Have a pig on the loose? Call Buddy

Man’s best friend has proven himself time and time again over the centuries.

How many stories have we heard of dogs running for help when their owners were gravely hurt? Lassie spent an entire career doing it, and seemed to have an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time. Dogs have saved people from wild animals, they lead the blind, keep the elderly company, and bring a smile to a child’s face. They’ve been an important part of roundups since cowboys settled the West, fox hunts in England, bear hunting hound dogs, and bird hunting labs and spaniels. Rat terriers have relieved infested areas of vermin for many years. Canines also play an important part in law enforcement as drug dogs and K-9 cops.

But these hounds have nothing on Buddy the pig dog. Yes, a pig dog. Last year, we lived on a small farm and decided to raise a few pigs. It didn’t take long to figure out that if a pig wants out of his pen, he simply tears it apart and walks wherever he wants. Sometimes we can coax him back in with a bucket of food, but nine times out of 10 by the time we notice the pigs are out, they’ve torn open all the bags of food and gorged themselves.

I’ve had to call the high school several times to send my boys home to help me round up the oinkers. Some will come when I call them (the pigs, not the kids) and others will ignore me. Then we found a way to get our pigs in without running helter-skelter throughout the property, slipping and sliding to catch a wiley porker.

It all started with a pig breakout over Thanksgiving 2006. I looked out the kitchen window and saw a 400-pound sow casually stroll by without a care in the world. I told my husband and kids who raced out to find that several sows, a boar and 16 babies were running rampant through the farm. The chase was on and you’d be surprised how fast a pig can change direction when you’re hot on its heels.

My parents and I laughed hysterically from the kitchen window as the pigs made fools of the rest of my family. Finally, my husband stopped, bent over gasping for air. He looked at our yellow Lab who was gaily watching the fiasco and pointed to the pigs. “Git ‘em, Buddy!” he said.

Instantly, the dog was on alert and tore after a young pig, which dodged and darted this way and that. Catching up to it, Buddy tackled the pig by wrapping his front paws around its front legs and tripping it. He was on top of the swine so fast and held it pinned until the guys could get to it. As soon as they took the pig and put it in the pen, Buddy went after another one, tackling it from behind and holding it hostage until the kids could take over. When they took too long, Buddy just herded the next pig into the pen without any help.

After a while we could tell him to go get the pigs and he’d herd them one at a time into the pen, not stopping until they were all back where they belong. Except for Miss Piggie, the 400-pound sow. Buddy just let her do whatever she wanted. Apparently, there’s a limit to a pig dog’s generosity.