December,2005 - May, 2006

I am placing this online as I received the emails. This reads from the most recent email at the top to the earliest email at the bottom.

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HI again~

Thank you for the encouragement. I KNOW there are others out there like me, staying way beyond the time they should have gone. I was living in L.A. at the time and believe me, there were no shelters available for women with pigs! I keep that in the back of my mind, should I ever win the lottery! Thank goodness a good friend realized I wasn't leaving without him and took me in anyway.

Please feel free to post it on your site – you never know who might benefit from it.

Once again, thank you for your insight and the time you've taken to learn all you've passed along to pig people everywhere.

Sincerely,

Randie

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-----Original Message-----
From: potbellypigpets.com [mailto:kathleen@potbellypigpets.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 8:22 AM
To: rbdesigns
Subject: Re: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

Congratulations. I am so proud of you. I know that was a very hard thing to do. I would love to put this on the site, if you don't mind. I will not put your name up if you like?

Thanks for sharing this with me. You are a remarkable woman.

Kathleen

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----- Original Message -----
From: rbdesigns
To: 'potbellypigpets.com'
Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 6:06 PM
Subject: RE: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

We only used the spray bottle a couple times, then just telling him to knock it off worked. He has shown no aggression toward me, though I did experience it with my last pig, who was MUCH bigger and very imposing. I won't hesitate to give him a shove if he ratchets up the attitude.

I found something to be very interesting with my first pig… I'll share, just in case you’ve heard of it.

My husband was very verbally and physically abusive toward me, which Tusok witnessed the first 9 years of his life. At about 18 months old, he started charging my now EX husband – wouldn't even let him near me. Strangely enough, the ex was never directly abusive to the pets, but watching this day in and day out for so many years definitely had a horrible effect on them. When Tusok was about 8 years old, he started getting very aggressive toward me and seemed to gang up with my husband, which broke my heart. I finally got the courage to escape, taking only the pig and my Scottie, not knowing how this angry pig was going to react. That first night, as I lay on an air mattress in a friend’s garage, Tusok lay down beside me, snuggled his face up to mine and stayed just that close until the day he died a year and a half later.

I can’t help but think that, like a child, he watched me take abuse without defending myself for so long, he finally lost faith in me and took on his “father’s” nasty attitude. It played a large part in helping me do what needed to be done, doing something for them that I just couldn’t do for myself. In the year and a half of peace and happiness we did have, his health improved and he experienced people coming and going in his home. Sadly, at 10 ½, his body gave out and I had to make the tough decision to let him go.

What an amazing experience it is to share one’s life with these guys.

Thank you for being there for all of us!

Randie

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-----Original Message-----
From: potbellypigpets.com [mailto:kathleen@potbellypigpets.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 4:03 PM
To: rbdesigns
Subject: Re: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

I would drop the spray bottle. It is definitely not effective long term. For the short term he may respond, but eventually he will just hide from it and it will have no effect. Pushing and a knock if off is best. They understand pushing.

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----- Original Message -----
From: rbdesigns
To: 'potbellypigpets.com'
Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 12:11 PM
Subject: FW: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

Hi Kathleen~

Just a quick note to follow up… You were kind enough to forward a chapter on the aggressive pig at the beginning of the year after he bit a friend. I immediately forwarded the chapter to the “victim”, who gained a new understanding and respect for this amazingly smart guy.

With enormous determination, she continued to visit him when I was not at home, and using the techniques outlined in your book, turn his aggressive attitude around greatly. We did not have to go any further than a spray bottle and stern voice (though I was fully prepared to wrestle him!)

He now turns and storms off, closing the door to his room to show his disapproval of OUR rude behavior!

Thank you so much for taking the time you did to help me when I was grasping at whatever hope I could find. He is a much loved and adored character my little community – it would have been so sad to see him go!

Sincerely,
Randie and Tobie

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-----Original Message-----
From: Randie Bortnem [mailto:rbdesigns@earthlink.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 4:54 PM
To: 'potbellypigpets.com'
Subject: RE: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

Kathleen~

Thank you so much for sharing the information in your book. Providing we get through this, I am sure there is still MUCH to learn when my copy arrives! I hope to enlist the help of a few brave friends who would rather risk nasty bites than help me through the loss of another pig…

Wish me luck!
Thank you, again. Have a wonderful New Year.

Randie

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-----Original Message-----
From: potbellypigpets.com [mailto:kathleen@potbellypigpets.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 1:57 PM
To: rbdesigns@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

You can retrain him if it is only behavior. This is an excerpt from my book about aggression. There is more to come with the book.

