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Dachshund Acts As Mom To Baby Piglet

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I came across this great email today about a piglet named Pink who was adopted by a Dachshund (have you ever wondered about the life expectancy of a Dachshund or other dog breeds) and her litter of puppies?

This one reminds me of yesterday’s article about Cashew and Libby the seeing eye cat.

Once again an animal that knows what needs to be done takes this little piglet and treats him as if he were won of her own.

Here’s the story straight from my email:

“This new mom is also fostering this piglet for another mom who couldn’t take care of him. He had his eyes closed, but now they are open. He is just a little bigger than her other pups. She loves this little guy more than the other puppies and she is nursing him back to health. He is the cleanest ‘puppy’ ever because she licks him all the time.”

Update: Pink and Tink’s handler, Johanna has written a wonderful children’s book about Pink the Piglet and Tink the Mommy Dachshund (Affiliate Link) click the image below to see more information:

 

This is “Pink” short for Pig and Tink (Tink is the mother Dachshund).

Pink The Piglet 1

Pink and the puppies nursing.

Pink The Piglet nursing with puppies

He nurses all the time.

Pink The Piglet nursing some more

Sleeping with his siblings.

Pink the Piglet sleeping with siblings

He is so cute!

Pink The Piglet being cute

Tink is very protective over Pink.

Pink the Piglet protected by mom

She keeps him close to her.

Pink The Piglet touching moms nose

The family sleeping zzzz.

Pink The Piglet sleeping

It’s amazing to see animals of completely different species take care of one another.

We don’t see it every day, but a couple comes to my mind including yesterday’s story about Cashew and Libby the seeing eye cat and I’ve also read about a 100-year-old tortoise acting as mom to a hippo.

These stories remind me of what we’re doing with Guide Dogs and how special it is for us to help create such a wonderful bond between dogs and humans.

What do you think about Pink, Tink, and her litter of puppies? Have you heard of similar stories?

If so let me know in the comments area or send me an email and I’ll try and post the story to this blog.

All three of my dogs including Stetson and Derby who were in training to be guide dogs get along fabulously with my sister and parents’ cats, but for some reason that doesn’t seem to have the same special quality as Tink and Pink.

My other dog Linus grew up with a kitten named Lulu. They acted like brothers and sisters taking turns chasing each other around the backyard.

It’s funny to see an 8-pound cat chase a 50-pound dog.

Updated 03/18/2008 – We just received the latest news and added a new article to the blog: The Latest News on Piglet Adopted by Dachshund

Updated 02/29/2008 – I added an updated article to this blog with more information and pictures of Pink, Tink, and the puppies at Updated Pics and Story: Dachshund Acts As Mom To Baby Piglet.

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62 Comments

  1. Hey Denise! I’m glad you found our website. We mostly try to write about our Guide Dog puppies, but every once in a while we try to slip other news onto the site as well. I’ll probably be out in Phoenix Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully we get to see you guys!

  2. Hi Colby! My friend posted the dachshund and piglet story on her facebook page. I couldn’t believe that it was on your website. What a small world.

  3. Aw, adorable. I’ve seen a mother dog nursing a kitten, but never anything like this. It’s truly amazing!

  4. This has got to be the cutest thing I have EVER seen. It is amazing to see animals of a diffrent species nursing another. Animals are incredible: )

  5. While this is truly an adorable moment, I wonder what the implications are for the nursing dog since this is a completely different species with different needs.

  6. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
    awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
    awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
    awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
    awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

  7. Very nice post.I like your examples you use. It is nice to see someone confident enough to use their own sites to help others. Thanks again for sharing……

  8. Omg.now all the puppies and the piglet are soo adorable I could just take them home with me now I looked a the date when you posted them on here and I think they are big like their parents ever since I went on yahoo.com and I saw a baby puppy that can exactly fit in my hand I was thinking I want one that can fit in my hand and it won’t grow but I live in Fort.Worth,Tx and I don’t know my way around the whole city(not really)but I’m sure(I think)there is no pet shop here and I’m afraid of dogs but not the one that can fit in my hand and that won’t grow that will stay just a baby puppy like it was like I said those little animals are soooooooooooooooooo cute and adorable.Love nice3882

  9. @Jenna, I’m not sure of the exact date the puppies and Pink were born, but the photos were taken February 10th and 11th of 2008. So, they were probably born sometime around the beginning of February 2008.

  10. Thank God for people like you!!!!!!!! The world should take a lesson from you! Everyone should always help others no matter how different they are. Please keep us posted with updates.

  11. @Bonnie, I’m glad you’re enjoying my website. I do my best to post content on a regular basis. Unfortunately, my day job gets in the way sometimes.

    Thanks for subscribing to my news feed and newsletter. I”m doing my best to get my first issue together. Hopefully it will happen sometime in the next week or so. Please feel free to give me input on what you like and don’t like about the site and newsletter. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

    I hope you had a great weekend!

