Oscar learned how to wave! Wave is one of my favorite mini pig tricks so far because there are few things cuter than a waving mini pig. This was a fun trick to teach Oscar because it’s a really easy, comfortable motion for him. Other tricks, like sit and jump, are less natural and are harder for him to perform, but Oscar seems to really enjoy waving for treats.

The mini pig training for wave builds on shake. If your mini pig hasn’t learned to shake, I highly recommend starting there and then working up to wave. Once your mini pig knows how to shake, learning how to wave is pretty easy since the motions for shake and wave are almost exactly the same for the pig.

Here is the training video with instructions on how to teach your mini pig to wave.

Once your pig knows how to shake, you need to make two changes to train your pig to wave. First, when your pig raises her hoof in the air, you no longer tap her hoof as you did when training shake. You want your pig to raise her hoof on her own and just swipe it in the air instead of meeting your hand on the way down to shake. Second, you need to switch the command word since we still want the pig to know how to shake. So, start by saying “shake” but, when your pig has her hoof in the air to shake, say “wave” to switch the command. Eventually, you can take the word “shake” out completely and just say “wave” to instruct your pig to raise her hoof. This can sound a little confusing in text, but it’s really pretty simple and is more thoroughly explained in the training video above.

How to train your mini pig to wave (building upon shake):

1. Ask your pig to shake. Say “shake” to get your pig to raise his hoof in the air. Go ahead and raise your hand like you are going to shake, but don’t touch your hand to your pig’s hoof like you would with shake.

2. When your pig’s hoof is raised in the air to shake, say “wave” and then click and give your pig a treat.

3. Ask your pig to shake again. You can again raise your hand as if you’re going to shake but don’t touch your pig’s hoof. As you continue the training, you should be able to start taking your hand out of the trick completely. So, go ahead and raise your hand if it helps your pig start the shake/wave motion, but you want to start decreasing your hand motion each time.

4. Again, when your pig’s hoof is raised in the air to shake, say “wave” and then click and give your pig a treat.

5. Once your pig has that down, you should be able to take out the “shake” command and your hand motions completely. Say “wave” and then click and give a treat when your pig raises his hoof up to wave.

Once your pig has both shake and wave training down, mix both tricks in with others like circle and kneel to make sure she’s really listening to each command. Oscar often performs his most recent trick repeatedly to get treats, so I like to mix all of his tricks up to make sure he’s really paying attention to the commands.

If this is your first time training your mini pig, I recommend starting with circle in order to get the mini pig training basics down and then build up to more challenging tricks. If you want to know more about clicker training and why I use the clicker, check out our mini pig training basics video.

Oscar learned how to kneel down! Oscar rarely kneels down naturally, but it’s really cute when he does. I was looking for a new trick to teach Oscar, and I was intrigued by the challenge of training him to kneel down on command. I knew it would be more difficult than some of the other mini pig training I’ve done with him, but it seemed like a fun challenge. Also, a mini pig kneeling down is an adorable trick to show off to family and friends!

Here is the video on how I taught Oscar to kneel down.

This trick was more challenging for me than it was for Oscar. Since he doesn’t kneel down often, I had to figure out how to purposefully make him kneel down in order to train him to do it on command. I tried everything from attempting to shape him into kneeling down to putting a treat near the ground to see if he would lower himself to get the treat. The first few training sessions were really frustrating because I couldn’t even get him to kneel. Then, one day I took a warm blanket out of the dryer and set it on the floor for Oscar to nap on, and he naturally knelt down on it. I ran and grabbed my clicker and tried the training again. With the warm blanket on the floor, Oscar happily knelt down, so I was able to finally get him to kneel long enough to click the behavior and then he learned the trick quickly from there.

