Almost everyone has seen the heartwarming movie , Babe . It’s about a pig who gets raised by border collies aka the best dogs ever .
Thanks to his sweet-hearted nature, Babe manages to fit in where he doesn’t belong and become a champion sheep herder.
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If you thought that was impressive, just wait until you learn about a pig that knows how to talk with buttons!
Merlin, a mini Vietnamese potbelly pig, has become an internet sensation!
He’s quickly on his way to becoming a TikTok celeb after being hailed as the “world’s smartest pig” for knowing how to do several cool tricks, including communicating with buttons!
His owner is Mina Alali.
The 25-year-old social media manager from California purchased him in March. It has been her dream to own a pig since she was little. “I have always wanted a pig,” she said in an interview with Metro .
“The way people react when they see cute dogs is how I have always felt about pigs.”
“As a kid, I used to go to the petting zoo just to see the pigs. They are so smart and so cute, and I knew I would adopt one day.”
She already has some unusual animals: her two rats, Millie and Miracle, and her bearded dragon Mochi, who recently passed away.
The one thing that prevented her from getting her dream pig was the financial side of it.
But after seeing a video of a hog online, she decided to take the leap.
It was love at first sight when she laid eyes on him. “He was a little bigger and older than all the other pigs, and he had been there the longest.”
“So I decided to take him home,” Mina said.
He immediately took to his new surroundings, which included a new bed, treats, and toys. Soon, she got to work teaching him things you’d expect from a traditional dog or cat.
This includes using the kitty litter and asking for food and walks.
He even knows how to sit on command and differentiate colors! “He was incredibly easy to train. Any new trick never took more than a day,” Mina said.
One thing that helped Merlin train was buttons that can be programmed with pre-recorded sounds and messages.
“If he did something, I would just repeat the words over and over again,” Mina explained of the training process with her smart piggy.
‘He has a button where he clicks it when he’s hungry. Or when he’s thirsty, and if he presses outside, we’ll go outside.”
He even knows how to sing and dance! “He knows music and dance, so I will start singing or pick him up and twirl.”
With skills like this, it’s no wonder Merlin often gets confused for a dog!
It’s also no surprise that he’s become an internet sensation ever since Mina started posting videos of him on her TikTok account @mina.alali. She posts a lot of training videos there.
She also posts their daily adventures, which have been melting people’s hearts.
People love Merlin so much, Mina has even heard from so many people who have said that they’ve given up eating bacon!
Be sure to follow their adventures on Instagram @merlinthepig or on TikTok @mina.alali .
