Hi there! So me and my husband own a farm in Michigan and one of our animals is Penelope our 2 year old potbelly. We just rescued a piglet, paco who is 4 months old. Both live in the house. We introducted Penelope to Paco and she foamed at the mouth, chopped her lips and ran after the piglet. After doing some research I learned that is normal and she has to fight him to show dominance and establish the ranking order. Totally understandable. The issue we've been having is that Penelope, who was totally house trained, is now being defiant and pooping purposely in her room. We let her out, she comes in and poops, totally on purpose. She knows not too and hasn't pooped in the house in over a year. I don't know what to do! We hope to keep the little Paco (I'm in love with him!) and hate to think about giving him back to the rescue but fear penelope wont warm up and will continue to ruin our house if not corrected. She was bell trained when we got her at a year old so we never had to train her and honesly I'm not quite sure how. We tell her no and put her outside but like I said she is doing it on purpose! Is it a territorial thing? Is there still hope?
Piglet Introduction Issues
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It sounds to me like Penelope is just telling Paco who is boss. Pigs are very scent oriented and one of the first things they do when they first meet is to poop and pee to tell the newcomer something that we don't understand (like a dog marks its territory). My guess is that she is going in her room to tell Paco that it is her space. This intro period of fighting and bathroom messes should only last a few days. After she gets used to him and feels comfortable and confident again she should go back to her sweet self. Pigs love to have other piggy friends and she will soon love Paco as much as you do. Good job on getting Paco and rescuing him. I would give it a week or so. Good luck!
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