It all started with Gordy...

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:19 pm


Hi everyone. I’ve been meaning to start my chronicle for ages, but I never got round to it. Seeing that today is the 9th anniversary of losing my first guinea pig, Gordy, I thought this was the perfect day to start. So, here goes!

I have 3 wonderful guinea guys who I’d like to share with you all, but before I get to their stories I think it would be very unfair if I didn’t tell you a little about all of the wonderful guinea guys who have graced me with their presence over the years.

I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Jennifer but please call me Jen. I live in the North East of England, I’m 29 and have been a member of Guinea Lynx since 2006 (I think). So, that’s the boring bit done with.

So, as the title says, it all started with Gordy. Well, that’s a little bit of a lie actually.

Ever since I was a little girl I’ve loved animals, as you can see by this embarrassing photo of me getting overexcited about feeding a goat:

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I’m the little one on the left being held onto by my father. (I wish I was still that blonde!)

For quite a few years of my life we didn’t have any pets, until one day my mother and father decided to get a dog. I don’t have many memories of life with the dog, but I distinctly remember the day we went to choose the dog.

It all started with...

We all went in my aunt’s car to a farm. I can’t remember where it was, but as it seemed with every journey when I was a child, it took hours. “Are we there yet?”

When we arrived we were taken into the barn, and the farmer asked “Boy or girl?” “Girl” said Father. I’m not sure why but he doesn’t like boy dogs. The farmer went over to a gate and opened it. Out came a stream of puppies, beautiful yellow Labrador puppies. They ran round and round me, bouncing and yapping, I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

Amid all of this commotion, I glanced to my left and there was a little puppy sitting right next to me. She was beautiful and I fell in love immediately. “I want her”. So, it all started with Sally actually.

Here’s a few photo’s of Sally and I together. Apologies for the ‘80’s ness of them all, and my sisters very grumpy face in the second one!!
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We were blessed to have Sally in our lives; she was a wonderful little dog, very mischievous, she loved to bring pebbles and stones into the house. Although she was a happy bouncy little puppy she used to lie out in our garden for long periods of time. My parents didn’t think this was a natural thing for a puppy to do, so she was taken to the vet.

Poor little Sally had a life threatening liver condition, which was untreatable. The vet said that it was likely that she had had this condition from birth, especially as on the day I chose her she was the only puppy not running around. Unfortunately Sally never saw her first birthday. I can’t remember anything of the time, but my parents said that my sister and I were both very tearful by the news. Now, I treasure the thought of having her in our lives, even for that short length of time. Wasn't she adorable? My very own Andrex puppy!

We had just gotten used to having a dog around the house. My parents were undecided, should they get a new dog or not?

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Bytxlaura
Remembering Nemo

Post   » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:25 pm


Don't leave us hanging ...

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:44 pm


Sorry, I've got writers cramp ;-) I couldn't possibly type any more today, tomorrow maybe!

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Regiane
Cavy Slave Since '08

Post   » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:47 pm


Tomorrow maybe? Oh no! We want more! :)

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Fred_and_co

Post   » Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:05 pm


Starting Chronicle with tears is not good.

Please some More, it's so sad too lose any animals, but I always feel robbed when they leave young :(!

She was beautiful, and I'm glad she found her forever home with you and your family :)!

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serelixyue

Post   » Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:44 am


hi Jaycey, I'm so happy you started a thread:) haha that goat pic is so cute XD I will be looking back for more ;)

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Thu Jan 27, 2011 3:19 pm


After much discussion and deliberation my parents decided that having a dog in our lives was a good thing, and we missed the company after we lost Sally.

However, partly because of the price and partly because we wanted to give a dog a really family home they decided to look into getting a dog from a rescue centre.

We all packed up and went to the local RSPCA centre, about 20 minutes drive away. We were surprised to find the perfect dog straight away.

Fawn

We saw this beautiful young lady:

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She had been dumped by her previous owner, and was found tied to a gate at the side of a road. We were never completely sure of what breeds she had in her, out closest guess was part German Sheppard, part Rough Collie.

