Driver Scott Hodges is a 30-year veteran of UPS, and always comes prepared with treats when delivering a package. If he doesn’t, a sassy pig named Miss Porkchop will have something to say about it.
Hodges was making a delivery to a vineyard in Newberg, Oregon, when he was greeted not only by the winery owners’ dogs but also their pet pig.
It was almost as if the dogs tipped her off about the treats they always got from delivery people.
“She came right up to me along with the dogs, so I gave her a piece of my granola bar,” Hodges said. “After that, she started coming out to greet me every time I’d come for a delivery.”
Miss Porkchop lives at the vineyard, and regularly greets the visitors who come in for a wine tasting. Hodges quickly became Miss Porkchop’s most-anticipated visitor, because of all the snacks. He said that over the past few years, delivering to the winery has become the highlight of his week, too.
“She’s super friendly. I think she thinks she’s just one of the dogs,” Hodges said. “A lot of the time the dogs will come up into my truck waiting for their treat, but she can only get her front legs up on the steps since they’re too short to climb all the way in. Which is good because she’s 400 pounds and I’m not sure how we’d get her down.”
Because the winery sends out quite a few orders, Hodges is usually there up to four times each week to pick up new shipments. The dogs usually get biscuits, Miss Porkchop will get granola, carrots or apples depending on the day.
Miss Porkchop had piglets last year and has even brought her babies along for a few visits to Hodges. The small family moved into a new barn and outdoor enclosure next to the main building to keep them safe from cars, but the special treats still continue.
“For a long time she was roaming free on the vineyard, but it tends to get really busy so now her and the piglets are in a large pasture with a fence,” Hodges said. “But even now, she’ll still meet me out there to say hi. She just comes running over.”
The popular Facebook page UPS Dogs, where Hodges also serves as a page moderator, delivery drivers often form special relationships with the animals on their routes — even when they aren’t dogs.
Hodges has also made friends with a few horses from an equine sanctuary on his route, and a few llamas and goats who are homeowners’ pets.
Hodges is always fully stocked with special treats for each one. On an average week, he goes through about three boxes of dog biscuits and rotates carrots, grapes, apples and alfalfa cubes for the farm animals.
“I just love seeing the animals — it’s one of my favorite parts of my job,” Hodges said. “It’s a really fun thing to look forward to every day.”
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