Kathleen

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----- Original Message -----
From: Randie Bortnem
To: 'potbellypigpets.com'
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 12:56 PM
Subject: RE: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

Thank you for responding so quickly.

Tobie was between 10 and 12 weeks old when I got him. I do not know when he was weaned – unfortunately, I fear the breeder had no problem separating babies from moms at only a few weeks in some cases, however, I do not know if this was the case with mine. Yes, I had him neutered two days after I got him.

Thanks,
Randie

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-----Original Message-----
From: potbellypigpets.com [mailto:kathleen@potbellypigpets.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 11:46 AM
To: rbdesigns@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

How old was Tobie when you got him? When was he weaned? Is he neutered?

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----- Original Message -----
From: Randie Bortnem
To: kathleen@potbellypigpets.com
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 10:20 AM
Subject: Aggression in an 18 mo. pig

Hi Kathleen~
I have just ordered your book, in hopes of finding the answers I need to avoid making heart-wrenching choices concerning my 18 month old pot-belly, Tobie.

So you'll understand my dedication to solving this, rather than resorting to euthanasia or turning him over to a shelter, I should tell you that 5 years ago, I left an abusive husband (to me, not the pets) after 16 years, leaving behind a comfy financial situation and $750,000 home in Los Angeles, taking nothing more than a sweet, little Scottie and a nearly crippled 9-year old, 200 lbs. pot-bellied pig, Tusok. In order to make a clean break and keep us safe, I got very little else when all was said and done, as I refused to send these animals back to him. I lived in a garage for 4 months, then, in a rented RV to provide the most comfort to the old guy, traveled 2500 miles to our new home outside of Knoxville, TN.

Tusok lived his final 13 months in peace, safety and I believe, with the knowledge that I was going to be okay, before it became necessary to put an end to his increased suffering. While he had also gone through an aggressive phase when he 18-20 months old, it was focused on my ex-husband (pigs really ARE SMART!). We never had guests, so it is unknown whether he would have attacked them…probably so.

For two and a half years, my apparent “selective memory” allowed me to pine for the sound of little hooves clicking on the linoleum, bristles in all my sweaters and the unique vocal response you can only get when you say hello to a pig. Thus…Tobie.

Determined not to make ANY of the mistakes made with the first one, he has been exposed to hundreds of people, goes for walks, rides in the car, has a carefully managed diet, access to a safe, fenced-in backyard with lots of dirt and trees when I am home and has spent 10 hours a day alone at home since his arrival. Friends and family are constantly coming and going. He has always been sweet-natured, welcoming and well-behaved. He’s been well-loved, but bad behavior has never been tolerated or ignored.

Unfortunately, he has recently become extremely destructive and even worse, very aggressive with anyone that walks through the door. Two days ago, he attacked and bit a good friend who has always been kind to him, when she stopped by to check on him in my absence. He has been squealing at people for months, asking that they leave immediately, but has never gone so far as to bite someone. Having done this all before, I understand hierarchy and challenging for position in the herd; that this is all natural and to be expected in many cases.

I am now in EMERGENCY BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION MODE! Can he be re-trained? I really do not want to be held captive in my own home again…. This time by a little, pink pig! He absolutely adores me (for now) and has yet to show any sign of aggression toward me, but I know it’s just a matter of time, if I cannot turn this around now.

Since adopting that first tiny piglet in 1990, I’ve seen so many sad endings in cases of the “pig fad” and made what I THOUGHT was an informed decision to adopt another, with confidence that I could care for and raise a happy, well-adjusted companion. I’m loyal, almost to a fault, and find it nearly impossible to give up on anything (trading a sick, elderly pig for hundreds of thousands of $$$, for example), so facing the possibility of placing him in a sanctuary is difficult to comprehend. Euthanization, even more so. Living in fear of him hurting someone though? I’m now a struggling, single “parent”, and cannot afford a lawsuit, losing friends or continuous replacement of woodwork and carpeting.

Any advice would be so greatly appreciated. With the biting incident, I have a sudden sense of doom and gloom concerning his fate and would rather begin acting to correct, than pondering other less desirable possibilities. Thank you in advance for what I am certain will be an informative book concerning my good friend, Tobie. I look forward to reading it and receiving any information you are able to pass along via e-mail. Thanks for caring for these guys and helping those of us who do, as well.

Best wishes,
Randie Bortnem

Kathleen