Thursday, March 4, 2010

Pig in a kitchen

We had a pot-bellied pig for a while, she was a ton of fun and a ton of stress.  At first, we had to baby-proof the house or at least any part she may have access.  She wasn't great with stairs at first, so she tended to sleep in the dining room under the table or in the living room on a blanket we kept for her.  Once she lost some weight, she was better able to deal with stairs so she could eat and sleep in the basement (along with many of our other animals).  She seems to like the basement, especially before we completely pig-proofed it!  She learned to open and empty the fridge, get into any container storing food, and managed to generally push us to the point of no return.  Eventually, she settled down and life was great until.....I came home from work on day and as our back door is the entrance we generally use I walked into the kitchen.  I can't remember at this moment why she even had the ability to be in the kitchen, but alas, what I met at the door certainly educated me to the fact that she had "discovered" the kitchen.  I should also point out here that we have been remodeling our house since we moved in years ago and started the kitchen some time ago.  At that point in time (and still today) none of the kitchen cabinets have doors.  So, I cam home and noticed that there was a sticky and syrupy substance all over the pantry area.  Javelina had managed to open a jar of peanut butter and wash it down with a Code Red Mountain Dew.  You can imagine the mess - everything in a 10' radius was covered in soda and peanut butter, ick.  After eating what she could (pigs are not the tidiest of eaters) she had gone one to explore the canned goods and the rest of the kitchen as well as part way into the hallway.  Thankfully, she was outside with the dogs by the time I noticed the mess and remained out there until I had it all cleaned up (and lets be honest, until I could breathe again).  I love being a positive trainer and I know and live by the rules of reinforcement (or punishment) must be immediate so I knew there was nothing I could do, except breathing exercises!            

No comments:

Post a Comment