Merlin the Pig - With Mina

***This episode is sponsored by Hold Onto Your Hooves*** Hold Onto Your Hooves can be found at https://www.instagram.com/hold_onto_your_hooves and HTTP://Facebook.com/holdontoyourhooves     Mina Alali is a 26 year old from Sacramento, California, who grew up loving animals but expanded her love for exotics through adopting her first pet (all to herself), Mochi, a bearded dragon.  Through lots of time together during Covid, she began to train Mochi like a dog. Mochi mastered tricks such as: come here, high five, kiss, wait for his food (bugs), and even to use Mina’s hand as stairs. Mina amassed over 700,000 followers on TikTok through sharing videos about training and daily life with Mochi.  Over the next two years, Mina would adopt rats, another bearded dragon, and a pet pig - Merlin. Mina adopted Merlin in March of 2022. Merlin specifically, brought in surge of followers, who loved to see his ability to communicate through buttons, pre-recorded with Mina’s voices, incorporating humor in phrases like, “Dance With Me Mommy,” “Ice Cube, Ice Cube!” and “Pay attention to me right now,” among others.  Mina has shown the world just how intelligent and emotional animals can be, given the time, space, patience, and positive reinforcement. Mina had heard about mini pigs but also knew that micro pigs were not a real thing. And that if they were they were probably being underfed and wouldn't be healthy.  She learned that a mini pig is anything under 300 pounds. She also learned that someone could sell you a mini pig but you wouldn’t really know until 3 or 4 years down the line because they grow so slow. She wasn't concerned about the size very much but at the time she lived in an apartment. So she knew she did want a mini pig because she wasn’t sure when she would move next. She loves to rescue but she found a very nice place called California Mini Pigs so she reached out to them and they sent her the names of a few pigs and then they said “Oh and then there is Peter.” She asked about him and they told her that he was the older of their pigs and 2 homes had fallen through for him already and he was 50% off. She asked for pictures of him and they sent her a picture of Merlin and she decided to take him. She feels that even though he was through a breeder she decided to get him because he hadn’t been picked so far. She noticed that people always want the smallest and youngest pigs they can get and that didn’t matter to her. She knows that all pigs grow. 48 hours later she was driving 4 hours north to go pick him up. She had spent the whole day before prepping and getting the necessary things she needed for him. There is always a learning curve because every pig has its own personality, so you have to learn what their experience has been and what they need.     Bringing Merlin home was such an exciting thing. She has a video of her crying on the drive up to get him because she was so excited. He was totally calm in the kennel in the car and slept the entire drive home. When they got home she opened the kennel and had a trail of food leading out of it. He was definitely curious and very food motivated. He got used to her presence very quickly because at that point Mina worked from home so she was spending 24/7 with him. The first night he slept in the kennel she had set up for him but every day since then he has slept in bed with her cuddling her.    Mina did so much training when she first got him that he got used to a leash very fast. She noticed right away that he was so attentive and smart. From the beginning she could sense that so she started teaching the typical dog tricks to him. He learned each of his tricks within 5 minutes or less. As long as there was food involved, training was not very hard at all. The biggest thing he needed to adjust to was being picked up like most pigs.  With training he got used to being picked up within a week or two. He would do hot pants (a way of showing affection from a pig) within a couple days of being home when Mina would be out to run an errand or two. Mina was able to establish that she was the boss in the house very quickly. She was pretty adamant that she would have positive discipline right away so that she would not have spoiled pig syndrome to deal with. She really did her best to avoid it at all costs. She is very glad she did that early on. Also, on their walks (3x’s a day) she would bring treats with her and when people would be excited to see him she would offer to let them give him a snack. She feels that this is why he is so comfortable with people and such a people lover. He is not aggressive at all and just loves people.    Mina shares some of the other things she has trained Merlin to do. She potty trained him to go potty outside. She had a litter box inside but gave him treats every time he would go potty outside. She also got those buttons that you can record your voice on to train him to use. The first button Merlin had was “outside”. When she would put his harness and leash on him and then press the button herself so he would associate that button with going outside. The way she would train him to press the button was to boop the button on his nose. Then they would go outside and as soon as they were outside she would give him a treat. That has been so helpful because now he will press the button and tell her when he needs to go outside to go to the bathroom. Merlin grew out of the litter box phase. She moved in March 2023 and he hasn't had a single accident in this house. If Mina isn't home he will hold it and go to the bathroom outside as soon as she gets home again. Merlin has about 20 buttons that he uses  at this point. The easiest one to teach him was hungry. He also knows his water button. If he goes to his bowl and it is empty he will press the button so Mina knows to fill it again. Those are his practical buttons but he also has fun ones. He has one button that says “Pay attention to me right now”.  