ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — No doubt about it, “Green Acres” was the place to be. City slickers Oliver Wendell Douglas and his wife, Lisa (Edie Albert and Eva Gabor, respectively) got a Phi Beta Kappa-worthy education in farm life from a host of characters around the farm.

One of the fan favorites, was Arnold Ziffel, better known as “Arnold the Pig.” Arnold was not just any pig. Arnold was known for changing channels on the television (Westerns were his favorite) “playing” the piano, and writing his name. In at least one episode Arnold was a porcine painter, the “Piggy Picasso.”

But, to Samantha Ksenia Sliwinski-Rockenbauer, Arnold was more.

Because Arnold was portrayed by a piglet, several pigs were “Arnold” during the run of the series. One of them was Rockenbauer’s childhood friend. She says she was his first trainer and he was her friend.

“I was in a preschooler,” said Rockenbauer. She explained that the usual trainer for Arnold the Pig was a friend of the family, which was then in Ohio, and he was tied up with several television shows and had to train many animals for appearances elsewhere. So, it was decided that Rockenbauer would “take the wildness out” of the baby pig.

“He was the last Arnold,” said Rockenbauer. The young pig was a boar, and she says that pigs in general are, “very clean and smarter than a dog or a cat.”

The piglet and preschooler “bonded,” Rockenbauer recalls, and soon became the “best of friends.”

“I fed him and bathed him and dressed him in clothes. I slept with that pig,” Rockenbauer said.

Rockenbauer also taught her friend some basic tricks, like opening and closing doors, and to grunt back when he was spoken to.

“The idea was to get him ready for the show,” said Rockenbauer. She added that the pair would have “long grunting conversations.”

All the while, Rockenbauer knew that someday, Arnold would not be hers any more.

“One day I came home and he was gone,” said Rockenbauer.

While it was disappointing to lose her childhood pet, Rockenbauer could see Arnold on TV.

“If that little pig could go to Hollywood and become a star, I knew I could do anything,” Rockenbauer said.

Rockenbauer and her family watched Arnold on TV until the series ended. Despite a persistent Internet rumor, he was not served up to the cast of the show during the “wrap party.” Rockenbauer’s Arnold lived out his life and died a natural death.

Rockenbauer took Arnold’s lessons to heart. She left Ohio in a series of adventures, taking the “craziest jobs I could find.”

During one of those jobs, she met her future husband, Helmut Rockenbauer. Eventually, he invited her to come to Turkey, where they managed two restaurants and a marina.

The couple and her family eventually moved to Robertsdale, where a relative of hers had left the family a home.

Rockenbauer eventually became Realtor with ERA Platinum Properties, and is a gourmet chef.

She’s the chairperson of the City of Robertsdale Planning Commission

“And everything happened because of that pig,” said Rockenbauer.