We have been breeding and exhibiting stud cavies for some time now. In WA the guinea pig club is Cavy West. Show Cavies, like most show animals, are judged to a set standard. There are many different breeds of cavies, you can find lots of info. about cavies at the Cavy West web site www.cavywest.com
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Showing Our Cavies We have serveral good show quality cavies in our stud, including several champions. We have picked up many major awards at local club shows, and even won Best Marked with one of our animals atthe 2009 National Cavy Show.
We are particularly interested in showing and breeding guinea pigs of the marked variety. These pigs have more than one colour, and are bred to follow a certain pattern. Our marked breeds include Dalmation, Dutch, Tortoise and white. We also breed and show Rex, abyssinians, Shelties, Self black,American Crested DE Goldens
You can find more infor out about different cavy breeds here
Breeds we keep & Show
Marked
Cavies
There
are many different types of marked cavies. All are judged on their patching or
distribution of colours. Each breed has a specific pattern of marking that is
desired. In
Western
Australia marked cavies are a
popular variety of show cavy that areoften seen at our shows. Below are some
examples of marked cavy breeds.
Dutch
Dutch Cavies can come in
many colours. They have white socks on their back feet known as foot stops, a
white blaze and a white body. They then have a saddle good dutch has even
patching on either side of it's body and a nice straight line that separates the
saddle and the white body. The eye patches and saddle must be of the same
colour, however that colour can be any self colour (except white) or any ticked
colour. Please click
herefor more information on
black dutch.
Dalmatian
The Dalmatian has an eye
patch over each eye that is a solid colour that is either a self (except white)
or ticked colour, with a white blaze between the patches. Feet must be the same
solid colour. It has clear, distinct and even coloured spotting on a white
body.
Tortoise
and White
A Tortoise and White
Cavy is coloured Black, Red and White. These colours are square patches which
look like a patchwork quilt. That is if you have a perfect one. It would also
have a dividing line from the tip of its nose and down its back to its rump and
then underneath in the centre until it joins up again at the nose. There would
be neat vertical lines down each side to join up to the other line to form the
boundary of each patch. All three colours should be present on both sides of the
cavy. If the Cavy isn't perfect, in fact most are not, then it doesn't matter if
you simply want a very pretty pet.
Self
Cavies
A Self is a cavy that is
the same colour all over the body. The top coat colour should be lustrous and be
of an even shade all over. The under colour should be the same colour as the the
top colour and go all the way to the skin.
The cavy should have a short cobby
body, when viewed from above, they should give the appearance of a brick with
the corners rounded off.
The cavy should have a broad roman nose, with plenty
of width between the eyes and between the ears. The muzzle should be broad and
rounded at the nostrils. The shoulders should be deep, broad.
The coat should
be short and silky with a glossy sheen.
The ears should be rose petal shaped,
set wide apart, large and drooping.
The eyes should be large, round and
bold.
The cavy should be clean, in good condition and well groomed (free of
guard hairs).
Self
Black
The Self Black is
usually of excellent quality and along with the Self White, is the closest in
standard to the ideal cavy. The black should be deep
and lustrous. Eye colour - dark, ear and pad pigment - dark. Prone to having foreign
hairs (hairs that are any colour other than black.)
Crested Cavies
Crested cavies can
come in most varieties. The main difference is the presence of a crest that is
positioned on the top centre of the head. Below are some descriptions and
pictures of some crested cavies.
American
Crested
The
American crested cavy has a crest that is a different is a different colour to
the colour on the rest of its body. The body colour must conform to that of the
self colours. The crest colour needs to be as near a complete circle of solid
colour as possible. The crest colour should not appear elsewhere on the body.
Coarse
Coat Cavies
Abyssinian
The Abyssinian is a
Coarse Coat breed. It must have 8 rosettes but it is not a fault should it have
extra two rosettes on the shoulders. The hair needs to be long enough to give
the rosettes good depth but must not exceed 4 cms in length. The rosettes are to
be in line, equal distance apart, and pinpoint centres. This will cause the
ridges between the rosettes to be nice and straight. There must not be flatness
anywhere on the cavy. Abyssinians can come in any colour but are most often seen
in Brindle and Roan. A breed known for having lots of attitude! (Descript
ion courtesy of
Sharon Deas)
Rex
The Rex is a Coarse Coat
breed. The hair is crimped and the coat should be short, dense and springy and
the cavy should have a curly belly, there should be no flatness anywhere. The
Rex tends to be a large breed of cavy but it is also known for its good
temperament. Can come in any colour but is most often seen in Agouti.
