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| Right after her first bath |
I'd like to introduce our pet
Her name is Juliet
She loves to eat
She's very sweet
She enjoys getting muddy and wet
~
Yes, I wrote that poem myself ;)
~
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| Juliet & my son Jon |
So, let me tell you the story of how we acquired such a peculiar pet.
One evening, my husband and I were driving through downtown Hampton, a place that has an old-fashioned attractiveness with it's archaic homes, charming gardens, historic train station, and old town buildings, when we came upon a man selling a tiny piglet in his front yard.
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| Scratching her ear after her first mud treatment |
We gawked and aww'd as we drove by.It was so cute, tiny and pink. The man had it on a rope leash and people were standing around in the yard adoring it. Possible buyers I'm sure. We just continued on down the road. What would we do with a pig? I said to my husband. We both thought it was so neat. We found ourselves still talking about it down the road. Wouldn't it be cool to have a pig as a pet?! The kids would love it! He agreed. With tears in my eyes, I looked over at my husband, who was driving and said...I want it! Let's go back and get it! So we turned around and went back.
We were hoping no one had bought it from the man yet. There were still a few people standing around admiring her absolute cuteness when we got there. We politely stood around the circle, making small talk, asking if it was a boy or girl, what to feed it, how old it was...giving the others a chance to speak up and say if they wanted her or not, and debating if we ourselves could take on the responsibility of caring for such an unusual and interesting animal.
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| She's always smiling |
Finally, everyone left and it was just us, the man and this mini potbellied piglet. After going back and forth for about 30 minutes, we finally decided to buy the tiny pig. We paid $50.00 for her and she was so small that we took her home in a milk crate. We named her Juliet and she spent her first night inside the house.
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| Juliet & my daughter Jorja about 3 months old |
We gave her baths and took her outside to potty. We had planned on raising her inside the house and she did very well using the restroom outside for a while...then she started getting bigger and naturally her accidents became larger so we made her home inside the garage. We fed her powdered milk and cereal for the first 2 months we had her, then began introducing her to pig feed. She had 3 meals a day and when she ate, she dove into her bowl and acted like it was her last meal on earth.
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| On the back porch |
She was a bit of a handful when she was little. She learned how to nudge the backdoor open with her little snout and would come inside to hang out with us during school.
Sometimes she would run around and around the house, oinking as she went. Kinda like a dog does after having a bath. She ran so fast for a pig. She has one blue eye, one brown eye and a happy curly tail that wags constantly. She is happy but she doesn't like being picked up. She squeals...well like a pig when we try.
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| Invading the schoolroom |
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| Getting a tummy rub by my son Joel |
She loves to have her tummy rubbed. Everyone can rub Julie's tummy but me. (We nicked named her Julie.) Just as a nursing child behaves around their mother, Julie, would behave like that towards me. If you have ever nursed a child, you know what I'm talking about. I was nothing but the milk lady to her. All she knew was this lady gives me milk in a bowl. So whenever I would try to pet her or if I even got close to her, she would wake up, stand up and start oinking for food, nudging me with her snout.. It was comical.
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| Exploring down by the creek |
We tried weening her off of the milk and cereal and put her on the pig feed but, she just wouldn't have it. It seemed she preferred eating the dog's food instead. (Peaches & Molly) They all live together, in harmony, inside the garage. So, that's what we began feeding her.
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| Taking a nap underneath the blue truck |
She grew bigger...
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| Napping in some cool dirt this summer |
and fatter!
This is a picture of Julie today.
I woke her up to take this photo. She was sleeping in the garage on a blanket, which is what she does most days. Sometimes she likes to walk down to the creek and take a dip or get a drink. Sometimes she'll go on a jog with me in the mornings. It's been a while since she's done that though. She's been sleeping late and I think she prefers to run in the evenings anyway ;) So, that's Juliet! She's a very sweet pig and we all love her very much. It was fun introducing her to you :) I hope you all enjoyed meeting her as well :)
2 comments:
We had a pot bellied pig named Squiggy, which started out at 8 lbs and grew to around 250! Let me tell you, this little guy was my world. He was the "first baby" for my husband and I. I absolutely adored that pigger. Unfortunately, he got sick in February of 2011 and passed away on us at 3 1/2 years of age.
Pot bellied pigs are adorable (in their own way) and so smart. They become part of the family really quick. I read that they are like a child in their "terrible two's" from birth until they pass, and that was definitely our Squiggy! We also called him Houdini Pig because he could find a way out of anything.
It is so nice to read about someone else's wonderful pet. I msis Squiggy so very much, but sometime, I can still hear his grunts and squeals around the house.
May you have Juliet for many, many more years to come with alot of great memories and laughter.
Poor piggy :( Our Juliet was down for a while right after this post. She injured herself somehow and couldn't walk for about a week. We had to feed and water her right where she lay. I thought she was gonna go, but she got better. She's fine now, running around all over the place, fat as a hog. I'm sure she'll get bigger. Thanks for dropping by. :)
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