Clyde River (Dec 13/04) - A 125-pound pig may not be the first thing people think of when choosing a pet.

But for Rob Myers in Clyde River, three-year-old Rodoe is part of the family.

"They're very intelligent, so you can make a very good pet out of them," Rob Myers says.

Prior to moving to Clyde River in April, he had operated a hobby farm just outside Halifax .

But when the 36-year-old and his wife Andrea moved North, they got rid of all of the animals except Rodoe because he was the only one they had raised since he was a baby.

The couple simply but Rodoe in a dog cage and brought him with them.

At first, everybody wanted to drop by and have a look.

Now that people have become familiar with Rodoe, the family's doberman and four cats attract more attention.

"They take a couple of looks at the pig and that's about it," Myers says.

Unlike his canine counterpart, Rodoe -- who may end up weighing as much as 300 pounds -- has not been trained to walk on a leash.

Instead he spends his time sitting on the couch with the doberman, or getting his exercise roaming around the house. The pig is actually adjusting better than the doberman to the Arctic climate.

"As it gets colder, they grow more fur," Myers says.

Before his arrival in April, Rodoe's hair had begun getting shorter because of the warmer weather in the south.

After getting off the plane, his hair began to grow back in response to the colder temperatures.

Quite clean

Though some people associate pigs with mud, dirt and a bad smell, Myers says pigs are in fact quite clean.

"There's no smell to them, and they don't drool," he says.

The expression "man's best friend" has often been used to describe dogs.

But considering a pig can live for up to 30 years, maybe the saying should change.

"I expect we'll go into the ground about the same time," Myers says with a laugh.