Fido the Guinea Dog Book Patrick Jennings

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Fido the Guinea Dog Book by Patrick Jennings

Cute new book on a guinea pig that thinks he’s a dog from author Patrick Jennings – set to be released April 13th. This basic plot is of a fifth grade boy Rufus, who desperately wants a dog, but is told he cannot have one by his father. The boy’s mother takes sympathy on her son and buys him a guinea pig instead.

Rufus names his guinea pig “Fido” anyways and then he begins to notice that something is a little unusual…Fido thinks she’s a dog!

Check it out.

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guinea pig plays basketball

Guinea pig plays basketball

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guinea pig loving teacher retires

Guinea Pig Loving Teacher Retires

Here’s a sweet story I found online today (this is from the UK) -

Pupils, staff and guinea pigs will bid a fond farewell and a squeak of sadness for a retiring teacher who has used the small animals as teaching aids for the past 43 years.

Margaret Buchanan, who has spent her whole career at Warwick Primary School in Wellingborough, said she started using guinea pigs in the classroom after reading as a trainee teacher that they were good teaching aids.”

Read more…

http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Pupils-and-guinea-pigs-say.6183267.jp

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man kills guinea pig makes hat

Man Kills Guinea Pig to Make Hat

Hey guys, I saw this news today and i couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not. I am leaning towards not…

A man in Virginia bought a guinea pig from a pet store, takes it home, kills it, makes a hat out of the fur, and then proceeds to wear the hat around his community for everyone to see. How bizarre!

http://wcrnews.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/mcdermott-bianchini-episode-1/

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guinea pig intelligence

Guinea Pig Intelligence Shown Not to be Affected by Domestication

Okay, I am not a fan of using guinea pigs for research r studies, for obvious reasons – however this little news article came across my radar today and I wanted to share it with you.
Research done by BioMed shows that domesticated and wild guinea pig show equal ability at completing intelligence tests. Essentially the researchers had the guinea pigs compete at doing various tests such as maze completion.
Read more if you are interested:

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guinea pig bathing

Guinea Pig Bathing

I get lots of questions regarding guinea pigs and bathing. Many people want to know “How often should I bathe my guinea pig?” or if they should bathe their guinea pig to reduce cage odor. Here is the definitive answer – guinea pigs do not need to be bathed on a regular basis “just because.” No, piggies really hate to be bathed, they can become chilled and stressed easily, and their skin can become itchy and dry if bathed too often.

So when do you want to bathe your guinea pig? Only if he or she gets into something really messy. What if the cage is smelly? This actually means what you need to do is clean the cage, not the guinea pig as dirty bedding is likely the source of the odor that’s bothering you.

If only your guinea pig’s feet are dirty, then you would be best off simply giving him or her a foot bath. You can fill a shallow basin with gentle soap and warm water, then allow your piggie to walk around until the worst of the grime is dislodged. Then simply remove your guinea pig from the basin and gently towel off his or her feet.

If a total bath is required look for the most gentle soap you can find. A lot of people like oatmeal based soaps such as the various baby shampoos provided by Aveeno. If you really want to keep the process gentle you can even do a literal oat bath. Take plain dry oatmeal (just like what you would eat for breakfast) and soak it in water until the water becomes cloudy. Then take this water and use as the bath water for your guinea pig. Additionally, a final option is to do a “finishing” rinse with a little oil (flax, olive, vitamin E) suspended in water (just stir really rapidly to mix and then gently pour over the coat of your guinea pig) to prevent dry skin.

I recommend that you use a shallow container of some kind for bathing – plastic dish washing basins work well and also cannot be accidentally broken. Fill the container only a couple of inches with mildly warm water that you have mixed a little soap into.  Place your guinea pig in the water and gently bathe with the soapy water, making sure to avoid the eyes and nose. Once your guinea pig appears clean, give a single brush through his or her fur and remove from the water. Immediately wrap him or her in a towel and keep warm until dry. Do not use a hairdryer to try to speed up the process as they can get quite warm and are rather scary.

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