You may not know this but pigs are very smart creatures. We learn very fast and will work at something until we have it down pact. Knowing this, mom and dad are always coming up with quick ways and ideas to curb my intelligence. They’re not holding me back. They just have to try to be two steps ahead of me to know how to curb what could be trouble in the long run.
Challenge of the Baby Gate –
Take for example the kitchen area. I learned real quick that this was the magical place that had all of the food… aaawww that wonderful food. So, mom and dad were two steps ahead of me and put up a huge metal baby gate. Perfect plan right? Wrong – LOL. I learned real quick that by using my snout I could touch the bottom mechanism that holds the gate shut and pop it open. There you go – I’m in the kitchen.
Two steps ahead of me, mom and dad started using a bungee cord as well to bind the gate door when I was out. I learned real quick – snort snicker – that worked for a while. Then I learned real quick that with enough thrust from my stout little body, I could just knock that big ole metal baby gate right down on the floor. Then I could walk over it, stomp it a little, and there you – I’m in the kitchen.
Two steps ahead of me, dad put the metal baby gate back up and enforced it with nails on both sides. I haven’t learned yet how to overcome that obstacle, don’t think I haven’t tried, but I will.
Bed time at Hotel Thompson
First of all – let’s talk about this picture and the onsey the adorable piggy is wearing. Mom wants to get me one. Yay or Nay??
Okay now back to our conversation – The great thing about Hotel Thompson is that for the most part we are on a tight schedule. Things don’t usually stray from that schedule. When it does, it upsets my internal time clock. And trust me, my internal time clock can be a frightening and powerful thing 🙂 When mom is at work, dad will ask me to do things and I may take my time doing them but I will… eventually. When mom is home, it’s all about my mommy. Dad will ask me to do something and I will look at him like I’m thinking about it. Mom tells me to do something, I’m there. She doesn’t play games.
Our nightly routine is pretty good now. After mom and dad eat their human chow, I come back out of my room where I’ve been meditating. Mom gives me little treats while she does the dishes in the kitchen. Afterwards, I get my main treat in the front room. Mom locks the baby gate and sits on our sofa. Sometimes, me and mom will run up and down the hallways to my room and the frontroom playing chase. This is so much fun. I run barking and snorting, mom just snorts and laughs. Afterwards, we fall on the sofa together and snuggle. We usually watch television together for a while. Mom will rub my back and I will fall off to sleep snoring.
See, this is where the training part comes in big time. Mom *thinks* she has trained me but I being the brilliant piglet that I am trained her. She just doesn’t know it. When it’s bedtime, she will tell me to go potty and get in bed. And, I will. Because *I* know that if I do, she will give me a treat. See, that’s brilliant thinking there. I’ve got her trained to give me treats for doing things that I would normally do anyway because I like a schedule. After she gives me a treat and tucks me into bed, she tells me a little story, reads to me or we watch a quick cartoon in my room. She then gives me another treat for being good and to go to bed. I have that woman trained in my evil ways – snort snicker.
And you know what the kicker is? If I make a certain sound after I’m tucked in for the night, she will come and check on me! It’s like I have a mental connection with mom. On nights like this, she’ll hold me for a while and rock me to sleep. I absolutely love it when she does this! It brings me back to my baby days when she held me in my nursery.
So, the bottom line is who is more trained – me or mom. That’s like saying what came first – the egg or the chicken. Makes you wonder hhhmmm.
Piglove 