized the behavior had I not just witnessed the baby goast with their mom. Maya just kind of stood there unsure what to do.

We had to make sure that Maya didn't get to rough, she thought Carnitas was another dog and treated her like she would a dog with all the jumping that entails. Maya is pretty easy to train, so we weren't really worried. Carnitas didn't seem to mind much and after a couple of minutes was following her around like, well, like a puppy. Now we can let Carnitas out any time and all we have to do to get her back in the pen is to call Maya to the pen. I wonder what the relationship will be like when Carnitas is bigger than Maya...

Meet Our New Dog

Getting a new dog was a big decision. My husband wanted a puppy, but I was worried that a puppy meant that I was going to have to clean-up a lot of messes in the house. The kids may say they will clean-up, and they may even try to help clean-up, but when it comes to poo and pee, I'm afraid what they consider "clean" may not match what I consider "clean."  I understood his concern that he didn't want an older dog with strange issues, but I thought we could find a good young dog that was already house trained...and we did.

Our new dog is about nine months old, potty trained and issues free! She is still a playful puppy, she is happy and full of energy and we all love her dearly.

I did learn a few things from adopting an older puppy:

1. I wanted to be sure that the dog had been well taken care of and the owner was able to provide me with records from the vet so I could see that she had been cared for.

2. We got her bed and toys from the previous owner, and I think that helped make the transition easier.

3. My kids checked out a number of books on owning and training dogs so they were aware of what needed to be done. I think when information comes from books rather than from mom and dad, kids are more willing to believe it.

Next week, we get the chickens!