Piggies of the month March

Rocky and Barney are my two mischievous 3lb.+ boars, and they are quite a handful, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Rocky is the black and white Peruvian, and I adopted him when he was almost 1 year old about 8 months ago. I have no idea how old Barney is, but if I had to guess I'd say he's at least 3, maybe 4; I've had him for about 2 years.
Rocky and Barney are special because they are the first two pigs I have rescued. Rocky came from a home where little kids were tired of him (I am his third home); at his first home he was separated from the other boar he lived with (Ugh). Barney came free from a horrible petstore employee whom he was living with (Barney had been brought back because he got 'too big').

Barney lived a peaceful and happy existence staring longingly at the sows until the arrival of Rocky. I had hoped to bond them considering Rocky had a friend before, but they hate each other with a passion. That is how Rocky got his name, because he 'rocked' Barney's world. Side by side in pictures is as close as they should get  :) Although the boars can't get along with one another, individually they are big lovers. Rocky loves to snuggle and he is so pretty, he could have been a show pig.

Barney is Mr. Personality, he is the most intelligent pig I have ever had, and he likes just hanging out with me. He is also fearless for a rodent, I always say he should have been a dog. Sometimes I put Rocky and Barney together during floor time with plenty of space and watch them like a hawk. One time I ran at Barney to stop him from going after Rocky and he didn't even scatter or flinch, he just looked at me like "mom, I was just protecting you from that horrible boar". He does the same thing when the actual dog rushes him in the outside cage (it's dog proof). I was also told by the cable guy last week that Barney "barked at him." I love both my boars, and those of you that have boars know how fun they can be!

Anneli with pigs Rocky, Barney, Nutmeg, and Clover.

Vote for the shelter who will recieve the 2014 Calendar proceeds

You nominated the following shelters:

•  Excellent adventure sanctuary, Northampton, UK
  Read about them here!
• 't Kuufke, Limbricht, South Netherlands
  Why vote for t Kuufke?
• CT Guinea Pig Rescue, USA (or check out http://guineapigconnection.typepad.com/pig_notes/)
  Does the CT rescue get your vote?

You can vote on your favorite shelter until the end of the month!

Calendar piggies of February

Agent Butterloaf is an elderly pig, now going on 8 years! He was adopted when he was a year old. His agent name comes from him being a stout lad and his enjoyment of loafing around. He is quite the good napper and smooshes out wherever he pleases. While eating, Agent Butterloaf likes to sit down and rest his chin on the food bowl. He has fallen asleep quite a few times this way.

Being an elderly pig, he has had to go in to the vet for his teeth quite a few times. I believe Agent Butterloaf has come from a royal line of pigs, as he has an air of "How dare you handle me this way?!" when being checked out by the vet. During one of the visits, after being checked out and put back in his carrier, Agent Butterloaf began throwing his carrot treat around, making quite the ruckus. He is a pig that lets his thoughts known! All the ladies at the vet love him, he is quite the charmer.

Agent Yougie was adopted when he was under a year old. I saw his handsome face when I was walking around the humane society and was instantly charmed. It must have showed on my face as one of the volunteers offered to let me hold him. I knew this would be a bad idea as we didn't have room so I politely declined, but she took him out and I held him anyway. He is quite the squeaker! He looked up at me while chatting away, and I was a goner. We picked up him from the humane society that day.

His agent name comes from the love of the yogurt treat. He doesn't get very many, but will try his best to get as many as he can. He stands on his hind legs, runs up and down the ramp, and will wheek wheek wheek until a yogurt treat descends from the heavens! Besides yogurt treats, his favorite food is cucumber peels.

Jocelyn

Vote for 't Kuufke shelter

We are reusing last years 'why you should vote for the dutch guinea pig shelter 't Kuufke?', since everything in this post is still current and true.
Both Mieke and Janneke lost one of their piggies recently (Lily and Sjeuf) and they are planning to visit 't Kuufke to look at a new friend for their remaining pigs.
't Kuufke has been the second runner up for 2 years now and we hope they win this year! Would you please consider voting for them?

----

On behalf of the Dutchies we would like to nominate 't Kuufke for the proceedings of the calendar. Guinea pig shelter 't Kuufke in Limbricht is the only guinea pig shelter in the south of the Netherlands. Kuufke totally depends on donations and the hard work of it's lovely volunteers. Over the last few years Kuufke has suffered a lot of bad luck. All of their computer equipment was stolen and the roof was blown off the shelter. We really think they deserve to have a bit of good luck.

They have a lovely website. They really do a good job showing us pigs at our best to help us find our forever home. Even if you don't speak Dutch, check out their sows, boars and neutered boars. They also have a blog where they post mail from the pigs that have found their forever home and a Facebook page with lots of pigtures.

There are 3 other reasons why you should vote for Kuufke.

1. Igor

Need we say more?

2. Sjeuf

Just like Igor, Sjeuf also found us through Kuufke. Even though we moved to the other side of the country, we still wanted a pig in our herd from Kuufke, just like uncle Igor. We like their southern swagger and we enjoy going to Kuufke. So with the help from Pepper and Jimmy, we went to Kuufke and asked for the sweetest beaux they had and they sent us on a speed date with Sjeuf. He came home with us and has been a gentlepig ever since. Unfortunately he left us quite unexpectedly on Christmas morning...

