Light on Pig and Pup, squeals and understanding

Back when Marcella first arrived as an eight week old pup, she took a shine to the newly arrived piglet, Earnest. Many of you enjoyed those early months of Pig and Pup, going everywhere together, whether the pig wanted the pup by his side or not. He put up with so much from that pup. It was charming and funny, over and over.

Their relationship remains strong but has evolved like all relationships do. Right now they are both going on four and I would say they are in their early 'let's get our boundaries rehearsed' stage as far as behavior. Earnest could kill Marcella if he really wanted to with his tusks and strength. She could also do some damage on him if she felt she needed to. When I feed Marcella in the morning, I also feed some of the goats, and Earnest, away from Marcella. The game for Marcella is to eat her dog food as fast as she can so she can then go to Earnest's food, and Earnest's game is to eat as fast as he can so he can steal goat food. The three goats in that paddock-Moose, Goose and Wilbur eat as fast as they can so they can go out to the grazing area and leave the grown Pig and Pup sideshow. By the time I've left that barn to go out and feed equines, Benedetto, grumpy pig and sheep, I usually hear the screams of Earnest and barks of Marcella. To the passing stranger, this might sound scary and severe-but it is not. People need to live with animals to understand their language. Pigs scream, often, they have a very big vocabulary of screams that can mean anything from

"I'm scared, or I'm dying, to I have my head stuck in a fence. They also have various levels of grunts and squeals to equate joy, happiness, or 'get out of my way that's my food dish". When Earnest screams in the morning, I know he is telling Marcella to bud out, and he is usually saying it as he runs from her–for Marcella is still and will always be, I suspect, the alpha.

But then later in the day I go to visit, and there they are, together, bathed in afternoon light, quiet and content. I sit down to give Earnest belly rubs, and over comes Marcella, she always comes to me in the barns and paddocks. There is a bit of,

"Pet me first," from her, but not in an aggressive way. Since she came to me as a pup, we have a strong relationship and understanding of accepted and non accepted behavior. She challenged me a lot in the first couple years but has matured, and I have to say, as a caretaker of a Maremma, so have I. I respect that dog like no other I've had-for her ability to cause me harm, but also her ability to sense danger and when something isn't 'quite right.'

I love seeing them in light from the heavens.

Piglet Watch!

It happens. Despite the best efforts of humankind male pigs are known to bust through fences to get to a lady to...you know, make babies.

We moved here last May and scrambled to get fences up for the animals, so I knew triaging the pig paddocks was a on the list, but would wait until this year. We usually have a board on the bottom of each fence, but I had not gotten to that yet.

Enter Marcella and Earnest. If you follow along, you know Marcella the Maremma came to us a pup, right about when Earnest the boar piglet came to us-and they bonded. They were the cutest odd couple around. They continue to be bonded, and reside together in one of the paddocks next to the lady pigs. But now Marcella and Earnest conspire together, I am sure of it. Marcella pushes and loosens the fence, and Earnest gets his sausage style body under it somehow, if he smells that delectable lady scent of heat. He is built like a stiff Mack truck, but where there is a will there is a pig way.

Anyway, there they were one day, Earnest and Cornelia, doing it.

OK, they're in the act, I'll let them have their privacy, I thought.

I marked my calendar and noted that 3 months-3weeks-3days would be March 5. I noticed signs of pregnancy awhile ago, but now it is clear she is going to farrow soon. I hope she does ok, she is squat, and I kept her as my buddy pig, she is not who I intended to breed. But Earnest can't take it back, nor can she.

I am full up in pigs and so will begin marketing them for sale this week as soon as she farrows.If you know anyone interested in Kunekunes, have them contact me. I have not seen many Maine people raising them so hope I have a good chance on getting them sold.

I talked to Earnest tonight about it.

"Do you know Cornelia is getting ready, babies on the way, Papa?"

He flopped down for a belly rub. He has no interest in child rearing, just food, and sex, and belly rubs. Oh and winter ice skating. Perhaps swimming this summer too.

