The Dog's Pig

My son's dog is the funniest animal I have ever seen. And I have seen a few strange animals.

My son wanted a dog. We have always tried to get pets that were not wanted by someone else so that we could give them a good home. It has worked well for us and I highly recommend a "used" pet to everyone.

My son went to the veterinarian in the next town to see if they knew of any dogs who needed a home. He prefers a female and prefers a medium sized dog or maybe a little larger. He wants to keep her inside therefore she cannot be too big.

The vet had one listing on the board of a female dog of mixed ancestry who needed a new owner. My son spoke to the woman who owned her and we drove right over to the town they lived in to see if it was a good match.

The woman was very nice. She had young children. They were moving soon and could not take the dog with them.

She told us the history of the dog. As a puppy she was found abandoned in an empty house. She had no food and no water. It was not mentioned whether she had been physically abused but I suspect that was the case.

She was perfect for what my son wanted. She came with a house put in  the yard and one of those big wire dog cages. She had been kept outdoors for the most part but she was occasionally taken inside to play with the children. She loves children. And she had access to the garage at all times.

So we took her home to live with my son. She is not trusting of men but she likes women and children. She was unsure about this man who had taken her home with him.

I was not yet living with my son. He would call me periodically and tell me what a challenge he was having trying to get the dog to trust him. It took a long time but she is now devoted to him. Her bed is on the floor in my son's room.

One night he called me laughing. He felt bad for her because the only toy she had was an old ball that was all torn up. So the next time he went to the store he picked up a ball that squeaked. She was running from one end of the house to the other, back and forth, with the ball in her mouth. Her whimpering of joy was almost a scream. She was so happy to have that ball. I could hear her over the phone.

One of the next toys he bought her was a plastic pig. It also has a squeaker and sounds a bit like a real pig. She ran through the house loudly whimpering with the pig too.

The pig became her favorite toy. She took it to bed with her and kept it in her bed while she slept. Other toys came and went from the bed but the pig always stayed.

Once in a while she would bring the pig out to the living room but it went right back into the bedroom when she went to bed for the night. Her pig was her absolute favorite of all her toys. Often she still whimpered but not as loudly when she had her pig with her.

I began to notice that during the day the pig would be at the door to my son's room looking out into the rest of the house. The dog placed it there when she got up for the day. But at night the pig was back in bed where it belonged.

One night my son was working on his computer in his room and the dog was getting ready to lay down and go to sleep.

Suddenly as the dog laid down (on the pig) the pig let out a loud noise. It scared the dog and she jumped up and ran to my son for protection. The unexpected sound had scared her half to death.

When she finally calmed down she went to her bed, took the pig out, and angrily set it over by the door. Then she settled down for a good night's sleep.

The next day she took the pig into the living room and placed it in the pile of toys that are hers. My son was laughing as he told me how the pig had scared her.  And she was still mad at it!

She still took toys to bed with her. Which toys went were up to her whim each night. But she purposely ignored her pig.

This happened between two and three months ago. She finally dug around in her pile of toys a few nights ago and dug out her pig. She set it in front of the other toys. Then she proceeded to ignore it.

It took two more nights before she finally forgave her pig. She picked it up and went through the house whining. When she went to bed that night she took the pig with her and it is once again occupying a special spot in her bed.

I do hope the pig is more careful about where it is in the dog's bed. I would hate to see it exiled again.