Family Introductions

We were on a planned overnight adventure the way we found Lucky, so we weren’t going to see out children that evening. When we called to say goodnight, we FaceTimed them so our son could see Lucky (our daughter had already gone to bed). He saw the pig and we chatted about it for a moment.

Then we asked, “Do you want it?”

Our son said “Yep.”

We said “Okay.” Completely nonchalantly.

When Joel picked up towels for Lucky, he also purchased a couple of squeaky-oinky toys that were probably meant for dogs, although we thought that they would be perfect for our kids.

We returned home late the following night – again the kids were already asleep – we set up Lucky’s pen and introduced him to our cat Clover and dog Lola. We did their introductions much like how we introduce other dogs into our home. First we let them smell each other’s back ends and walk around. Since Lucky had been experiencing diarrhea, we kept him bit further away than we normally would. Just until we knew if he had worms or anything transferable. We didn’t want Clover or Lola to contract something and get sick.

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The next morning, our son asked about the pig. We gave both of our kids the toys… they had fun making swine noises and acting like hogs, although our son want wanted a real pet pig.

Together, we walked to Lucky’s pen and let them look at Lucky through the plastic fence. (It may look like a baby gate, because it is!).

Our son let Lucky smell his hands and our daughter was fairly uninterested. In all fairness, she’s generally disinterested in animals.

I was impressed by our son’s reaction because he likes cats and dogs that he knows, however he’s a bit leery around animals with whom he’s unfamiliar. Each time we’ve been to petting zoos, he has wanted to see the farm animals from afar, although he’s never been keen on touching them, standing next to them or letting them smell him.

Perhaps, his reaction to Lucky was surprisingly and pleasantly positive because he had the night to think about the prospect of a pet pig, like a pot belly… only bigger. Or, because when they met, Lucky was only about 8 inches tall, less than a foot in length and 3 lbs. This meant my son was more than 2 feet taller and 20 lbs heavier than the swine. He was older and had been with us for almost three years longer than this rough-haired four-legged animal.

We let Lucky take in our kids’ smells to start building their bond. However, since we hadn’t taken Lucky to a vet we wanted him to get proper medical care before they got too close.

Also, to protect our kids, to whom we haven’t taught lessons about death, major losses or how to grieve, we didn’t want them to get too attached since Lucky was in the danger zone and we didn’t know if he’d survive.