Entrants turn to one other and a tense silence falls over the crowd. Four glossy guinea pigs sit side by side atop green velvet mats, wide-eyed and still as onlookers peek at them over the gate. They are waiting for the judges’ final call – which rodent is the best of the Sydney Royal Cavy competition?
Assessing guinea pigs is a meticulous craft. Debbie Lawrie, who has 20 years of experience, was flown in from New Zealand to judge the Easter Show competition on Thursday.
She describes the process with the precision of an engineer.
Hair is very important. The first thing Lawrie looks for is “good satinisation” – a sheen that catches the light. The coat must be straight, lay in the same direction over the whole animal, and the colour across the top and underside of each hair shaft should be consistent. Fur aside, she wants a muscular build, healthy round eyes and a “brick shape”.
Julie Downie knows all about the importance of good hair. She has brought a special breed of guinea pig to the competition: sheba mini yaks. They are known for their long coat that, untended, looks like a mop “or a crazy bad hair day”, Downie says.
“The idea is to maintain the hair so it doesn’t get damaged.” This requires carefully wrapping the guinea pigs’ hair, then undoing and blowing it out every two days, to keep it clear of debris. “As they get older, the hair gets longer, and you add more and more wraps, to keep the hair nice and clean.
“Some days it’s a struggle,” Downie says, pointing to her grey-haired guinea pig, Comanchi, who “has too much attitude”.
To get down to the final four, close to 100 guinea pigs were judged, split over seven heats by breed.
Like dogs, guinea pigs are assessed by breed standards. The closer a cavy gets to the 100-point standard, the closer it will be to the blue ribbon, the NSW Cavy Club president, Michelle Parker, says.
“The judge is … weighing up the different factors against that [standard], to see if it has got the overall package.”
Parker entered the day’s competition with 17 guinea pigs, after spending an hour and a half grooming, bathing and blow-drying each one in preparation.
Downie says this kind of effort adds to the sense of achievement. “You put down a pig, and it looks lovely. The judges say, ‘oh this is doing really well,’ and you think, ‘it’s all paid off’.
“They really are the best therapy animal,” she says. “Have a bad day at work, come home, pick up the guinea pig and you’re relaxed within half an hour.”
James Watson agrees. He has been competing in shows for five years, and has bred 100 guinea pigs. “They’re like a Smith’s chip, I can’t stop at one.”
Caring for them takes Watson about eight hours a week, but in the lead up to a competition, he says, “you’ve got to do the work”.
In the end Saffron Falcon, a long-haired sheltie with a magnificent cream and brown-striped coat, takes home best in show, to the pride of its young owner.
But to Watson’s mind, anyone who learns how to properly care for “underrated” guinea pigs is already winning. “I wouldn’t swap it for anything in the world. These are my babies.”
