Micro pig turned fashion

Paris Hilton has one, the Beckhams have two and it's been widely reported that the goody bags at the Golden Globe include vouchers for a micro-pig of one's own.

Standing as little as 12 inches high at maturity, these UNsecured loans pocket-sized porcines are the latest celebrity pet craze.

In the UK, at least, the breeder Jane Croft, owner of Little Pig Farm in Cambridgeshire, is the driving force behind bad credit loans the animal's popularity. She has a long waiting list of prospective owners and has enjoyed masses of column inches of coverage in the two years she has been breeding.

"I'm really good at marketing," she says. "They are such great animals - highly intelligent, very clean, contrary to popular belief. I love pigs."

Just like a cat or dog, they can be house-trained, she says, and there are other advantages.

"There is no allergic reaction because they have hair and not fur."

Ever-decreasing piggies through selective breeding

Ms Croft, who has had a range of occupations in her life including taxi driver and veterinary nurse, says she was inspired to start her business by the example of another non-specialised breeder, and by the success of the animals in the US.

The mini-pigs in Ms Croft's care might get as tall as 16-18 inches at maturity but many are shorter. She has one called Moonpig which is a mere 12 inches high and is currently thought to be carrying a litter. Black pigs are less popular with buyers, she says.

The tiny sizes are achieved by taking the smaller pigs from litters and then breeding them, although Ms Croft says she also chooses animals for their colour and health. To get her breeding programme off the ground, she travelled the UK buying small pigs.

But there are some who are not convinced a trend for having pigs as pets is a good thing.

Not the usual farmyard bunch...

Kirsty Bayley, pig herd manager at the Institute for Animal Health, is getting an increasing amount of calls asking about the phenomenon.

"They are farm animals, they shouldn't be kept as pets. They are not overly domesticated. They need to be kept in groups. They are not solitary animals."

Ms Bayley suggests the minimum number for the wellbeing of a group of pigs should be about 10.

There are also concerns that their normal lifestyle will be distorted if they are kept in an ordinary family home.

"Pigs are naturally rooters. They started out as forest animals. If they are kept in a house they are going to be destructive.

"They need to be able to show patterns of natural and normal behaviour. They are not going to get that."

Ms Croft does not agree that the pigs can't be pets, and she says she vets every single potential owner herself.

... but the pigs get on well with dogs, says the breeder

"It is a long term commitment. You can't keep them in the house all the time. They have got to have access to a garden. The ones I have in the house use a catflap. It is not right to keep a pig in a house permanently."

She is also aware of the pig's need not to be alone, and says she always tries to sell them at least in pairs. But she still feels they can thrive in groups smaller than 10.

And having kept pigs for 12 years, she is confident they can happily function as pets. 

Acura Cockapoos

Here at Sherry's Cockapoos we have adorable and affordable Cockapoos. We have Miniature, Mini and Toy Cockapoo Puppies. Looking for a Cockapoo? We have a great selection of Cockapoos Puppies For Sale throughout the year so you can purchase one of our adorable Cockapoos today to be your companion for life. Please visit our Up-Coming Litters page to see when we are planning on our next litter of our adorable Cockapoo Puppies so you can reserve one of our precious cockapoos today. A cockapoo is a good choice for people that sufferers from allergies.

Our goal is to raise healthy, happy, loving, smart and well socialized cockapoos for families looking for a wonderful family pet. Our puppies are raised in our home under foot where they get the best possible care and we work closely with our vet to insure that all puppies are in excellent health unsecured loans to the best of our knowledge. If you would like to see some Cockapoo Pictures please visit our Photo Gallery page to see some of our previous puppies. We have cockapoos in a variety of colors black, chocolate, black and white, red, brown, apricot, buff, sable, phantom and white cockapoos.

We are a reputable breeder of Miniature, Mini and Toy Cockapoos in Fitzgerald, Georgia (Map). We are dedicated Cockapoo Breeders in Georgia. You are bad credit loans always welcome to visit our home and meet our adult dogs and the Cockapoo Puppies. (By Appointment Only)

If you are considering buying a puppy from us please visit our Testimonies and Comments page from families that have already purchase a puppy and see what they have to say about us and our cockapoo puppies and the care we give them. We have a reputation for raising healthy, happy, loving, smart and well socialized puppies.We have sold our adorable cockapoo puppies to happy families that live in Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Connecticut, California, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Tennessee. References are always available from our Happy Cockapoo Families and our veterinarian. Just Ask!

You will be very happy with one of our sweet and cuddly little poos, they will still your heart. Purchase a Cockapoo today or from one of our up coming litters to be your companion for life. Your puppy is raised in a clean, comfortable, loving and nurturing home where they get plenty of love and attention. They are spoiled from the time they are born until they go home with you. We are proud of each and every one of our puppies. We have any Cockapoo color you might be looking for chocolate, buff, black, sable, phantom, black and white, apricot, red, brown and white cockapoos. Visit our Cockapoo Colors page to give you an ideal of what some cockapoo puppies will look like.

We raise several designer dogs. We specialize in Cockapoos and Maltipoos. Either one of these designer dogs would be a good choice for people that have allergies and would make you a great family pet.

Tutorial: Create a Stop-Motion Animation Movie using Digital Camera or WebCam

Sometime back, I created a stop-motion animation film with the soft toys of my 2-year old son playing the lead roles. This 19 second movie was done using just a digital still camera unsecured loans (not video camcorder) and Windows Movie Maker, a free video editing software.

If the term "Stop Motion" is new for you, Wikipedia defines it as an animation technique which makes static objects appear to move. The object is moved by very small amounts between individual frames, producing the effect of motion when the film is played back.

To create a stop motion animation, you need a webcam or a basic digital camera (preferably mounted on a tripod for stability) and any video editing bad credit loans software (like Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple iMovie, etc)

Step 1: Fix your camera in front of the subjects (Mickey Mouse & Co. in my case). You can also your webcam mounted on the computer screen and capture still photographs using the keyboard.

Step 2: Visualize the movements and action of the characters in the movie (like what path they would follow, whether they would jump, etc). You may want to write this down as a rough movie script.

Step 3: Once your initial setting is in place, click the first picture. Now move the object(s) by a very small distance (few centimeters) and shoot the next picture. Make sure you don't change the position of your camera.

Repeat the step until all your characters reach the final frame.

Here's are some sample photographs shot for the movie embedded above - Notice how the elephant, dog and Mickey have moved in each of the frames while the bear is sitting still.



Step 4: Open Windows Movie Maker and goto Tools, Options and click the Advanced tab. Change the "Picture Duration" to 0.125 seconds and Transition Duration to 0.25 seconds (both are minimum values).

Now import all your digital photographs into Movie Maker and drag-n-drop them onto the Video Timeline. That's it. Export the video in AVI or WMV format and upload it to YouTube for sharing with your friends.

Bonus Tip: If you like your characters to jump in the stop-motion animation video, attach them to a thin wire and lift the wire a few centimeters in each frame. If the wire is of the same color as the background, it won't be visible in the final movie.

If you have professional video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro, you can further reduce the time duration between still photographs to create smooth animation video without flickers or jerks.