  12. Thank you Colby, It is always such a treat to find out “the rest of the story” to these emails that circulate all over the place. I love websites like this, that post updates so I can find out more on emails I’m sent. But what I really appreciate is the fact that your website sends out automatic emails to update those of us that are interested in staying in touch. I’ve signed up for your newsletter now, too. I’ve got three dogs of my own and am always interested in finding out more on the wonderful world of dogs.

  13. @Bonnie, no problem…I’m glad you enjoyed the updated stories. If I hear anything else about Tink and Pink I’ll definitely update hear on my blog.

  14. Thank you SO VERY much for emailing me on the updates to this story! I am so thrilled for Pink and his adopted family. How sweet.

  15. @Tess, I added several follow up articles to this one if you’d like to check them out:

    Dachshund and Piglet

    Last I heard a few weeks ago Tink was having a little bit of a medical problem…hopefully she’s better now and Pink was doing just great.

    Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

  16. I have a femalde Dachshund, and I’m not surprised at all of her mothering skills. That is so adorable! Hope they all are doing well.

  17. I am a proud owner of 2 dachshunds an am not surprised that Tinker bell took the baby pig as her own. Dachshunds are the most loyal protective little dogs, and once they love you, they love you 110%. It just goes to show you that it doesn’t matter who or what we are, we flourish with the right amount of love.

  18. Please tell me this piglet is not going to grow up and be dinner. Please not!!!

  19. Everybody looks so tiny in the pictures. Just for fun, could you tell us about how big Tink and Pink are! How big would you expect a Pink to become? Thanks for answering all our curiosities.
    Kristi

  20. mommaj, thank you so much for deciding to add some comments to this web page. When I first got my email with Pink’s pictures, I just had to see if I could find out more on the story. He is so very cute! Please continue to post updates. Did you ever think your Tink and Pink would become so famous in the cyber world?? I just got another mail that is now calling Pink a “Pippy!”

  21. PNW Farmboy..many thanks for the feed suggestions for Pink. Tink is almost 4 years old and this is her 2nd litter of puppies. She had 4 puppies in 2006. The next couple of weeks should be very interesting around our home with trying to wean the pups and getting Pink to eat solid food. Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks regarding my little family. Michelle..I will keep you in mind. I don’t know what we are going to do. I have had many offers for the little guy, but first I have to get him eating real food.

  22. I think this is wonderful.

    Trolls, go home, we don’t want your childishness here.

    People who have intelligence live by the rule “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”

    Internet Trolls live by the rule “If you can’t say something nasty, don’t say anything at all”

    Google “Internet Troll”. See what it says. These are people who say something just to get other people rilled up. Let’s not fuel their fire. We shouldn’t drag ourselves down to their level to do so. We are better than that.

    Trolls can’t stand it if they cant get in the last word, so expect a few more. Then just stand back and laugh at their childishness.

  23. Wake up y’all! This mama is guarding her future Easter dinner! Any vegetarian can see that! Soon it won’t be so cute.

  24. I WANT THE PIG! I saw that Mommaj is looking for a home. Please let me know.

  25. At first I thought this was a picture of a Doxie with a stuffed doll! This is too cool. Doxies have always been my favorite though would never have thought they were very common farm dogs. After reading MommaJ’s account of how the mother reacted at first I can just see that in my mind’s eye! Round of snaps!

  26. Someone emailed these pics to me, but they didn’t come through, so I googled it and came across this website. This is adorable, amazing, wonderful, and precious! Thank you for sharing, and thank you Mommaj for keeping us posted…PLEASE continue to do so! I am anxious to hear how this goes. And don’t forget updated pics. God gave us an amazing world of animals, and its such a privilege to see what they are capable of.

  27. “Idiot” ???

    I disagree. Idiotic is someone who feels it necessary to call another idiot instead of making a comment relative to the topic.

  28. When I was a teenager a neighbor’s sow had 17 piglets. The smallest one literally fit in the palm of my hand. He would not nurse from a bottle filled with fresh goats milk, right from the goat. I fed him with a syringe and slowly squirting the milk in his mouth all the while he squealing. One of our Blue Heelers, Bud, had her pups in an old tractor tire. On Monday I placed Squeal in the tire with the pups while I went to milk the goats and when I got back Bud was laying down and everyone was eating including Squeal. So, I left him there and when I came home he was still alive and doing well. Bud let Squeal nurse longer than her own pups and he followed her every where. When I would send Bud into the field to gather the sheep and bring them in he would go with her and help. When he got up to about 60 pounds she weined him and then we put him in his own pen. But Bud would jump in the pen with him to take naps. Just wanted to share that animals are amazing creatures and do take care of others in need reqardless of species.

