Dixie's
DemeanorFirst, let
me say that each pig has its own personality. Dixie will not be exactly like
another pig. There are some traits that all pigs do share, like being stubborn
and being social animals. Below are different features of Dixie's
personality.
- Affectionate.
Dixie is extremely affectionate. The second night I owned
her, she would not go to sleep unless I was beside her!
- Friendly.
Dixie is also very friendly. She has never shown aggression to
any person or animal (she has been around Rottweilers.) She loves for
strangers to pet her.
- Smart.
I taught Dixie how to "sit" in 15 minutes. She also understands "no," "out,"
"potty," "come here," "good girl," and "go."
- Travels well. Once Dixie is in her pet taxi in my car's back seat, she is
pretty quiet during car trips, unless she has to potty. The longest trip she
has been on is a non-stop 2 hour ride.
- Not adaptable to
change. Although Dixie travels well, once she
is somewhere new (where I took her to visit) she gets confused and does not
adjust well to change. For example, I have taken her to a few of my friends'
houses along with her usual litter box. Although Dixie is litter-trained, she
absolutely would not use her litter box.
- Routine. Every day, like clockwork, she will awake between 5:30 a.m. and
6:30 a.m. and start honking (she doesn't really oink) to be fed. Also, between
4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., she knows that it is dinner time.
- Noisy. Dixie is a fairly noisy creature. She doesn't
constantly make noise, but for someone who has only had quiet animals around,
she seems noisy to me. She grunts, honks, gnashes her teeth, and
sometimes shrieks. Actually, sometimes I will grunt and shriek along
with her because the noises she makes sometimes are pretty funny. The
most unusual noises come from her while she is in heat (I guess she is trying
to attract her nonexistent Prince Charming.) And ALL pigs gnash their
teeth. So if you have a problem with fingernails on a chalkboard, you
might have a hard time getting used to this noise. Pigs gnash
their teeth fairly often, and noone is quite sure why.
How being in heat affects Dixie's
personality:
Dixie is a
lot more difficult to deal with if she is in heat. She will be neutered soon.
This is what you should expect out of a female pig that is in
heat:
- More apt to "potty
accidents." Dixie is now completely potty
trained, but if she is in heat, she has been known to potty on the floor. (Bad
pig!)
- More difficult.
Dixie is a very good animal because she always responds to
commands (i.e. she will come every time she is asked to). However, when she is
in heat, she won't obey commands most of the time.
- Moody. One minute, Dixie can be a happy little pig, and the next
minute she seems to be paranoid (as if she's about to get into trouble for
something.)
