Ponderosa References
April 1, 2008
Kathleen,
I just wanted to give you an update on Tuggie. She is such a wonderful little pig, although as you well know, boredom can lead to chaos. I was gone just 3 hours the other morning, and when I came home, she had found a box (plastic) which she managed to open. When I got home she was chowing down on a bag of macaroni (uncooked). She had a little tummy-ache the rest of the day.
A couple of weeks ago, she got into the pantry (the darn door didn't latch well), locked herself in, and dove right in to the bag of pig chow! When I came home, she was sitting next to the bag, looking a bit remorseful, perhaps a bit queasy, with a tummy that was tight as a drum. She ate so much that she had pooped three times in the pantry, just to make room for more food!
She's not all mischief. We are working on tricks. So far she has "circle" and "sit" down pat. In fact, when she wants a treat, she will circle and then sit, repeatedly until someone notices her.
She loves to destroy cardboard boxes--not a good thing. I'm working on a solution to that. And I'm working on more tricks, like "lie down".
She still sleeps in our bed--she makes a wonderful foot warmer, since I have a peripheral neuropathy and cold feet = pain. At 38 pounds (6.5 months old), she is getting to be a chunk to pick up!
I think what she needs is a companion piggie, someone to play with while we are both at work. She is so used to at least one of us being here, that she is very lonely when we are all gone. What do you think? Would a second piggie add more joy to our family, or increase our piggy problem behavior?
Thanks for producing the cream of the crop!
Melissa Petty
December 12, 2007
Kathleen,
All is well here. Tuggie has adjusted well. For a few mornings we had trouble with her waking up WAAAAY early for breakfast. One morning she woke me up at 5 a.m., and would not settle down. She just whimpered and cried like a puppy. I put her out of the bedroom, and closed the door. When the alarm went off at 6:30, I went out to the kitchen to give her breakfast. No Tuggie. She had accidentally shut herself in the pantry. Big time-out!
This morning when the alarm went off, I opened my eyes and she was lying between us, with her head out from under the covers, wide-awake. Just waiting for the alarm. Hmmm.
She has decided that under the bed in the middle of it is her domain. She likes to hide things there. One morning my glasses had gotten knocked to the floor, apparently, and were nowhere to be found. I couldn't see well enough to find them. Mike had to get down with a roll of wrapping paper and a flashlight to retrieve them from her "lair".
Trouble is, she's growing, and before long she won't fit under the bed. She's already discovered she can't run through there anymore. She'll have to find a new hiding place for her toys.
Melissa
November 28, 2007
 We are all doing well. She thinks she owns the place now. She has been just wonderful this past week, and no accidents in the house! She makes sure we know when it is feeding time, and goes and stands on her rug in the kitchen every few minutes until we feed her.
The other day she was walking around on the bed, and I was trying to get her to settle down for a nap. I made the happy pig "uh uh"
sounds--she came over a nuzzled my tummy and laid down like she was going to nurse! I guess I was pretty convincing!
Thank you again for doing such a wonderful job.
--
Melissa & Mike
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