I cannot stress the importance of desensitizing your mini pig to touch, getting their hooves done, noises, car rides, the kennel, and much more.
After your pig has become very social and comfortable with you, it is time to start desensitizing her to everything you can! Start by desensitizing to touch. Touch your pig all over! Their hooves, ears, entire body, tail, mouth, and head. Get your pig really used to and comfortable with being touched all over their body. Get them used to being touched all over while they are awake and asleep. This will help tremendously when you have a full grown mini pig for many reasons. The first is that your pig will be comfortable with being touched anywhere on her body and will not startle or react negatively if touched on the mouth per say. This can help if a child was to touch your pig on the mouth your pig will not react negatively and potentially hurt or startle the child. Another reason body desensitizing is so important is for vet visits and any emergencies. It will be an easier and more pleasant experience for everyone if your pig is used to being handled than if your pig is not. The next step is to desensitize your pig to having her hooves touched. This is crucial because pigs require hoof trims as they age and it is something that can be done in your home, but only if you have a cooperative pig. So touch your pig's hooves any chance you get. Get them comfortable with laying down and being rubbed while you touch their hooves. If you do this it will save you a lot of trouble when it comes time for hoof trims. Sometimes a pig requires a vet or farrier to trim their hooves and sometimes they require sedation, which is very risky for a pig. So any opportunity to not have to sedate your pig is one to take and that starts with getting your pig used to having their hooves touched.
Here is a video of Winnie getting her hooves filed. Since she is a baby right now her hooves are not growing enough to require them to be trimmed yet, just filing them is enough. When you file a pig's hoof you need to make sure you file them to the correct shape.
To get Winnie to this stage, where she is comfortable laying down and letting me file her nails, I touched her feet everyday, any chance I got. I also desensitized her to the nail file by taking it slow and only doing one hoof at a time in the beginning and using treats. In the beginning I would put cheerios down on the floor and while Winnie was eating them I would clean her hoofs and touch all over them. This started creating a positive association between having her hooves touched and food. Then I transitioned to the nail file by brushing Winnie with a sample ScratchnAll pad, and that makes her lay down on her side. I would brush her then stop and do one hoof, then brush her more, and continue with that process until I got all 4 done. Then I slowly started doing two hoofs before I brushed her again, and that is how I got her to be calm while filing her nails. I will transition this to getting them trimmed as she gets older. It takes time and going in stages helps tremendously.
Another thing you NEED to desensitize your pig to is car rides. It is a known fact, pigs hate car rides in the beginning. They are known to urinate and defecate on themselves in the car the first time. I recommend getting them used to a car, a kennel in the car, and a car ramp as soon as you can. Winnie started riding in the car in a kennel and transitioned to just riding in the car. She does not necessarily love it yet but she doesn't seem to mind it.
The only thing I can recommend is start making the car positive as soon as you can. Feed a meal in the car one day to create a positive association. Give treats for being in the car and any scary bump etc you might drive over. When Winnie started getting freedom in the car anytime we went over a scary bump I rewarded her with a treat and eventually she didn't get restless when we went over bumps. Also a car ramp is going to be your best friend when you have a pig you physically cannot lift into the car anymore. Put treats on the ramp in the beginning to encourage your pig to go up and down the ramp, and just practice with treats until your pig is comfortable with the scary ramp. Being able to easily get your pig into the car and them being comfortable in the car is vital to your pig's life. You will have to at least take your pig to the vet once a year so making the car and ramp an easy thing will save you a headache. Also in the event of an emergency quickly getting your pig into the car is key.
The kennel (or crate as some call it)! Use treats to get your pig to go into the kennel, do not close the door, let them come out, and put treats in saying "kennel" to get them to go back in. Do this often for a day. Then transition to putting treats in saying "kennel", once your pig is in close the door for 30 seconds then let them out and give them a treat. Keep doing this lengthening the time the door is shut until your pig is completely relaxed and going in the kennel all on her own. Winnie will choose to take naps in her open door kennel during the day, and at night she sleeps in a kennel in my bedroom for her safety since I cannot watch her. Desensitizing and kennel training is very important. Even if you never plan on kenneling your pig still do it in case for some emergency or reason you have to kennel your pig will be easy and not traumatic for them.
Noises! Oh how scary certain noises and especially loud noises can be for a mini pig. So desensitize them to noises from the beginning creating positive associations with treats and scary noises. I would play a YouTube track of loud noises and for every loud noise I would reward Winnie with a treat. When the dogs barked I would say yes Winnie good girl and reward her with a treat. Now if the dogs bark and she is asleep she doesn't even bother waking up. Introduce them to as many noises as you can and often and eventually these noises won't startle your pig anymore. Car traffic can be very scary so take them for walks just to get them more comfortable and use to the noise of a car passing. Give them a treat when the car passes to make it positive and not scary.
The last thing is desensitizing your pig to the public and other people.
A pig that is behaved in public, not scared trying to run from everything, is overall an easier more well-rounded pig. So take your pig out in public, bring treats, and make it a very positive outing. You can walk them in a harness through pet friendly stores such as Tractor Supply and pet stores, or push them in a stroller. Either way it gets them out around plenty of noises and other people. Have guests over to your house and have them do tricks with your pig and give them treats. Getting your pig used to strangers and especially strangers coming into your home is key to living with a pig. Pigs are extremely territorial and not trusting of humans. They also will take any opportunity they have to try to be top hog and that mainly happens when guests come over to your house. They see it as an opportunity to become top hog of those guests and they take it. This can come off as your pig being aggressive when really they are just acting out on natural instincts. But it is something you want to prevent and stop. So have your guests ask your pig to do commands for them, so your pig knows she is not in charge, then reward with treats so your pig thinks positively of them. This will change your life with a pig! You don't want to have to put your pig up when you have guests over when you can all co-exist and have fun. Use treats, they will be your, your guests, and your pigs best friend.
There are so many ways you can desensitize your pig! Just think about desensitizing your pig to everything and that is a good place to start. Even if you never plan on taking your pig out in public harness training them is key for in home and any emergencies, and you can desensitize to so many things in your home that will help build a more well-behaved pig. Remember a scared pig usually shows their fear by acting aggressive so if you desensitize your pig to anything you can, your pig will not be scared!
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