Honestly, the experience was a blast!

By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Staff

No, I am not referring to my Mother, who I recently vacationed with at the Best Friends Animal Society Sanctuary. Instead I am talking about Harley “Arnold Ziffel” and Sprocket, the two Best Friends pigs who are now available for sleepovers. Previously reserved for the many sanctuary dogs and one cat, now the potbellies can take their turn in the spotlight and spend the night in the comforts of “home.”

I mean come on, what is not to love about a tail wagging, oinking, belly rub loving piglet?

We started the day by volunteering at Pig Paradise, a mandatory requirement if you are to have a piggy sleepover. The work was fun, and even more important, informative. Yvonne McIntosh, the Manager of the Pig Department at Best Friends, was eager to educate us about properly caring for her charges.

There is so much public misinformation about pigs as pets. A very common mistaken belief is that pigs are dirty and stupid. “It makes people not want to be around them,” noted McIntosh. “That’s definitely not true.” In fact she stated that pigs are actually smarter than dogs. Please note though, just because they are intelligent, does not mean they are obedient – there is truth to the saying “pigheadedness.” McIntosh also stated that “They [pigs] are very clean, they do use mud to cool down, also to keep insects away. As an indoor/outdoor pet, they can have a pool without mud.” They are even easy to housetrain.

Often, it is the people who are not smart when obtaining a pig as a pet. Without information on how to properly care for them, and mistakenly believing that pigs are supposed to be fat, they overfeed their pets with foods that are not nutritionally sound. This in turn often causes them to become obese, to the point where they are blinded due to folds of fat covering their eyes and are subject to painful leg problems. On the flip side, in a misguided effort to keep their pigs small, some individuals underfeed their animals, hoping to keep them around 60 pounds. Such false weight limits are often told to shoppers to get them to purchase piglets when in fact the average weight for an adult potbelly is 150 pounds.

Our experience volunteering was wonderful. We were responsible for fixing everyone’s breakfasts, which consisted of copious amounts of lettuce, some sweet potato, and varying amounts of special formulated pig pellets. McIntosh added any necessary nutritional supplements or medication. Let me tell you, if you ever want to feel like a superhero, bring a meal to a pig. Of course what goes in must come out, so afterward we took some time doing poop scoop duty. Surprisingly, due to their vegetarian diet, the job was easily accomplished and without the smell you would expect from such a chore.

After distributing a popcorn snack to everyone, we were then instructed on how to harness our pigs for the evening’s sleepover. While Sprocket was already a pro, having gone on multiple sleepovers, Harley was still fairly new to this endeavor. When pigs do not want to do something, they have no qualms about verbally letting you know; however, a belly rub eased any concern on his part and before he knew it, the harness was on with barely a grunt of resistance. Leashing a pig and actually getting one to go where you want are two separate things. However, McIntosh shared the secret to getting a pig where you want him or her – popcorn.

While working, we were also delighted to find out that our soon-to-be sleepover guests are celebrities. Both Sprocket and Harley are the official mascots for Bikers for Best Friends.

The sleepover
That evening, at piggy pickup time, Mom and I selected Harley while our friend Jeannie took Sprocket for our overnight adventure. The pigs are not allowed out of the canyon, so sleepovers must occur on premises; therefore, participants must stay in the Best Friends cottages or cabins. While a dog may complete the approximate two block distance in a manner of minutes, the same can not be said for pigs. Harley must have known about the fun times to come, because he made the trip in around twenty minutes, even overcoming the stairs. Sprocket on the other hand, insisted upon popcorn coaxing and eventually made his way to the room via the ramp.

Once there, it was a piggy party. Sprocket enjoyed snacking on the little buds from the nearby trees that had fallen on the patio while Harley relished the belly rubs and combing. McIntosh showed up with their overnight crates, snacks, and most importantly – dinner (click on the image to the left for video). Harley’s enthusiasm was proof positive that Yvonne is a fine chef.

With our instruction sheet in hand, we confirmed accessible electrical cords were unplugged and made sure they had no association with dogs. The young pair is hopefully destined to become roommates, so it is good for them to experience some time together. However, it was important to keep their harnesses and leashes on, in case of a scrap. There was one issue, which was all squeal, no bite. The highlight of the evening would have to have been snack time. Each of the boys was given a cereal box, in which we deposited shredded wheat, popcorn, and pig pellets. There is no need to look far for entertainment when you can watch pigs rooting around for their goodies.

Another couple walks before dark and there were no “accidents” throughout the night. While they did not hop into bed, both Harley and Sprocket were happy to spend the entire night in their comfortably pillowed crate, without as much as a peep.

First thing in the morning, we took Harley out for a walk, but it was cold and pigs are intelligent. He was no dummy and immediately turned right around to return to the warm cottage. His morning activity instead consisted of pushing an overturned plastic tub around the floor until it fell over to expose its bounty of hidden popcorn.

We completely misjudged our walk back. Having taken so long to travel to the cottage the evening before, we allotted a full half hour to get back to their pens. Once again, the pigs outsmarted us and knew where breakfast was coming from. Needless to say, the walk back was quite quick, so we had plenty of extra time on our hands (click on the image to the right for video).

For a fantastic time that will make you “squeal” in delight, please consider working with the pigs. Not surprisingly word is spreading and volunteering at Piggy Paradise has become a popular attraction. If you are coming to the Sanctuary and want to help, please be sure to e-mail pigs@bestfriends.org well in advance to check for date availability. McIntosh said, “We’ve had such a tremendous response from people wanting to volunteer” and she wants everyone to get the opportunity to experience the joy of the pig.


FIVE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

1. If you have educated yourself on potbelly pigs as pets and would like to add one to your house, please consider one of the adoptable pigs at the Best Friends Animal Society Sanctuary.

2. For those who are not yet ready for such fun, consider sponsoring one of the many Best Friends pigs.
• Britney
• Dagwood
• Cherry
• Hogan
• Jack
• Jake
• Jeffery (to the right)
• Naniue
• Penelope
• Raisin
• Sprocket

3. Consider becoming a <a href=" https://www.bestfriends.org/guardianangel/index.cfm?csid=6&csii=1243&csit=Set"; target="_blank">Guardian Angel</a> and follow Pepper’s progress following her surgery to repair a badly healed broken leg.

4. Want to help support the Best Friends potbellies from afar? Donate items from the Piggy Paradise wish list, including:
• Unsalted peanuts in the shell
• Raw unsalted almonds
• Unfrosted shredded wheat
• Popcorn for air poppers

5. Want to volunteer with pigs, but are not coming to Best Friends? Contact yvonnem@bestfriends.org for information on pig sanctuaries near your own home. Such organizations are generally small and in great need of volunteer help. McIntosh describes it as a “win-win for the person volunteering and for the pig rescue.”

For more information:
• Best Friends Potbelly Pig Page Community
• Best Friends Potbelly Pig Animal Care Library

Photo/video credit: taken by Jennifer Hayes. Lead photo shows Harley displaying the adorable habit of sticking his tongue out, a trait McIntosh believes he started from being weaned too young (click on the image below for video).

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