Swine Fever

As an urban apartment dweller, fewer things are more out of reach than owning a dog. Much to my dismay, I've got a bad case of canine craving: Watching youtube videos of adorable dogs ad nauseum, walking to the park to play with other people's dogs.
Due to my unmet desire, I make a particularly pet-friendly house guest. I find myself paying more attention to the mutt than the mother.
I have entertained flying home to visit family and Sheba, my dad's Great Dane. Sheba loves to cuddle, bony legs and all. She is the world's largest lap dog. I keep a picture of her as my computer desktop. Her big doe eyes and short black fur coat draw me in.
Yet, the more I have looked and longed and looked at dog videos on you tube, another interest has slowly taken root in the firmament of my mind. While i was on youtube, it started with a link, no pun intended, to a video of  "pig smarter than your dog". And it began to grow. Like a farm pig on fatty feed before state fair, it grew. The small oinkling of an idea took hold and slowly developed into a craving, no, not for bacon, but for a pet. As humans we can be awfully arbitrary in selecting the animals we keep for pets. Kill the rat, cuddle the hampster. Feed the goldfish, eat the sardine. Yet, this seeming contradiction from my breakfast plate to apartment mate does not strike me as odd.
Dear reader, I would have you put your misconceptions about the wiggly pigglies aside for a moment. Pigs are good pets because they are mild-tempered, social, intelligent, trainable, and conspicuously hygienic. Pigs are clean! And mom, if you read this, they don't make your allergies go crazy like cat dander does.
Someday, when I have a home of my own, I would like to have a pot-bellied companion. And yes, I will still love the taste of bacon, but not from my little oinker.

 "Cats look down on you. Dogs look up to you. And pigs treat you like equals." - Winston Churchill