You may have seen a cat show or a dog show, perhaps even an alpaca show, but have you ever been to a guinea pig show? The small but passionate Capital Country Cavy Club showcases their Cavia porcellus around the NSW/ACT region.
Originally part of the New South Wales Cavy Club, the Capital Country branch went out on its own in 2009, feeling there were enough members to warrant a separate group. The 50 members of the NSW club and the 20 members of Capital Country are regularly in contact through Facebook and hold a joint show once a year where they connect over what they love best.
“Mainly we show purebred guinea pigs that are bred to the national standard. We also like to educate the public on the proper care and handling of the cavies because they’re not a simple pet,” says Nikki White, Capital Country club secretary.
Buying her first guinea pig from a pet shop in 1998, Nikki soon read online that the NSW club was hosting a show at the Hawkesbury Agricultural Show.
“I got in the car and drove up there with a cat basket and bought a couple and they gave me a membership form, so I joined the club. Then I went to the National Cavy Show, bought some purebred ones and started breeding,” she says.
Keeping the numbers quite manageable, Nikki has less than 20 adult pigs that she breeds and shows. She says they are great, agreeable companions with big personalities.
“They’re friendly, they reach out and stand up and squeak at you when they hear your footsteps or car engine… They’re small and compact, don’t require vaccinations, you don’t need to take them for a walk,” she says.
CD visited the Capital Country Cavy Club last month at the Royal Canberra Show. Nikki manned the information and petting booth near the Petting Zoo, while the other Capital Country members were grooming, pruning and brushing their cavies ready for the show.
It was the first time show secretary and manager Sam Melavirta had brought her cavies to the Canberra Show as the club hadn’t been in attendance in at least 5 years. Joining the club just before the pandemic, Sam said she had guinea pigs growing up, as did her children.
“I didn’t even know showing was a thing so when they [her children] said to me we’re going to show guinea pigs, ‘I was like, what is that a thing?’” she smiles.
Sam brought 17 pigs to the show. Although she is yet to win a Best in Show ribbon, she has won a Best Adult in Show award. She says it isn’t just about the titles, it is about striving to better the standard of the animals.
“They’ve got different points for their markings, cleanliness and then it’s not so much their size or their build, it’s actually how they are proportioned. Do they actually look like a guinea pig? Do they have a flatter noise rather than a pointy nose? There’s a lot of colourings, are they the right colouring that goes down to their skin and skin tone?” she says.
Sam explains that the shows are divided into different breeds, including longhair, crested, marked, ticked, satin, self, and junior. She says she is thrilled whenever one of her pigs is awarded Best of Breed.
“That means I have bred my animal to be the best of that breed, so I’m ecstatic with that. If you go on to win Best of Group, then you’re cheering. If you’re in the Best in Show lineup at the end of the day, you can’t argue with that. You’ve come up against some guinea pigs who have won at the nationals.”
Covering regions from Picton to Cooma and Wagga to Grenfell, Sam says it is great when the club can meet up to show and share their knowledge and advice. Many of the members will also sell pigs at the show, commonly the ones that don’t quite meet the show criteria.
“We do have pedigree guinea pigs that get sold on for pets because they didn’t make the cut. You could have an odd-coloured toe which wipes them completely out. You can get pedigree papers with it but that doesn’t mean he is a pedigree; he is from pedigree breeding.”
From the moment they are born covered in fur, Sam says you can’t help but like them, they are adorable little creatures that bring happiness into your life.
“What don’t you like about them? They’re so cute, come in all shapes and sizes, they’re all different, they squeak, they eat and they’ve got their own personalities,” Sam says.
While they might not be a cat or a dog, guinea pigs do have unique personalities and with the right treatment and encouragement, they love their owners.
“If you spend enough time with your guinea pigs and take them inside and pet them and love them, they all come out with their own personalities and just lay on you and kick their legs back and fall asleep. They are just really sweet to cuddle with and have a good time with,” says Natalie Muenger, entry secretary.