Stay tuned!

Earnest and Marcella-they are a team

Marcella saves the night!

Cue the spooky music.... last night about 11 PM, Marcella showed us she knows her job.

Now this particular Marema does not bark, unless she needs to send a clear message. She once barked once, then twice, slowly and I knew to check it out-and a piglet was caught in a fence. I have heard others say their Maremas bark a lot, and others who say their dogs are like Marcella-that when they bark more than a few times, you better go take a look.

I had gone to bed at 10:30 and was contently dozing off, and I had the fan on. I heard a dog but thought it was the one across the river who tends to bark a lot. Martyn came in about 11 and he said it was Marcella. He was nonchalant about it. The barking continues and I got my old self out of bed and we took flashlights out into the dark barnyard.

Now night time belongs to the creatures, I've always felt more like a guest of the barnyard than the shepherdess at night. We entered through the orchard where Aldo the llama, and his goats reside–Stevie, Scooby Keith, Raggedy man, Rudy and Professor Otis Littleberry. Adjoining paddocks there have the older ponies and Doris and June and all the piglets.

To flash your light into the dark and come upon different sets of golden eyes, all shining calmly at you at various heights is both unsettling and amusing, especially when your guard dog is sitting upright, at attention, looking straight into the pony paddock, barking.

I must say, to come upon Marcella, so white, sitting so still and strongly, attentive, was a beautiful moment. It made getting up out of a slumber in pajamas and sandals worth it. I looked into the dark pony paddock and could see in time that the two elders were near the gate, and all was well. But Marcela continued to bark.

And then I saw it. A brown mass, short and squat. Motionless, standing closer to Doris's stall.

"What is that?" I asked Martyn. "Is that a wild pig?"

Now this is a ridiculous question- if it had been a wild pig, all hell would have broken out and it would have been horrible. Wild pigs are...wild. And very fierce and destructive-but there are getting to be a lot of them for a lot of different reasons.

"It's Earnest," Martyn said calmly.

"No, it's not...is it?" I said. He looked brown, and he seemed so out of place, which he was. I called for him, and once I got my bearings I understood that yes, in fact, it was dear Earnest-and he was making love calls and actions to the ponies–one of them must have been in heat.

The entire time, Marcella stood her ground and barked, until I went in and talked to Earnest, and managed to chase him out of the pen and back to his barnyard, with Marcella helping.

I praised that dog to high heaven. I realize it wasn't a life threatening situation, and if I hadn't gotten up, chances are Earnest would have cozied down with Marcella and the goats and she would have subsided her barking. But I was just so pleased with her, keeping her Misfits in check. And I got to hear her bark and the tone of it for a non life threatening situation-perhaps some night it will be a more aggressive bark, and I will understand her call is more serious.

I really think it was a turning point.

"Now do you know what I mean that when she barks, there is a reason?" I asked Martyn as we walked back to bed.

He did. And then my flashlight shone on two sets of beady, bright eyes, one set was about a foot off the ground, the other slightly taller. A visitor would have assumed raccoons. But I knew it was Moose and Goose observing from the backdrop.

Nap like a pig

I went out to take some photos this afternoon, and I obviously came at Pig Nap Hour. Nobody informs me of anything around here. All around, little lumps of pigs. To the untrained pig eye, one might gasp,

"They're dead!"

No, just napping. And yes, if Pearl and Doris look extra plump, they are. They are both full with piglets. Stay tuned.

But now I must nap.

Pig and Pup guards

I was a bit concerned how Marcella would react to the crowds at Pino Pie Day. It was her first experience with lots of unknown people appearing. While no one was allowed in the barnyard, they could approach the two gates the look into her current domain. I asked folks not to pet her–with signs–which nearly killed some of them I guess, but I didn't want her thinking that she could sit at a gate and get petted by strangers. Not really what a guard dog should learn.

But, she did great. She didn't bark much at all, a couple woofs here and there. I was amused by this scene, of her and her buddy Earnest, checking out the arriving guests.