He loves to press that button when she is preparing food for her bearded dragon. MIna learned that he loves ice cubes, so he has an ice cube button. Another favorite button is one that says “Dance with me mommy”. He loves to be picked up and spun around with that button. She has also taught him how to close the door. Merlin loves Mina’s rats so now he knows how to open the door to their cage and let them out for playtime. Now she has to put a lock on the cage so he can only let them out to play when she is home to supervise. Mina knew that pigs were smart but she had no idea just how smart he is.    The biggest challenge for Mina with having a pet pig has been leaving him. The most she can stand to leave him is 2 weeks. She feels like he is her child. Since she isn’t able to fly with Merlin she pays her sister to come stay with him when she has to leave. She imagines the limited freedom is similar to motherhood. She has established that she is the boss with Merlin but with other people he can challenge them. He loves Mina’s boyfriend but he does not listen to him as well as he listens to Mina so that can be frustrating for everyone involved. Mina makes sure that Merlin is disciplined the same way from her and her boyfriend but Merlin reacts differently to each of them. She wishes that Merlin would respect her boyfriend on the same level that he respects her.    Mina and her boyfriend adopted a calf in October. They had gone to a pumpkin patch that had a petting zoo. She was not happy with the conditions that the animals were living in. Moo had nothing but hay shavings and a water bucket in his stall where he would sleep at night. He was only 10 days old at the time and he had no blanket or form of heat source in his stall. Moo was also very very skinny. Mina is aware that his breed is a skinny breed but he was excessively skinny. When she approached him he didn't even budge when they approached him and tried to pet him. Her boyfriend saw a sign at the back of the barn that stated that every animal except for the kittens was available for purchase for either a pet or as food. Alex decided to put their names down to try to adopt the cow. They talked to a staff member and learned that a beef farm was very interested in him already and if that fell through they would contact them. Mina ended up getting a message from a staff member on November 2nd saying that there were 2 people ahead of her to adopt Moo but they both had fallen through and would she be able to give this calf a home. Two days later they picked him up. Moo is currently being rehabilitated at their home now. When they picked him up he was only 1 month old and they found out that he had been taken from his mother at 4 days old. He was given the colostrum that he needed but separated from his mother immediately after that. He was drinking store bought milk instead of calf replacer milk or calf starter. He was on Timothy hay pellets which are for horses. He was also only being fed about half of the amount he needed to be getting at his age. Mina and her boyfriend have been gradually increasing the amount of milk he is getting along with all the proper nutrition he should be getting. They have also been taking him to the vet for checkups to make sure he is doing good. He is doing so much better now. He is slowly getting to the weight he should be at this age. The Vet recommended that they keep him until he is weaned off of milk and then to find a rescue or a sanctuary that will board him for them until they are able to purchase more land in California and adopt more cows so he has a herd to be with. They have all fallen totally in love with each other. Merlin is being supervised when around Moo and he is doing better. When he goes near Moo and doesn't react negatively they praise him to encourage positive behavior. They also try to feed Merlin outside and just make sure that Merlin understands that they love him and then they take him inside and cuddle him on the couch. Merlin still has some work to get used to having a brother. Their goal is to make sure that Moo is happy and safe for the rest of his life. They are making sure to show Merlin a lot of love and attention during this time because it is such a huge adjustment for him.    Mina’s biggest piece of advice is to only get a pet pig if you are ok with having a toddler for the next 15 years, and to treat them like a child because they just want love and you have to be very patient.   Mina’s Links:  https://www.instagram.com/merlinthepig https://www.tiktok.com/@mina.alali Autumn’s Links:  Website: https://www.autumnacresminipetpigs.com/ Email: Autumn@autumnacresminipetpigs.com Educational Membership Group: https://www.autumnacresminipetpigs.com/support-group-subscription/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autumnacresminipetpigs/ Facebook:  HTTP://Facebook.com/autumnacresminipetpigs Mighty Networks: https://autumn-acres-mini-pet-pigs.mn.co/share/EPW2Ie5isMX4T0Ve YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCGue5Kp5AwOXkReCGPUyImA Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hDNizT