My childhood piggies Charmaine and Chico

Post Reply
User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:25 pm


I have mentioned the guinea pigs we had as kids before, but I didn't have any pictures of them. When my mother passed away, my siblings and I went through the massive boxes of family photos to split them up between us. Since I'm so much into guinea pigs, they decided to let me have the old pictures of Charmaine and Chico. I thought I'd share them with you.

Image

Here's Charmaine grazing on our lawn. The picture is pretty old and was taken by a very young man with a cheap camera, so it's not the greatest.

Image

This is a lot better look at her grazing. She was an awesome piggie. Probably the closest one to her in terms of being laid back, relaxed and friendly is Mr Bubbles.

Image

Here she is with our dog, a full blooded Labrador Retriever named Penny. She was very docile, especially in her old age. That dog would die to protect Charmaine.

Image

This is our Peruvian, Chico. She was a zany little gal. Also very friendly and so beautiful.

Image

Here's a better look at her. This guinea pig travelled a LOT! She started out in Fontana, CA as our grandmother's pet. When she became physically unable to care for Chico, she gave her to us. We lived in Lakewood, WA, so she made that trip. When we moved across the country to Trenton, NJ, we brought her and Charmaine with us. Charmaine passed away while we lived there. She was about 6 years old. 2 years later, we moved overseas to Germany and Chico made that trip. She lived to the ripe old age of 7 and a half years. Pretty good for a guinea pig with that many miles traveled.

Image

Charmaine and Chico were the best of friends. I built this habitat for them. Chico was a lot like Scruffy. She always climbed up on the cage and sat on top of the hut just like Scruffy. Perhaps that's why I was so endeared to him.

I think about those two from time to time, even though they've been gone for nearly 40 years. Enjoy!

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2022 9:45 am


Thanks for sharing them with us! Chico looks adorable on that vast grass expanse. I can see where your long love of guinea pigs came from! And what travelers they were!

How lucky to have a grandmother who started you on your guinea pig journey.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:16 pm


Those guinea pigs never went into a pen when they were outside. Our dog went out with them and helped us watch over them. The dog was so well trained that she stayed put no matter what she saw or heard and the piggies stayed right there with her. Never once did they try to run off. We still stayed right with them. I wouldn't suggest doing that and I don't know what we we're thinking. Still, it worked out. Guess we were lucky.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2022 9:11 pm


It would seem they had a trust relationship with your dog - or at least felt protected.

User avatar
Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Dec 22, 2022 3:35 pm


Absolutely. Penny loved those guinea pigs and nurtured them. She was pretty old herself, so she very calm and docile. The extent of her play was chasing a ball. She didn't rough house, chew or dig. By the time we got the guinea pigs she was passed all of that.

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sat Dec 24, 2022 1:11 pm


Thanks for posting those pics. I love the story of their relationship with your dog!

Post Reply