[4][5] Higgins's career was facilitated by Frank Inn, who also trained Arnold Ziffel (the pig) and all of the other animals used on The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Waltons TV series.

Due to his work in Petticoat Junction, Higgins received a PATSY Award in 1966 in the television category,[8] and he was cover-featured on an issue of TV Guide magazine[citation needed].

[12] Higgins had a close rapport with the actor Edgar Buchanan, who played Uncle Joe Carson on Petticoat Junction.

In the official cast pictures taken each year during the run of Petticoat Junction, Buchanan is shown holding or petting Higgins.

The two actors had an obvious fondness for one another, which is especially clear in Benji, because the movie's naturalistic pacing allowed them to interact as friends rather than requiring that Higgins perform a specific trick to which Buchanan would react.