When she was seven, Natalie’s family got their first guinea pigs from a backyard breeder which she loved for around eight years, their average life span. At 15 Natalie heard about show guinea pigs and begged her mother to drive from Foster on the Mid-North Coast to Sydney.
“I took home my first pedigree guinea pig, he was a bit of a dud, he wasn’t very good, but I loved him anyway, he was very sweet. Then I just got into showing, my mum would only take me to one or two shows a year because she was like this is a waste of time, what are you doing?” Natalie smiles.
She says she only has to spend 10-15 minutes a day feeding and cleaning the animals while the physical care factors are negligible.
Moving to university in 2019, Natalie took four cavies with her. Those four have since grown into 24. Living off campus, Natalie has converted the garage into a guinea pig haven and sometimes lets them run around the enclosed lawn, supervised of course.
“You trim nails, keep them clean that’s all they really need. You don’t have to be preventive, there’s no flea and tick tablets, no wormer, no vaccinations.”
They do still require commitment. Like any pet, you have to be committed to ensuring they have a good, safe and comfortable life. The amount of time you spend interacting with your cavy depends on what kind of pet you want it to be, Natalie explains.
“Do you want your guinea pig to love you, see its personality come out, and help it to overcome its flight response? It is a prey animal it’s just going to run away if it doesn’t know you.
“If you want it to know you and love you and be a really good pet, I would say bringing it into the house for ten minutes a day, just to sit on your lap when you’re watching telly at night time, that will do a lot for it.”
As Natalie doesn’t breed her cavies often, she says they aren’t big winners, but they did take home a reserve at the Syndey Royal Easter Show.
“I love all my pigs, I know all their names and little personalities, I enjoy being small enough that I can remember who is who,” she says.
It isn’t about winning for Natalie; she says each time she can learn what trait to try and breed out while also getting the chance to catch up with friends.
“Everyone in the guinea pig world is so nice, it is just chill, we’re all just here to have fun and improve our breeding. Most people aren’t super competitive, they’re trying to meet the standard. We want to compete but if you don’t win and someone else wins, it’s not like I hate you because you won, we’re all friends here.”
For anyone who might be interested in joining the club or starting to show cavies, Natalie recommends coming to one of their shows and chatting with some of the members.
“We usually have pets for sale, we’ve got experienced breeders, the pets are good quality, you will get what you want and it will be the sex that you’ve asked for. If you have any problems in the future, our breeders are always happy to be in contact with the people they’ve sold to,” she says.
Making the hard decisions of which cavies would be taking home titles and ribbons is Australian national judge Serina Etherington, who has owned the creatures for almost 50 years.
“I went to school and a young girl was breeding guinea pigs, I went home and told Mum and Dad and we just started showing. I’m the eldest of three girls, my next sister down, Trisha, she still has guinea pigs too,” she says.
A guinea pig handler trifecta, Serina shows, judges and breeds the small creatures, specialising in jet black pigs. She has won Best in Show four times at the national competition.
Since becoming a judge in 1987, Serina has travelled around the country and even jetted to New Zealand to pick the best pigs. To qualify as a judge, you must have bred and shown followed by three years of training, attending shows and an exam, all this to ensure you know exactly what to look for.
“There’s a standard just like cats or dogs or horses. There are points for hair type, they have to be clean, have to have their nails clipped and they have to behave on the table… If a guinea pig bites me, they get disqualified. They’ve got two big teeth they can cling on, really hold onto you,” says Serina.
Showing guinea pigs has been a great hobby for Serina, leading to lifelong friendships. For anyone looking to get guinea pigs, she recommends to get three of the same sex as they breed every ten weeks – she would know, owning 100 pigs of her own.
“They’re so manageable, they’re easy to sit on your lap at night or put in the cage. You don’t really need to train them to do anything, just sit them up on a board to show. They’re easy and they are fun, they are characters,” Serina smiles.
To find out more about the Capital Country Cavy Club and which shows they will be at next visit; facebook.com/capitalcountrycavyclub.
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