Between the new place and a new layout, we've also got a new routine going on, and Cannoli has been the quickest to adjust. She knows where she needs to be to get the best treats first and is overcoming her wussiness. Several mornings I've found Cannoli on the third level of the cage, awaiting her morning bell pepper and she didn't run away. Excellent! She was also the first to wheek from the second level, which is the part of the cage that is closest to the kitchen. However, some habits die hard; I often find Pinniped up against the water bottle-side of the cage (which used to be closest to the kitchen) looking expectantly through the bars in hope for a treat. Wrong way, you dope!
I've tried for weeks to get a good video of the ruckus that goes on most mornings, but as soon as I start the camera, they quiet down. Stealthy pigs. But this should give you an idea of a typical morning.
Mmmm... tomatoes
The other change is the afternoon treat. Rob used to come home and be greeted with tales of starvation: loud, woeful wheeking and noses waved about. But no more. His return home holds no interest whatsoever. I think, in part, it's because I'm home in the same room as them. He's lost his big entrance because Noli and Pinni aren't solo all day. I get begging earlier in the day when I enter the kitchen and open the fridge or turn on the faucet. Still, I'm a little surprised they don't hit up Rob again in the afternoon.
The best change is that they no longer panic every time we walk by the cage. I can still cause a pig-panic if I startle one of them from a deep sleep, but at least they're not freaked out every time someone moves around in the room.
I recently moved the cage from one wall to the opposite wall, which means the pig who was closest, Dash, is now the furthest from the kitchen. He had the same routine, kitchen sounds meant sit and watch from the nearest vantage point. And for about three weeks after the switch he would still sit in that spot waiting and watching. Watching the wall now instead of the door. "Hello? I'm over here Dash."
He figured it out now though,and any time I'm in the kitchen I canlook in and see his Mickey Mouse ears in the corner facing me, hoping for something he probably just had the last time I went in there. I'm a sucker for those ears.
Yes, old habits die hard...or don't die at all. Ralphie can only eat his food from the LEFT side of the bowl. You know, nothng tastes right if it's eaten from the right side of the bowl, or the up side of the bowl, or the side of the bowl which is next to the left side, but isn't the left side. I also believe that he now understands the word "Supper." All is quiet, I go into his room (well, it's our room,but you know, it's really his room - we just live in it), and when I say the word Supper he goes ballistic. The wheeking! The yahooing! The jumping and the running. Whatta pig. Great to see/hear that you got Pinni a new pal - great name that, Cannolli!
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I recently moved the cage from one wall to the opposite wall, which means the pig who was closest, Dash, is now the furthest from the kitchen. He had the same routine, kitchen sounds meant sit and watch from the nearest vantage point. And for about three weeks after the switch he would still sit in that spot waiting and watching. Watching the wall now instead of the door. "Hello? I'm over here Dash."
ReplyDeleteHe figured it out now though,and any time I'm in the kitchen I canlook in and see his Mickey Mouse ears in the corner facing me, hoping for something he probably just had the last time I went in there. I'm a sucker for those ears.
lol I'm glad to know that Pinni is in good company.
DeleteAh, the piggy tale of starvation and woe. A story every piggy slave is familiar with.
ReplyDeletePinni's conviction that the veggies would pop into existence from the opposite side gave me a laugh.
Yes, old habits die hard...or don't die at all. Ralphie can only eat his food from the LEFT side of the bowl. You know, nothng tastes right if it's eaten from the right side of the bowl, or the up side of the bowl, or the side of the bowl which is next to the left side, but isn't the left side. I also believe that he now understands the word "Supper." All is quiet, I go into his room (well, it's our room,but you know, it's really his room - we just live in it), and when I say the word Supper he goes ballistic. The wheeking! The yahooing! The jumping and the running. Whatta pig. Great to see/hear that you got Pinni a new pal - great name that, Cannolli!
ReplyDelete