On a business note, I had a couple people email and ask if they can still donate for Pie Day even though it is over. Yes, you can donate 24/7 around here! We always welcome subscriptions or donations to help offset the expense of caring for elders and Misfits. So thanks for asking!

Marcella mayhem pig on the side

Marcella continues to grow, expand, learn...and be a big ball of walking, flopping mayhem. The biggest challenge right now is keeping some of the elder, more crippled goats safe. She means no harm, and certain goats-like Stevie- are big enough to bang her away, which is what she needs. I might even start short time periods with her in the main flock while I can observe. She is big enough now not to get hurt, but some of those mature ewes will explain to her very openly what her boundaries are and aren't.She is not ready to be alone in the flock with 2 month old lambs.

Just as I had to put Scooby Keith, then Old Rudy out of the barnyard in the orchard with Aldo -don't feel bad for them, they have a wonderful arrangement all to themselves- I now had to put Professor Otis Littleberry with them. He is relieved, I can tell. I noticed he was getting thinner about 3 weeks ago and began separating him at feed times to ensure he was getting enough. But then I quickly realized it was because he had become Marcella's play target, mainly around evening after I'd go back to the house. It seemed to be not severe enough for too much concern, but this morning-even though I've now been putting him in a contained stall at night with Moose and Goose to keep him away from Marcella's play- I found him with a bloody ear. It's not that Marcella is biting him, she is probably reaching out to grab him in play, and then the teeth leave grooves in his ear. He clearly is not afraid of her, but he tries to avoid her. So, I took him out to be with Rudy and Scooby, and Aldo, and he looks very content. Until Marcella matures, we will leave it that way.

In the meantime, Marcella continues to have her go-to man, Ernest, the world's most tolerant pig. Ernest has given her the heave hoe when needed, which is good. She needs to hear it from them, not me. I am constantly teaching her, or trying, with as little yelling as I can manage. But she is a handful. Still, I have moments with her where I realize she really is maturing right on schedule. She is learning that my hand motion one way might mean, "Stop, there, NOW!" and another hand motion might mean, "Come along, help out now". She sits more near by and observes, versus always going into goof ball mode. It's fun. I truly love working with her. I just hope we can get her grown up without a duck or chicken mishap, but many in the know have told me it is likely to happen once. I take the time to open the chicken hut with her, making her wait while they all fly out. She is very ready at times to 'play' with a flying hen. Yesterday I found old Priscilla in a part of Old Barn she never goes to, and she was away from her ducks. I carried her back to her clan, but I suspect Marcella chased her at some point.

It is all part of her learning, and mine.

And all I can say is - thank God for that little pig Ernest!

Today's episode of Pig & Pup!

Pig & Pup continued!

There's a lot a couple of pals can do during the day-like investigate buckets, and then take naps. What a pair. What a life.

More from Pig and Pup!

Remember the song, "People Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend", the theme song to Eddie and His Father television show back in the '70's [yes, I date myself]? That is the song you need playing in your head while you look at these photos.

I am documenting Pig and Pup as often as I can and have more images in the hopper to share. Marcella continues to look to Ernest as one fellow who will tolerate her play. Now, she isn't allowed to overplay with him, as that is detrimental in her purpose here, but she seems to look to Ernest as her go-to guy. She lights up when he enters, and the two are usually found together various times of day. She has definitely figured out to stay away from Rosie. I told her that was a grumpy pig, but she had to figure it out on her own.

{See more Pig and Pup by clicking "Read More" below.}

A girl and her pig

Marcella has managed to sway Ernest into friendship. He is tolerant of her puppiness and she is learning her boundaries with Ernest. She kind of lights up when he is around, like,

"Oh good, Ernest is here!"

I caught a few shots of the odd couple yesterday, with Marcella licking Ernest's eyes which he really likes. When he has had enough attention-or too much of her attention-he gives her a swift- but too hard- nose push, and she flops over in submission.

If you like these posts and animal shares please consider pledging to my next book on Kickstarter-there are pigs in it after all.