I am excited to show you Oscar’s newest trick. Oscar recently learned how to shake! This was a really fun trick to teach him, and he loves showing it off to family and friends.

Here is the video Oscar and I put together on how to train a mini pig to shake. If you’re less interested in the instruction and just want to see him shake, start around minute two.

I initially tried teaching Oscar to shake in combination with sit, asking him to sit first and then shake. When we did that, he couldn’t balance well enough to raise his hoof, so that method didn’t work for us. Once I took sit out of it and just had him shake while standing, he figured the trick out quickly. If you’re having trouble teaching your mini pig to shake and have been asking her to sit first, try just letting your mini pig stand in place and shake. For us, that made the training much easier.

As with most mini pig training, teaching Oscar how to shake was a gradual process taught in smaller steps. I started by simply touching Oscar’s hoof while it was on the floor and saying “shake.” Then I gently picked up his hoof, lifting it higher each time while saying “shake.” Eventually, I was able to stop lifting his hoof and he learned to raise it up to meet my hand. You don’t have to wait until your mini pig gets the trick exactly right to give a click and a treat, as long as she is making steps in the right direction. Remember to keep the training short and fun; stop and try again tomorrow if you or your mini pig gets frustrated.

If you’re just starting out with training your mini pig, I recommend starting with circle since it’s a quick and easy trick for your mini pig to learn. Once your mini pig has circle down and knows what to expect during training time, it will be easier for your pig to learn how to sit or shake.

As always, if you’re having trouble teaching your mini pig to shake, don’t hesitate to let me know by asking your question in the comments section.