If you ever saw the movie “Babe”, you know how irresistibly cute a young pig can be. I’m certain the producers of that movie had heard about my little Porky, because Babe’s personality clearly was modeled after Porky’s… with one important exception. Porky had a pretty big ego, and a temper to match.
As a species, pigs are highly intelligent, affectionate and emotional. Porky, however, was at the top of her class in all respects. And she suffered a bit of species-confusion, shall we say, having only a young collie pup to hang out with, and a five-year old girl to relate to, one of which she tolerated, and the other she loved more than anything, including food.
Porky was a little princess. Spoiled rotten. Dainty and prissy to the point of not wanting to put her little feet down in wet grass. I remember my father laughing uncontrollably when watching her walk in the morning dew: step, shake foot, step, shake foot, step, shake foot… and so on.
So Porky became the world’s first house-pig, learning indoor manners with one lesson and never making a mistake on the carpet. Whenever our Collie came inside, Porky was right there with him.
Porky grew up so fast. She learned quickly and eventually took over the management of all the farm animals, including our hunting dogs. In the short time she shared our lives, she taught us just how much love, and intelligence, and willfulness, and downright sass an animal can exhibit. Hey, wait a second! Aren't these qualities that are reserved only for humans? You decide. Watch this space for more adventures! And write to us with your favorite animal stories! We would love to share them!
Be well... Dr. Adelia