Instagram-famous "talking" pig breaks record

Fruit, please. OK

You say thank you to daddy.

Thank you.

Good boy.

I love you. I love you, Merlin.

Good job.

Mommy?

What, Merlin?

Mommy.

What? What do you want?

Mommy. Good morning. Toy.

You're on a diet, remember?

No. A pig, child, a pig! Press daddy.

No. Vegetable please. I'm not giving you a vegetable yet.

Vegetable please. Where's Daddy? Press daddy.

No. Arguing with a pig. I'm so in love with this little guy. I guess he's not a little guy. He's a big guy. But joining us now is Merlin the pig and his owner, Mina Alali. Thank you both for being with us. Hold on. You have a little friend there on your shoulder. I don't want to leave this little guy out. Who's there? This is Al Capone. This is one of Merlin's favorite friends. We rescued him. He actually came from a prison and needed a home. He's very domesticated. So he loves just chilling on Merlin's back, and Merlin loves it.

Just another day in your household, Merlin and Al Capone hanging out. You've got to tell me the back story on this. How did you first meet Merlin? Well, to be honest, I'd always wanted a pig, but Merlin kind of fell into my lap. It was a very impromptu decision, actually. I decided I wanted a pig and was picking up Merlin 48 hours later. But a couple homes had fallen through for him, and just seeing a picture of him really tugged on my heartstrings. So I adopted him in March of 2022, when he was about 2 and 1/2 months old, and he turned four in January. And it's just been-- it was really love at first sight. That's how I describe it. But he's been one of the best decisions I've ever made and has, I think, really shown the world how intelligent pigs can be and how capable they are of having very similar emotions to humans. I mean, he's like a little toddler, very sassy, very dramatic, but full of love. He loves to cuddle. So yeah. It's extraordinary to watch. So what goes into Merlin's training? How did you sort of start this interaction with him? Yeah, well, when I got him, I was living in an apartment. So I had to take him for walks multiple times a day. So he was leash trained very early on, but I also wanted him to be well behaved. So I started doing those typical dog-training tricks, and he learned them so fast, like sit, shake, spin, lie down. I mean, he learned all of those within 5 to 10 minutes. Pigs are very food motivated because they don't really have fullness cues. But the buttons I started to incorporate around three months old, and I used them for more practical things at the time so he could let me know when he wanted to go potty outside, and he got the hang of it so fast. So it's really just been me kind of seeing what the extent, what the boundaries are to his intelligence. And I've been surprised but also not at the same time with what they really are. I mean, he learns people's names really quickly. He's just amazing, and he has so many emotions. But it's really. Fun. It's like we have a-- oh, there goes Al Capone. He's like a toddler. He really is. It's fun, but it can be a lot sometimes. I can imagine it's a lot of work. We're only seeing one aspect of your life with him. I'm curious, can you show us a bit more of what he can do? Yeah. Merlin, want to shake? You want to shake? Good boy, buddy. Good boy. Can you sit. Good job. Jump. Good job. Those are some of the little things. I wish I had my buttons on me right now. He'd say, hello, CBS. But yeah, those are some of the things he learned really, really quickly. And then he also knows how to read a few words, and I taught that by showing him what the word looked like, saying them out loud, and eventually I wouldn't have to say it out loud anymore. That one took longer than the other [AUDIO OUT], but that was, again, just me kind of testing what the extent of his intelligence was, and he's surprised a lot of people. It is. It's amazing to watch. So what kind of message do you hope to send it to everyone who is seeing Merlin on social media? I say that Merlin is no different than the pigs in the agricultural meat industry. So I just think I've spent so much time training him, bonding with him, but all pigs are capable of being like Merlin, given that time and love and affection and positive reinforcement. So I just hope that my videos create smiles and laughter in the world but also inspire people to have more compassion and empathy for all animals, not just pigs. But yeah, I just think love is the end of the day. Although it's cliche, but love is the answer.

I think you've inspired a lot of people out there to want to have their own pet pigs and have their own Merlins at home. A lot of work.

I can imagine. I can imagine. Well, that's a whole other subject of what it's like taking care of a pig. But thank you so much for sharing Merlin with us and his little buddy, Al Capone, and I hope to see more of Merlin moving forward. Thank you so much for having us. Bye bye.

Oh, thank you. Thank you, Mina and Merlin.