You might have to get a little creative to teach your mini pig to kneel down. If you know of a particular time when your mini pig naturally kneels down, use that to your advantage. Go to where your pig likes to kneel, take your clicker and treats, and do your training there. Once your mini pig kneels down, say “down” and click the clicker to signal to your mini pig that kneeling means down and is rewarded with a click and a treat. If your mini pig is like Oscar and doesn’t kneel often, try using a warm blanket to see if you can get her to kneel. If she does, have your clicker and treats ready. As soon as your mini pig kneels on the blanket, say “down” and then click and give her the treat while she’s kneeling. Eventually, your pig will learn to kneel on command and without the warm blanket, but you might need it at first in order to get your pig to kneel long enough to click and reward the behavior.

This is a more challenging trick, so I don’t recommend this for the first time you train your mini pig. If you are just starting with training your pig, I highly recommend starting with circle and building up to other tricks like sit, shake, and stay. Circle is my favorite starter trick for mini pig training because it’s fairly quick and easy, and it’s really fun for both the mini pig and owner. Once your pig has figured out the training process and understands the clicker, other tricks become easier and less frustrating to train. As always, keep your training sessions short. A few training sessions each day, ideally just a few minutes long, are much more effective than longer, less frequent sessions. If you or your pig starts to get frustrated during training, cut that session short and try again later. Keep the mini pig training fun!

If you want to know more about why I use a clicker for mini pig training or what treats I use to train Oscar, check out my mini pig training basics post and video.

Oscar has learned so many tricks in the past few months! Although we’ve put together mini pig training videos for each trick, Oscar and I wanted to make a video just for showing off his tricks. I know that seeing the training process and how Oscar learned each trick is interesting to some, but this video is for those who just want to watch Oscar perform what he’s learned.

Here is a video of Oscar showing off the tricks he has learned so far. He circles, sits, shakes, stays, and jumps!

Mini pigs are incredibly smart animals and can learn tricks quickly and with little effort. Additionally, mini pig training is a great way to teach basic obedience to a pig, making her a better pet and companion. It’s also a really fun activity for you and your mini pig, one which helps create trust and a lasting bond. For those reasons, I highly recommend training any mini pig at least a few basic tricks.

To see how Oscar learned any of the tricks in the video, check out the training section on the blog or Oscar’s YouTube channel. If you have questions about mini pig training, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

Oscar learned to jump! Teaching Oscar to jump was more challenging than previous tricks like circle, sit, and stay. Although we discovered during Oscar’s pool party that he can jump when necessary, jumping isn’t as easy of a movement for him as spinning or even shaking. If you’re just starting out with training your mini pig, I recommend starting with simpler tricks until your pig understands the training process and then working up to jump.

Here is a video on how to train a mini pig to jump. If you prefer to just see Oscar jump, skip ahead in the video to 1:38.

Once your mini pig is ready to learn to jump, start by making sure your flooring has good traction. Traction is helpful for all mini pig training, but it’s essential for jump. If your mini pig is sliding around while also trying to lift himself up to jump, he could injure his little legs. So, if you have hardwood floors, tile, or any other type of slippery surface, either do the training on a rug with a rubber backing or go into a carpeted room to keep your mini pig safe.

I always recommend using a clicker and treats for mini pig training, but they’re not required. The training instruction for jump is simple. With your mini pig standing, take a treat and place it above her snout, just high enough that she has to reach up to touch the treat; say “jump” as you do this. As soon as her snout touches the treat, click and give her the treat. It’s not necessary that your mini pig actually jump or lift her hooves off the floor at first since you can build up to that. Once she learns to reach up for the treat, start raising your hand and the treat higher and higher until she is lifting up off the floor to jump up for the treat.

Since we are just using jump training for simple obedience, I only go high enough for Oscar to lift his front hooves off the floor. I want to keep him safe and avoid injuries, so I don’t ask him to jump up too high. However, if you want your mini pig to learn to jump higher than what I show in the video, simply keep raising your hand and continue the training until your mini pig is jumping higher.

Jump training is simple overall but was challenging for Oscar and required many attempts for him to figure out what I wanted him to do. If you’re having trouble training your mini pig to jump, keep trying in small sessions each day until she knows what you’re asking. Once your pig figures out that touching the treat with her snout gets a treat, it’s easy to build up to higher jumps. As always, if you have any questions, just let me know in the comments.