She settled in and became part of the family quickly. She was a huge ball of fur and didn’t mind use dressing her up for silly photos:

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One of the most prominent memories I have of Fawn is when we went for a walk in the fields full of tall grass. She loved to go ‘mousing’ and I can picture her now bouncing through the grass, her head appearing and disappearing back into the long grass.

I couldn’t have wished for a better dog. She was the best friend you could ever ask for. However, I always saw her as a family pet. I started to yearn for a pet I could call my own, something I would care for myself, and look after all on my own.

Whenever we went to one of the large pet shops, such as Pets At Home, or Pet Smart I would always dash over to look at the small animals, and was always drawn to the rats and mice. I thought they were adorable and perfect for me. Something I could have in my room and take care of myself.

I had every excuse from my parents:

“No, we don’t have the money for more pets”
“No, rats are vermin”
“No, rats’ tails are horrible”
“No pets in the house”

Every time I would dash to look at the rats, and every time I would leave with tears in my eyes and my head hanging low as I was told “No” yet again.

It looked like the future would be just Fawn and my fish, Moby. Oh well!

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Bytxlaura
Remembering Nemo

Post   » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:56 am


You seem to like abrupt endings :) More, please!

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Bethie
Still supporting in 2014

Post   » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:29 am


Fawn was beautiful! She looks like a golden version of our Zeus, who was black. He was lab and something curly. We were told retreiver, but I think it was springer spaniel.

Gordy's coming! Gordy's coming! I love the name Gordy for a piggy. It just seems so right.

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Wle312
Guinea Supporter '11

Post   » Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:02 am


Oh my lord, I laughed out loud at that picture of Fawn in the coat and hat! XD

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:03 pm


Fawn was such a softie, I have a few other photo's of her wearing sunglasses or my school tie!

I've been AWOL for a little while, spending a bit of quality time with my new arrival, so I'll add my next episode as soon as possible.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:45 pm


Although my parents had said a definite no to more pets, I never really wanted to accept it. I knew there was no way I could convince them to change their mind. I wasn’t the most popular girl at school so school nights and weekends were usually spent at home reading, or something similar. So, I thought a pet rat would have been the perfect companion for me. We could sit and watch TV, or films together, it would have been great fun.

I kept asking my parents, for well over a year and kept getting the same answer, no! To this day I don’t know where the idea of guinea pigs came from, but thankfully it came from somewhere.

I could easily dismiss three of their excuses: guinea pigs are pets, not vermin. They don’t have tails, and they live outside (I’ve since learnt better). So, I started to bug my parents about getting a guinea pig instead.

Over here in the UK, the schools break up for six weeks over summer, and so I was bugging my parents every day until they finally decided that I could have one. My parents researched around to find ‘ a good deal’ and finally settled on a visit to a breeder in the area which bred rabbits and guinea pigs.

On a sunny summer day, a 15 year old Jen, her sister and parents all bundled into the car and set off to the breeders. We came away with a hutch which came with a free rabbit (which my sister decided she wanted) and a beautiful guinea pig.

I can’t remember alot about that day, other than that I was a very happy girl, and had fallen in love with this beautiful little guy. Today, I would never dream about buying from a breeder but it wasn’t until I had another trip there that I would see what little breeders know about guinea pigs. But, that’s a story for later.

As soon as I set eyes on this little guy huddled amongst the other guinea pigs that were for sale I knew he was the one. And even to this day I still believe he was the perfect choice. I know it sounds a bit sad when I say it, but on that day, 25th August 1996, I found my best friend.

Gordy

Before I got Gordy I had decided on the name. Most of you will probably know of the film Babe, about the talking pig. There was another film about a talking pig that I loved at the time (and still like), and it was called Gordy. I dreamed that my Gordy would be able to talk to me like the pig in the film could.

As Bethie says, Gordy just seemed like the right name to call a guinea pig. So here he is:

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These three photo’s are the earliest photo’s I took of lovely little Gordy. I think he was a few months old when they were taken. Ain’t he a cutie!!

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