When we decided to get Oscar, I hoped that our dogs would welcome and accept a mini pig in our home. As I wrote about previously, our dogs initially tolerated Oscar but mostly kept their distance and ignored him. Liam was afraid of Oscar but was slowly warming up to him, and Rylee snipped at Oscar occasionally to make it clear she wasn’t happy to have him around.
After Liam passed several weeks ago, I worried about how Rylee and Oscar would adjust. Rylee and Liam weren’t best friends, but Rylee spent seven years with Liam and was used to his constant company. After he passed, she moped around for a few weeks and was almost hostile to Oscar. She wasn’t in the mood to play or be bothered by a little piglet, and she started snipping at him more frequently. Oscar was adorably persistent and continued trying to approach Rylee despite her negative responses.
I finally accepted that Rylee would tolerate Oscar but that they would never be friends, but then things started to change. In the past week, Rylee has allowed Oscar to approach without her snipping back and they have started sharing the sun spot together. A few positive responses have given Oscar the confidence to keep approaching Rylee; some days Rylee responds well and other days she snips at him. One of the things I love about Oscar is that he doesn’t take it personally when Rylee snips and instead just leaves her alone and tries again later. He doesn’t push, but he also doesn’t give up which is really sweet to watch.
Rylee and Oscar have made a lot of progress in just the past week, and it has been so heartwarming. They have even shared the same bed a few times this week, something I thought would never happen. I want Rylee to find comfort in a new friend, and I want Oscar to have a big sister to follow around and cuddle with. They are still mostly frenemies with a few positive moments mixed with more snippy negative ones, but I am so happy with the progress they’ve made and am hopeful they can grow to trust and enjoy each other.
I am truly amazed! My mini pig is 9 months and still him and my dog don’t get along… My dog is very playful so she is always approaching the pig really fast and playfully and my pig is totally terrified of the dog! Any word of advice from your experience??
Hi Lucia! I understand what you mean about your dog being playful and always approaching your mini pig too fast! Our Boston Terrier doesn’t know how to play gently so, when she tries to play with Oscar, it always comes off as aggressive. She means well, but she doesn’t understand that she needs to slow down and be gentle with Oscar. Although I’ve had success getting our dog and pig to nap in the sun together, they still don’t play together. Oscar doesn’t really like to play, and Rylee is too “in his face” when she tries and then he gets scared and runs off. It sounds like your situation is really similar.
One thing I recommend is find a place where they both like to be and see if you can get them used to relaxing or napping near each other. For us, the sun spot (or any place warm…some people have luck by a fireplace) is that place. I put just one bed or blanket that’s big enough for both of them in the sun spot, and they eventually started napping together. It’s not that Rylee prefers to be near Oscar, but she wants to be in the bed in the sun spot so badly that she’ll tolerate sharing the space with Oscar. You could also try getting them both to nap near you if you’re sitting on the floor or the couch, since they will likely both want to be next to you. The benefit of that is they start to trust each other more and get used to being near each other, and hopefully that helps their relationship with playing.
We still haven’t had any luck with them playing together since their play styles are just so different and that might be the case for you too, but hopefully your dog can adjust a little and your mini pig will see that she just wants to play. Some people have great luck with their dogs and pigs getting along and some don’t. I’m so jealous of the ones with dogs and pigs who happily play and cuddle! Hopefully things improve for you, but keep me updated if you think of it!