  29. “It’s amazing to see animals of completely different species take care of one and other. We don’t see it everyday,[…]” It is amazing? The species homo sapien takes care of dogs, cats, horses, pics, birds, fish, ferrets, hamsters, and all sorts of different species every day. *Yawn*

  30. Simply adorable! My dad has a male dachshund that was a much better parent to his pups than the mom. He got really depressed when the pups were given away. I recently had twins and he was just beside himself with joy. “More puppies,” he must have thought. His tail never stops when we’re visiting. Dachshunds are a very loyal breed and really nurturing too. It’s nice to see a mother going with the instinct to care for those that are helpless. Kind of seems like there’s a lesson in there somewhere for those who walk on only two legs…

  31. Mommaj,
    Congrats on saving pink! most of the time the ultra runts do not make it because of internal irregularities.
    It looks like Tinerbell has been a great surregate to the little fella.
    Heres a few ideas to help you wean pink off of tink. 🙂

    Get some lamb milk replacer and mix it with double the water than reccomended and offer it in a bowl to him. this will help give him the nutrients he needs as a baby pig. you can also use it to drench the starter feed you are trying to wean him to.
    As a starter feed I would reccomend you try and procure a product from ADM called momentum 10/15. It is frosted and smells and tastes good to the babies. we use it for all of our litters(we run 20 sows)and they all seem to take to it like ducks to water!

    hope this helps you keep pink going!

  32. My daughter sent to me as it reminded her of my stories growing up on the farm. Our animals were rather confused as to their species. Started with a mama cat who could not have kittens who adopted my new chuhuahua puppy, Betsy. The cat raised the pup as her kitten. In turn, Betsy tried to mother any young creature…. human infants, baby ducks, chicks, etc. Didn’t matter… she would take care of them as if they were puppies. Then, she raised the baby pig “Little Bit”…. who in turn raised 2 foxhound puppies. The pig would let the puppies nurse and the peacock would pick fleas off her while the pups nursed. Sounds unbelievable, I know, but completely true!!

  33. To follow up on some of the responses. Pink is doing well with the other puppies. They are walking and starting to play with each other and with him. They have been biting him, but he just bites them back. I’m not sure what is future will be like. I would like to find him a great home (as a pet). The next few weeks are crucial for him to get on some baby pig food and get weaned from Tink. His real brothers and sisters are about 3 to 4 times his size. I have taken him to the barn a few times and let him visit with them. He really likes them but they are too rough with him because of his size. He won’t have anything to do with his pig momma. Tink loved him immediately. She got so excited that she couldn’t hardly contain herself. She licked him all over the first thing and tucked him in beside her. She was so protective over him. She normally doesn’t give a flip if you pick up her babies. After a few days, she was less protective and now doesn’t care when you pick him up or take him out of the crate. She cleans up after him and treats him just like the other puppies.

  34. Why is this so surprising? Dachshund’s are a German breed. Of course she’s taking good care of this cute little piglet and fattening him up with her own milk.There is a whole litter of puppies that are going to be weened sooner or later and need more than milk. Everyone knows that German’s love sausage! Can we say “Pinkywurst!” 🙂

  35. mommaj, I’m so glad these animals have such a loving and conscientious caretaker. The pictures are heartwarming.

    How did Tink respond when you first introduced the piglet? Did she take to the baby immediately, or did you have to coax her to care for it? Are there any concerns about when the puppies are old enough to “rough-house” that Pink could be injured accidentally? Will Pink be a housepet when she gets older?

  36. mommaj I hope you don’t mind that I’ve made your pics image of the day at cellar image of the day. Thanks for such great pics and a great story.

  37. I got these pictures in an email and had to google to see if it was real and I about melted. So adorable and I think it is amazing that Mommaj even thought to try this- and that it worked!!! I think it’s a lesson in how all things, no matter their differences, can adapt to situations unexpected and make it work. Please keep posting pics- or better yet a video on Youtube- as they grow and play together 🙂

  38. I am the owner of Tink and Pink. We live on a farm and I know more about animals than most! Tink is doing well. I have been giving Pink a formula recommended by my vet. He does not like it at all and won’t drink it from a bottle. He will only take it if you squirt it down his mouth. He is now 2 1/2 weeks old and I am starting him on baby pig food (solid). Tink is also getting supplements of vitamins and extra calcium. Real McCoy…CLUELESS..I think not. I could have just let Pink lay in the barn the night he was born and let him die. I thought what I was doing was the right thing to do. I would never endanger the life of my precious Tinkerbell.

  39. I don’t know who the owner is, but they REALLY need to supplement that piglet’s food with bottles, or it’s likely to KILL the mother dog. I certainly hope they aren’t as clueless about animals as the photo captions make them sound…

  40. Hi Melanie,

    I’m not sure who the owner is. I did include all the information from the email. Please let me know if you find who the owner is so I can credit them here on my blog too.

    Thanks,
    Colby

  41. I just got those photos today and put them on my blog. Do you know who the owner is? I’d like to give them credit. Tooo cute.

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