Training Lily To Be Nice To Guests

To: Kathleen
Subject: Lily
Hi,

Lily is 9 months old and a spayed female PBP. We don't have allot of company maybe the pizza hut man but that is about it. She has never charged him and in her baby days she went home to visit my mom and family twice and was well behaved for most of the visit. Recently our neighbor came over to give us some veggies and fruit (for Lily) and each time the woman step near me Lily bit at her knee. The first nip I missed but noticed my neighbor's face had a funny expression on it. Then the next step I saw Lily bite at her knee and verbally scolded her and the same time pushed her in the shoulder area away from the woman. How do I train her to be nice to guest and she doesn't go out allot but I know that would be a beginning. Taking her out on her leash and letting her meet different people. What about reprehending her? What is the best way to let her know it is not acceptable behavior!

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Hi,

Why Do Some Pigs Show Aggression To Visitors?

Excerpt from The Complete Guide for the Care and Training of Pet Potbellied Pigs

The behavior problem that causes the most concern among pet owners is when their pig, usually between the age of one and three years, demonstrates aggressive actions toward a visitor to the home. This could take the form of a head-swipe, a charge, or in the worst case an actual bite. Some people believe that this is the pig defending its territory, but actually this is not the case. In truth the pig is demonstrating to the visitor their dominant position in their herd.

Since demonstrations of aggression usually occur in the family or “herd” area, this pig is actually showing to this “new herd member” that it is higher up the herd ladder. Unfortunately in many cases the family, and certainly the person who is being threatened, does not know how or what to do to stop this type of pig behavior.

In those homes where aggressive behavior is tolerated and not responded to in a real, immediate way by the pig’s family members, the pig starts to believe that it is actually moving up another rung on the herd ladder. It will try to intimidate any person who enters its herd. When this occurs the pig usually decides to begin to challenge the other members of its own family. Depending on the make up of the family, the pig usually chooses to show aggression to the person who is perceived by the pig to have the least amount of power in the herd. This person could be the children or a passive family member. If the behavior is left uncorrected the pig continues to move up the ladder until it finally is challenging the dominant position of its primary care giver, the person who the pig has identified as the “top pig” in the herd.

Copyright © 2000 by Kathleen Myers

Note: More indepth training and retraining instructions are found in several other sections of my book.

Kathleen

Ponderosa Mini Farm

Ponderosa Mini Farm

Breeder Kathleen Myers

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