That was Limpy. She was a sweetheart. To be fair, we did not teach her to sit. She taught herself with three dog bones. See Limpy’s Story here. We are not here to teach pigs to do tricks. We research them and this opportunity proved to us how smart pigs, even feral pigs, really are. Limpy was a compassionate and smart pig. She was the most trusting of the pigs and would bring her piglets to us to have us give them treats as she taught them our names (the pigs have a specific grunt for Jane and Keith) and how to learn the times the feeders would dispense the food. One day, as we were handing out dog treats (which we use to dispense medication and will use for the oral vaccines), Limpy came to Mr. Keith and grunted his name for her treats. She would bump him with her nose if he was not giving her treats when it was her turn. On a whim, Keith held the dog bone up over Limpy’s head and said “SIT” like you would a dog.
This was not a planned exercise or test. It was just the kind of thing a person would do just to see what happens. Not very research-like, but sometimes the best results come from the most unexpected sources and methods.
Limpy sat down naturally, like a dog would do, and was given the bone. Trying it again, Keith held the bone closer to Limpy’s face and said “SIT”. Limpy sat back and was given the bone. Keith then said “SIT” without a bone visible and to our astonishment, Limpy sat down and grunted. We do not know what the grunt means, but we hear it from the pigs when they want a treat and again when we give them one. We think it could be a sort of “thank you” or “please” grunt. Pigs will also use this same grunt after the Doctor Pig would perform her services. (See our Language FAQ here). She was given a bone and apparently had learned a new trick. Keith called Jane to come video Limpy and without any more practice, he said “SIT”, which she did without hesitation. See the actual video here. Each day she would come and sit at the gate leading to the stairs until Keith would come down with her treats. Then she would get up and only sit when he said the word. Of note, pigs do not normally sit to relax or for any other reason. This was a deliberate learned action. Soon we noticed that when we said “SIT”, Limpy’s babies would all sit also. She had taught them, or they had learned by watching their mother sit for treats.
We made it a point to not use the SIT word very often. We are not training a pig act. But we did introduce the word several times with weeks in between its use to see if Limpy and her piglets would remember the word and the action. Sometimes they would look at us as if to say “really, do I need to do this right now?” then they would comply. Their memory is amazing and proven over many activities and events.
Sadly, we lost Limpy this past winter (2025-2026) to hunters. She was a good pig and a great Spokesmodel.