“She was about a week old and she was just not going to make it, she was in a couple hours of imminent death,” explains dad and co-partner Richard Quiring. “My son decided that he was going to try and help her make it. He brought her into our home and figured out a recipe (to feed her not to eat her) he could make that would replace her mom’s milk and proceeded to look after her and nurse her back to vitality.”Sophie the piglet was the runt of the litter among 12 little pigs.
When she was born, she wasn’t big enough to fight for her mama’s milk against her bossy brothers and sisters.
But her 17-year-old owner Tristan Quiring of Wild Mood Organics Company farm just outside of Armstrong in British Columbia wouldn’t give up on her.
He took her home and tried to figure out how to keep her alive. As Tristan’s dad Richard told Castanet, Sophie was just a couple of hours away from death from neglect when the family decided to intervene.
My son decided that he was going to try and help her make it. He brought her into our home and figured out a recipe (to feed her not to eat her) he could make that would replace her mom’s milk and proceeded to look after her and nurse her back to vitality.”
After a few days, Sophie began to thrive and began to bond with the family dog, a German Shepherd name Duke. 
The family, which raises pigs on their farm, had never seen their dog take to a little piglet before the way Duke has become a dad to Sophie.
He says since day one the two have connected, Sophie would start sharing his food and cuddle with him while Duke would share Sophie’s milk and the two just started hanging out together, even sharing the same kennel.
Sophie would burrow into Duke’s coat and lie on top of him and to this day it is hilarious…I was sitting on my deck this morning having a coffee with my wife and like a little teenage kid Sophie would bug and bug and route into Duke’s ear and fur and sometimes Duke would turnover and give a little growl telling her she is getting a little aggressive and she will back up a bit and then just keep going.”
And being a runt but determined to stay alive will keep Sophie away from the butcher. The family, which runs a certified organic farm with a focus on raising Berkshire pigs, grass-fed Belted Galloway cattle and grow sweet corn, hay, and varied vegetables and crops, plans to keep her as a breeding mom.
h/t: Castanet, Wild Moon Organics
Photo credit: Wild Moon Organics Facebook
