Barley: Ambassador of Love in training
Barley seems to be fully grown now, he hasn't gained any weight in 2 months or so. He scared me today when his favorite new stuffed animal was in one end of the cage and he was in the other. He had loved the new stuffy so much he not only slept on it and next to it but pushed it over to his water bottle and stood on it to get a drink - even through he has no trouble getting a drink all by himself. Tonight his big stuffy is back in its regular spot with him snuggled halfway on it.
Most of his visits now are done one on one going to see a single person in their apartment or they come to ours. CCI no longer wants any animals in the common areas like the lobby. Every one is upset about that.
Most of his visits now are done one on one going to see a single person in their apartment or they come to ours. CCI no longer wants any animals in the common areas like the lobby. Every one is upset about that.
Barley still receives visitors on a regular basis and his neighbors still bring or send him veggie treats. For a pig who will lay in his basket like an angel and let people pet him the little brat has lost his morning kitchen privileges. You see every morning I would get him out and take him into the kitchen on my lap when getting his morning salad. It was his favorite part of the day. Then he decided one Sunday morning that since it was warming up and the patio door was open and he loves the fresh air that while we were sitting there with him happily munching his salad he wanted to go roaming instead. He jumped out of my lap and took off. He is extremely fast. And he is a wire chewer so when he is out he needs to be in the folding playpen. He took off!
After someone arrived to help catch him I really had no idea where he was but had shut the doors to the bathroom and bedroom in case he was in one of those places or if not to keep him out. He was in the bedroom under the bed napping. He was lured out with fresh picked dandelion greens and lured into the folding playpen and scooped up and returned to his cage. His neighbors got a kick out of his escape.
After someone arrived to help catch him I really had no idea where he was but had shut the doors to the bathroom and bedroom in case he was in one of those places or if not to keep him out. He was in the bedroom under the bed napping. He was lured out with fresh picked dandelion greens and lured into the folding playpen and scooped up and returned to his cage. His neighbors got a kick out of his escape.
Barley is calming down a bit, but will probably never be a lap pig like his predecessor. He loves attention and is doing a pretty good job of giving love out in heaping does. His one great love is his stuffies. He has an assortment of stuffed animals that take turns sharing his cage with him and he plays with them, pushes them to his bowl so they can eat with him and of course he sleeps with him. My Randy boy who became a father of 3 a week after he came to me has calmed down and no longer thinks Spots is his girlfriend. His green, spotted hippo is now a treasured friend to just cuddle with. I no longer have to wash Spots after her turn in the cage to remove boar glue.
Barley loves attention and he knows he is cute and really poses for people. He knows the hands are not mine and his visitors seem to love the way he gently sniffs their hand. Then he lays right down and lets them stroke him and rub him behind his ears. He actually lays still to be loved on for long periods of time when he starts getting wiggly with me when I hold him in my arms after just a few minutes. Except first thing in the morning. He really does prefer to be loved on while not being held that being picked up and cuddled.
Barley still loves getting visitors! He carefully supervised the maintenance man while he replaced the garbage disposal. I don't think our MG had ever had a guinea pig watch him the entire time he fixed/replaced something. He gets by his water bottle when supervising and if he doesn't want people to know he is watching him he starts drinking when they start to turn around. He has also started eating the vitamin C tablets the vet recommended.