Category Archives: Enjoying Life

Mini Pig Oscar’s New Winter Coat from Snort Life

It’s officially winter, and most mini pigs hate cold weather. If allowed, Oscar would spend the entire winter season in front of our heat vent and avoid outside completely. However, Oscar isn’t litter box trained, so he has to go outside several times a day to potty, even if it’s freezing out. In order to make these trips more pleasant for him, I decided that Oscar needs a winter coat.

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Mini Pig Oscar in his new winter coat from Snort Life

Last year I decided to use my limited sewing skills to make Oscar a coat. We used that one and a dog coat that we bought Oscar for his first winter, and they worked okay. Eventually, the snaps broke off of the one I sewed Oscar, and the dog coat was sturdy but wasn’t a perfect fit. As with most dog coats, the underneath of this coat went too far down Oscar’s belly, so the back belt had to be removed so that Oscar could potty.

Oscar has grown a lot, and he needed a new coat for this winter. Since we didn’t have a perfect coat for him last year, I decided to buy Oscar an actual mini pig coat this time. We loved Oscar’s last outfit from Snort Life, so I decided to order his coat from there. I quickly took his measurements, picked my fabric, and placed my order, excited for Oscar’s first actual mini pig coat for this winter.

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When Oscar’s coat arrived, I was thrilled. I knew his coat would be adorable, but it’s also super practical. First, he has no problem going to the bathroom in his coat, which is important and makes it better than nearly all dog coats we’ve tried. Second, the material is soft and thick to keep him warm, but it’s not overly heavy so Oscar can wander the yard and move around in it easily. He doesn’t mind his coat being on at all and will wear it for as long as I let him stay outside. Third, it has a slit in the top so that we can hook a leash to his harness, which is helpful so he can wear his coat and be securely leashed at the same time. Lastly, his coat has a hood to help keep his ears warm and make him look ridiculously adorable at the same time.

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The only challenge we’ve had is that, as I mentioned in my last post, Oscar doesn’t like to be touched on his right side near his face. This has made it tough to get the coat on him at times, so we started using treats when we put his coat on, and it’s less of an issue. In general, the coat is quick and easy to put on mini pigs, so this is an issue specific to Oscar and isn’t reflective of the coat. Fortunately, treats help make the process faster and more pleasant for Oscar and for us.

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If you’re looking for a winter coat or any outfit for your mini pig, I definitely recommend checking out Snort Life. We have been super happy with the quality and fit on everything we’ve received from Doreen. Oscar’s coat is the His & Hers Hooded Fleece Jacket, but there’s also a collared version without the hood and a new His & Hers Hooded Puffy Jacket that is super cute.

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Note: I purchased Oscar’s coat from Snort Life on my own and was not asked to do a review. All opinions are my own. 

Mini Pig Oscar’s Garden and First Disliked Food

When we moved to the country last year, we were excited to plant our first garden. In the past, we planted a few things here or there but didn’t really have the space we needed. So, over the summer, we finally planted our first real garden.

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Next was the fun part; we needed to pick what we wanted to grow! We went back and forth on some options, but we made our final decision based on which foods Oscar could enjoy with us. We avoided any foods that might be harmful for him and chose ones we thought he would love. After a lot of deliberation, we finally picked kale, arugula, and kaleidoscope carrots. 

My husband built the garden, we planted the seeds, and then I impatiently waited for everything to grow. As it turns out, I love the idea of gardening but not actual gardening, so thank goodness for my husband who kept up with watering,  weeding, and harvesting the garden!

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We used the kale in salads for Oscar, which he enjoyed as expected. He wasn’t as excited about the arugula, but what we were most excited for him to try were the kaleidoscope carrots. We regularly give Oscar baby carrots from the store as treats, but he had never tried any from the garden, particularly not a white or purple carrot.

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Kale from Oscar’s garden
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Rainbow carrots from Oscar’s garden

We washed one of the white carrots, cut a few little slices for him, and eagerly watched as he tried it. Here is the video of Oscar trying his first white carrot from the garden.

He didn’t like the white carrot at all! Oscar is one of those pigs who loves just about every food. In fact, in almost a year and half, we haven’t found a food that Oscar refuses to eat…until the white carrot. After trying it myself though, I can’t really blame him. It was extremely bitter, without even a hint of sweetness. He normally loves carrots, but he and I both stuck with the orange carrots after trying the white one.

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Oscar trying his first white carrot from the garden.

In retrospect, Oscar didn’t seem as excited about any of the garden foods as we thought he would be. My best guess is that everything was a tad bitter compared to what he’s used to from the store. While the garden foods were super fresh, he didn’t seem to care for the extra bitterness.

I was a little bummed Oscar didn’t love the garden food, but we’ll just try again next year and see if we can find some that he likes more. Choosing foods that Oscar could eat made the entire garden experience more fun; it was exciting knowing he could be part of the experience and try the harvest with us. Maybe we’ll have more luck next year!

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Mini Pig Oscar’s New Outfit from Snort Life

One of the challenges we have as mini pig owners is finding toys, treats, and clothing made for pigs. As mini pigs as pets become more popular, that is starting to change. But, for now, we are mostly stuck buying dog toys and dog clothing and hoping those work for our pigs.

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My failed attempt at buying clothes for Oscar when he was a baby.

