Gigi is not your typical family pet. That is to say, she’s a pig. 

Originally, it was Rayven Faxon who got the family hog four years ago. But when Rayven moved out to be on her own, her parents, Heather and Paul, took over as Gigi’s primary caregivers. 

The Faxons love Gigi like any family pet, such as their six dogs, but she has a few quirks. For instance, Gigi likes to be poked with a meat fork, which causes her hair on her back to stand up. She then tips over onto her side. 

“And then she’ll want her belly rubbed,” said Heather.

Gigi also doesn’t dine on pig slop like livestock. Her diet includes fruits, veggies, and Cheerios, which she slurps up loudly right from Heather’s hand. 

“She eats better than we do,” Heather said. 

Gigi has a very particular palate, too. She won’t eat oranges, for example, but she will eat radishes. 

When Gigi was younger, Paul said, she’d run around as playful as a puppy. Now that she’s put on a few pounds, she’s a bit slower. 

Rayven once made a short home movie featuring Gigi. It’s a parody of a horror movie trailer. 

With ominous music in the background, the short features black and white shots of the pig’s narrow eyes and puffy face — she always looks a bit like she’s scowling. There are shots of the dogs and other family members running away from the beloved pig. Then, the title at the end reads, “Gigi: We’re going to need a bigger barn.” 

Much to Paul’s chagrin, Gigi likes to get up in the middle of the night and demand a snack. Heather said Gigi has her “trained.” 

It doesn’t take much to get the hungry hog to lay back down, but until she gets her morsel, she’s not letting the Faxons get any sleep. 

“She just sits there and squawks,” Paul said. 

Pigs are known for their intelligence, and Gigi is no exception. When the hoof trimmer comes by, Gigi immediately knows what’s up and takes off running. The Faxons have to catch the fleeing pig and flip her over on her back. Gigi puts up quite the screaming protest about that. 

“It sounds like something out of a horror movie,” Paul said. 

Strangely, once she’s on her back, she’s fairly calm. This is something common in many pigs, apparently. 

“It’s like hypnotizing a pig,” Paul said. 

In some ways, Gigi is like a dog. She will run to the fence when the Faxons come home and she wags her tail. When she was younger, she’d rip things up. They had to replace some carpet due to this mischief. 

Gigi, however, is much cleaner than a dog. The Faxons have a doggie door into the garage where her litter box is. Heather has to keep it clean, as Gigi won’t use it if it gets too full. The pig also sheds far less than a dog. 

Despite some similarities, Heather said Gigi is not much into snuggling with the dogs. For the most part, they stay away from each other. Sometimes a couple of the dogs try to hang out with the family pig, and when Gigi was younger, they’d lay together. 

As the pig has gotten older, Gigi has become more possessive of Heather and doesn’t want any dogs around her. 

Gigi is also much more territorial than your average dog. She has her own bed next to Heather’s and will almost growl at people — including the Faxons’ son Noah — who come around the space. 

“That’s her little area,” Heather said. 

It’s also where the sometimes shy pig will run off to when strangers come around. 

While Gigi can be peculiar, these behaviors become endearing, as anyone with an odd pet can attest. And Heather is proud to show off photos of her beloved pig on social media. 

Fortunately, pigs can live up to 20 years as pets. So, it’s likely Gigi will be in the Faxon family for years to come.