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Basic Guide to your first show
So You fancy having a go at showing your guinea pig, well below with some help from my
friends I have outlined the basics of getting though your first show, I hope you find them
useful
Picking Your Cavy To Enter a show your cavy needs to be fairly
calm and relaxed, not bite and be quite friendly towards people , this can be gained by
much handling of the cavy, although some are just naturally not show material.
You also need to find a show and enter :
You can often find details of pet clubs on the internet or in pet
magazines. When you join these clubs you will be given details of clubs and shows, and
very often details of a magazine which usually contains all the details.When you have
found your show then you need to enter. To keep it simple I have typed out a pet shcedule
for my own show below, but we'll keep it to JUST pets
Pets for Romiley Show Adult owned pet sow adult 5/8 U/5
Adult owned pet boar adult 5/8 U/5
Juvenille owned Pet sow adult 5/8 U/5
Juvenille Owned Pet Boar adult 5/8 U/5
Pet Challenge AA
Basically you have to decide : Who is entering my pet adult or
juvenille ( juvenille is under 16 years old)
Is my pet a boar or sow ( Girl or boy)
and how old is my pet, is he she under 5 months old, 5 to 8 months old or over 8 months
old ( adult)
So say a child of 15 is entering her baby 4 month old guinea pig sow, this would be
"Juvenille owned pet sow U/5" She would also go in the challenge class which is
AA ( Any Age), so thats two classes, you would tell all of this to the Show secretary and
she would enter 'Bubbles' for the show, don't worry if you are a bit mixed up at first,
show secretaries love to help newcomers to the fancy.
One other point, it is not done to show a cavy under the age of 3 and 1/2 months in the UK
So you've chosen your cavy
Bath Time for Bubbles
Now that you have decided which of your cavies to show it is preparation
time, cavies need to be smart and clean to stand any chance so the week before the show,
its bath time
What you will need: Clean Towels
Shampoo ( medicated/anti mites)
Bowl
Comb and OLD tooth brush
Nail Clippers
Its best if you lay all these out ready as 'Bubbles' will not like her
bath and will wriggle, so its best to be prepared.
Place Bubbles in the shallow water making sure that her head is above water and then
saturate her fur, pour on a little shampoo and rub in well, if you have a longhair then a
comb will help the shampoo get right down to the roots.
The next thing to do is to rinse out the shampoo THOROUGHLY, if you leave any shampoo on
your cavy then it will make her itch and make her coat sticky. With male guinea pigs they
also have a grease gland to be cleaned, this is at their back end and the best this to get
it off with is Washing up liquid ( in the UK the best is Fairy liquid), the grease builds
up over a long time so you have to give it quite a scrub.
Final task in the water is to clean the cavies feet, this is where the old toothbrush
comes in handy to scrub their nails.
Once out of the water Bubbles must be thoroughly dried with a towel and
then blown dry with a hairdryer or kept inside until she dries, NEVER put a wet guinea
outside except on the hottest of days as this could make them very ill. When the cavy is
dry then you should comb carefully through their coat checking for knots and tangles,
cutting or combing them out carefully. Finally clip their nails, its best if you get
someone to show you how to do this ( vet or breeder) but as a rough guide in white nails
you can see where the quick runs to as it is red, always clip below this point. Black
nails are more difficult, just clip a little off at a time.
SO shes ready for the show On show day
you must get to the show hall before judging beginning, the secretary will usually tell
you when this is. Take along Bubbles ( obviously) and also some hay and veggies for her to
munch on all day, how would you like to go out without anything to eat!!!
When you get to the show you need to find the secretary, and she will give you a 'pen
number'. The pens are what the cavies are kept in while they are waiting to be judged,
when you have yours furnish your pen with some hay and veggies and of course Bubbles, its
tempting to get her in and out for a cuddle during the day, but this is not a good idea as
it will only stress Bubbles more and annoy the judges. You must stay until you are told
you can remove your cavies as it would be hectic if everyone went as and when they
pleased, but there is usually plenty to do, and a canteen to get food at so finally.....
ENJOY YOURSELF
and hopefully go home with a prize card or two, and dont forget to give
Bubbles a cuddle and a treat when you get home, she's tired too
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