Although I’ve found some toys on the market that work for Oscar, clothing has been a bigger challenge. I started out trying to put dog clothes on Oscar, but his short little legs slipped out of some and others he couldn’t even walk in. Next, I tried infant clothes, but most of those have sleeves of some sort that didn’t fit Oscar. Also, let’s be honest, Oscar is a few pellets beyond fitting into infant clothes these days. For a long time, I gave up on finding mini pig clothes and instead just sewed a few shirts and a coat for Oscar. Those worked well enough, but I don’t particularly enjoy sewing, nor am I skilled or creative enough to make Oscar really fun items comparable to the things I can buy for our dog.

Fortunately, I found a much better answer for mini pig clothing…Snort Life! I mentioned Snort Life in a previous post as an option to consider for mini pig clothing, but this was Oscar’s first real experience with Snort Life and it has been great, from the quality, to the customer service, and even down to the details, including the packaging.

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We were so excited to get our Snort Life package in the mail!

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After all of my adventures searching for clothes for Oscar, I am incredibly excited to show off his new outfit! Oscar got his first outfit from Snort Life, and it’s perfect. It’s a stylish gray vest with a purple paisley bow tie and pocket square, and the details on it are amazing. There are two different kinds of buttons, stripes on the “shirt” portion of the vest, and even a stitched button hole for decoration. Everything on the vest is high quality, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with it.

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Oscar in his new vest

Snort Life is a company created by a wonderful woman named Doreen that offers mini pig clothing and accessories. Doreen’s items are handmade,  created from quality fabrics and materials, and are made to last. Since I’ve dabbled in sewing, I feel like I can tell when something is constructed well or when it is just barely stitched together, and I am thrilled with Snort Life’s quality. Probably my favorite thing about Snort Life is that Doreen is incredibly creative, and she focuses on mini pig clothes that are stylish. Since there are so many places where I feel like I have to compromise on things for Oscar, I’m thrilled that Doreen has provided a perfect option where mini pig parents not only have clothing options for their pigs, but they have tons of options that are also stylish, well made, and super creative.

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I love all the details on Oscar’s new vest from Snort Life.

One of the concerns I had with buying clothing for Oscar is that he would outgrow things quickly since pigs grow so fast, especially when they are young. However, a major perk of buying from Snort Life is that Doreen is also a pig owner (here is her adorable pig, Rosie) and understands this challenge. Doreen makes her mini pig clothing with growth in mind, so her items provide additional built-in webbing so that your pig can fit in the clothing longer. If you’re nervous about measuring your pig or getting the measurements right, there are easy-to-use guides on the Snort Life website and Doreen is always happy to help. I love that Doreen understands all of the things we owners worry about and struggle with in finding fun, stylish, and comfortable clothing for our mini pigs, and that takes a lot of the stress out of it. If you’re interested but worried that your pig might not fit in mini pig clothes, Doreen can help with that. She offers many different sizes, including custom sizing, and has experience with fitting both mini and not-so-mini pigs.

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Oscar’s new vest fits him perfectly.

Not only do I love Oscar’s new vest, he seems to love it too! He didn’t make a fuss when I put it on him, and he seems perfectly comfortable in it. In fact, he almost seems pleased with himself, like he knows how handsome he looks. Now that Oscar is a little older, he has been noticing all of the pigs on Instagram with significant others, so he decided after putting on his vest that it was the perfect outfit to wear into town to see if he could find a piggy date. He had his mom give him a bath and put his vest on, and he was all cleaned up and ready to go. He went outside for his picture before heading out.

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On his way out, he noticed some grass and decided it was a good idea to get a little snack before going into town on his adventure.

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His quick snack turned into a meal, and before he knew it he was all dirty again and worried that he wouldn’t be able to get a date now.

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He thought about going in to clean up again but decided instead that he preferred eating grass to looking for a date. He finished up his rooting and went back inside to just hang out with his mom for the night.

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Maybe he can wear his new vest to town another night!

Whether you are looking for a sophisticated vest for piggy date night, a swimsuit, coat, shirt, or even mini pig accessories, I highly recommend checking out Snort Life!

Note: All of the opinions here are 100% my own, and I was not asked to review Snort Life. I just think Snort Life is a great option for mini pig parents to find clothing and accessories for their pigs. Snort Life’s reviews on their Etsy store echo many of my thoughts as well.




Mini Pig Oscar Celebrates Rylee’s 11th Birthday!

It’s Rylee’s 11th birthday! We started off Rylee’s birthday with a long walk, followed by a nap, and then we kicked off her real celebration. I wanted something special to celebrate Rylee today, so she got to eat some frozen yogurt and a birthday cookie. I stumbled upon some frozen yogurt made for dogs that both Rylee and Oscar could eat, and I was really excited to let them try it. It’s The Bear & The Rat’s Banana Peanut Barker frozen yogurt, and both Rylee and Oscar loved it!

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Overall, the celebration was a success! Here is a video and some pictures below to recap Rylee’s big day. Oscar was super sneaky and managed to steal Rylee’s birthday cookie at one point in the video but, don’t worry, I saved an extra for her to make up for it.

Happy 11th Birthday to my very first dog. You have been with me through so many changes, and I am forever grateful for your constant, trusting love. Happy Birthday, Rylee!

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Happy 4th of July from Mini Pig Oscar!

This year is Oscar’s second 4th of July, so we decided to try recreating some of his pictures from last year. Although he’s still as cute as ever, Oscar noticed that his hat seems quite a bit smaller this year.  Happy 4th of July from Mini Pig Oscar, Rylee, and family! Have a safe and happy 4th!

Oscar on last year's 4th of July (left) and this year (right).
Oscar on last year’s 4th of July (left) and this year (right).

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Happy 4th of July from Oscar and Rylee!

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