I didn't know where to put this... please read...

[x.n.d.x]

I'm going to be getting a 2nd pig soon, and I want to show pigs so I can be in the guinea pig part of 4-H. But, should I get a showable guinea pig, or just get one as a pet and forget about 4-H? My current pig isn't showable.
~x.n.d.x

 

[daftscotslass]

Why on earth would you want to show your guinea pig?

Reasons not to:

Showing is actively supported and arranged by breeders - the two go hand-in-hand.
Your guinea pig must be of "perfect standard" - if it has so much as a hair out of place it will be disqualified anyway.
Showing is distressing - being poked and prodded by up to hundreds of people, and manhandled by several judges. All of this whilst being stuck in a small wire cage that measures a square foot.
Your guinea pig will almost definitely have to be ear-tagged - do you really want to drive metal through your guinea pig's ear?

Forget 4-H. Guinea pigs are treated as livestock and bred as such. Don't support an organisation like that. Get a rescue pig, it's far more rewarding.

 

[Lyndsay]

Well, I'll try and break it to you nicely, before you really get it. If you didn't read the views of the forum before you joined, or maybe you forgot, either way read them again... because it clearly states this is a rescue friendly board, as well for the most part we are against showing. The eithics and morals behind showing are wrong, and as a community we are striving to change people, and their narrow minded thinking about animals. Animals are not ment for show, they are ment to be loved, and treated with respect, not thrown on a show table to be looked at and marked for what judges think as imperfections. Scrap the 4H and adopt a guinea pig to love and be part of your life. You have been here long enough to have gathered at least the basic philosophy of this forum.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Is your current guinea pig any less of a loved pet because he is not 'showable' i.e. the wrong color or size or whatever? Why would anyone care if they were or were not.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Showing pigs is just plain CRUEL. They are in small pens for sometimes days at a time. If you LOVE your pigs, you won't subject them to that.

4-H is terrible. You should not get involved. They raise animals and DUMP them on rescues when they are no longer "useful".

Also, do you really want to subject your pig to having a large metal tag pierced through its ear? Shows require that.

 

[Susan9608]

You've got to be kidding. You've been here way long enough to realize that this forum is ANTI-SHOWING. Hell, even the intro to the Kitchen states, "Intentional breeding and/or showing "how-to" discussions are not welcome in this forum." I'm thinking you enjoy being deliberately inflammatory and my patience is wearing thin.

I'm locking this post. If you value your membership here, you will not post anything else that is in direct violation of our beliefs and philosophies. Failure to heed this warning will at the very least cause you to become "Cavy Caged" and may earn you and out and out ban.

That being said, showing a guinea pig is hardly a good idea, for all the reasons that Daftscotslass outlined.