Meet Pickles – the podgy potbellied pig with an incredible talent for SURFING.
Hilarious footage shows Pickles, one, wobbling over waves at the beach and miraculously managing to stay afloat.
The sporty porcine loves the water and often goes for a dip at his local pool or tries to sneak into the shower with owner Maddie Johnson, 25.
Talented Pickles – who answers to his name – also likes going for hikes, is also a skilled ‘abstract’ snout painter and attends agility classes meant for dogs in his spare time.
But his favorite activity is day-tripping to the seaside in California where he sunbathes and surfs, much to the amusement of his fellow beachgoers.
Videos show proud Maddie helping 30lb Pickles, who has 28,000 followers on Instagram, get the hang of balancing on his board and riding waves like a pro.
The marketing worker reckons he’s so good at the challenging sport as a result of his low center of gravity, which helps him balance.
Maddie, of San Francisco, California, said: “Pickles love to sunbathe and go paddle-boarding and we taught him how to surf recently.
“The first time we took him was about four months ago and it was kind of a fluke the first time.
“We tried to see if he could ride the wave the whole way and he didn’t seem to mind.
“The one atypical thing about Pickles is that he loves the water and he loves running into the ocean and swimming. He will even catapult into the morning shower with me.
“Now he has been surfing quite a few times and he doesn’t seem to be scared at all – he has definitely developed a knack for it.
“He is pretty good. He has a low center of gravity so that helps.
“When I’m driving and I take a sharp turn, our Frenchie Dill will fall over but PIckles stands his ground.
“We always just take him out on the little baby waves and he has shockingly good balance.
“When people see him they are so tickled by him, and just totally charmed.
“Who is expecting to see a pig going for a swim?”
Pickles, who is half pot-belly pig and half Juliana mini-pig, was rescued by Maddie last year after the farm where he lived in Sacramento, California, flooded.
But a few months after moving into his new home, Pickles was left on the brink of death and spent nine days in intensive care after eating rat poison.
Miraculously he recovered thanks to blood transfusion from fellow pig Tickles, and is now fighting fit and living indoors with his family, where he sleeps in a bed with Maddie.
Pickles has a range of hobbies alongside surfing including creating abstract paintings with his snout, going for long walks and playing in ball pits.
He recently attended an agility session for dogs where he leapt over hurdles and shimmied through tunnels, giving his canine competitors a run for their money.
The session, at Zoom Room Dog Training in Belmont, California, proved that Pickles is loyal, energetic and quick to learn like a pooch.
Zoom Room owner Don Trager said: “We have never had a pig come to us before and we were very impressed.
“I’ve always heard that pigs are very smart animals and he picked things up very quickly. He’s the best agility pig we’ve ever seen.”
Pickle is also great at cheering people up, and in his spare time serves the community as a THERAPY PIG, giving comfort to OAPs and schoolchildren.
But despite all his unusual hobbies, Pickles still relishes the chance to laze around and eat anything he gets his trotters on.
Maddie said: “He is a very sporty pig and he is totally defying some pig stereotypes. He is super.
“But he also loves to eat whatever he can. He loves cupcakes and we let him have one but only on rare occasions because they are not very good for him.
“He is cuddly and sweet and such a character – bubbly, warm and affectionate.
“We are incredibly proud of him for pulling through his sickness and getting to this point. He is always surprising us.”
To keep up with Pickles on Instagram, visit www.instagram.com/livingwithpickles or follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/livingwithpickles/