3. Jimmy

Jimmy is maybe better known as agent Zeppelin, from the agent Zeppelin Mysteries. Jimmy has a very sweet and docile character. That might be because he ended up in t Kuufke almost right after his birth in July 2009 and they took really good care of him. Jimmy is currently very happy, living with (a rather lively) Pepper, who also happens to come from Kuufke.


We know Kuufke is not very well known amoung our readers since most of you are not from the Netherlands. But without Kuufke, our Igor, Sjeuf and Jimmy wouldn't have found their forever homes and their voice on this blog. So from the bottom of their big hearts, these boars ask you to give Kuufke your vote.

Vote for the Critter connection (CT) shelter(s)

http://guineapigconnection.typepad.com/pig_notes/2014/01/new-year-same-fight-new-focus.html

http://www.ctguineapigrescue.org/

Above are the CT Guinea Pig Rescue's new year mission statement followed by a link to their website. I would strongly encourage any so inclined to at least read Whitney Potsus' mission statement, and better yet visit the main website as well. I don't think I can improve upon Whitney's mission statement in my own words.

I would like to highly recommend once again the CT Guinea Pig Rescue in Durham, CT, a non-profit group dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned and neglected guinea pigs. Both Joanne and I have adopted many piggies from Cindy in years past. Since its founding in 2004 by Cindy Kuester, they have placed more than 1000 guinea pigs in good homes, not to mention provided the best of veterinary care for all the piggies in need who have come into the rescue. Some special needs and senior pigs stay on for their entire lives as sanctuary piggies.

I sincerely hope that folks would consider giving the CT Guinea Pig Rescue your vote. They have survived through a roof collapse, tough economic times, and their president's health issues. As Whitney details in her new year mission statement, because of Cindy's health issues this past year, they have reorganized, with a renewed dedication to their mission. They are smaller than they were at the beginning, but they are truly passionate about helping piggies in need despite discouragement at times.

I sent the text of this nomination to Whitney to review before I submitted it. Here are some of her words: "We are grateful for whatever help we can get. Financially, things just aren't getting better." Would you consider helping this rescue with your vote?

Sincerely,

Ann & Purdy Piggy in CT, USA

Calendar Piggies of January: Puff and Hershey

Baby Puff

Puff came at a very difficult time. Hershey was dying of misdiagnosed E cuniculi, and my husband, Gary, knew I'd be needing another piggie to bring me cheer. So, at work, he shopped around by phone all day until he found just the right piggie. I was coming out of a doctor's appointment in Sacramento, and the pet shop was on the way home. It was love at first sight, and you can see why when you look at her pigture!  

Hershey

Three days later, Hershey passed over the Bridge, and there was this cute little soul in an adjacent cage to ease my pain with her cute antics and sweet face. A few days later, my sister, Annie, a prize-winning photographer, dropped by with a camera for Puff's first photo shoot. It was then that we discovered she is (Puff, not Annie) a jumper--not a good candidate as a lap piggie, as she'll deliberately hurl herself off of every surface, not for fear, but just to find out what's down there. I even have to block her cage door when it's open during feeding time! You'd think she'd outgrow it.

 Oh well, my son does sky diving, and I guess this is her version of it. Anyway, I was holding little Puff to my chest for a close up of us together, and up she went, over my shoulder, to the floor, and she scrambled for a spot under my dresser. We caught her, unharmed, in the nick of time.

 She's a sweet little girl, very cooperative with her grooming sessions, as long as there's yummies involved. Even fully trimmed, you can't see her short little leggies, so it looks like she's floating as she bounces along. She's also a chirper and has done more of it than any piggie I've ever known. Of course, she won't reveal the meaning of those birdlike chirps, which remain a mystery to us all.

Nominate a shelter!

Hi All,

Thank you all who bought an Undercover Guinea Pigs Calendar 2014! And of course every piggy and slave who supplied gorgeous pigtures making the calendar happen again.
If you haven't gotten a calendar yet, and still want one, you can still order! Use the form on the 'Order calendar 2014'

It is time to nominate the shelter to whom we will donate the money from selling the calendars...
So let us know who you want to nominate and why!

Last year we made posts for all the nominated shelter to tell you why you should vote for them, it would be nice if we can do that again!

Hugs to all the piggies,
Mieke, Janneke and M of this blog

Buy a piggy Calendar and support a shelter!

Dear Guinea pig lovers,

Thirteen calendars have been ordered so far, some of them have already arrived!
Do you want one too, order here!

Like the previous 2 years, we from the undercover guinea pigs blog in cooperation with you as our readers and suppliers of cute piggy pigtures, have made the undercover guinea pigs calendar again!
You can order either a wall or a desk calendar, which will have a new cute pigture every month,
and of course our inspirator Agent F on the front.
Prices are 15 euros for the wall calendar and 12,50 for the desk calendar, plus additional shipping to your country.

If you have not ordered a calendar yet, but you want one, and you want to support a guinea pig shelter, buy one (or more)!
If you still want to recieve them before the end of this year, I advise you to order soon, unless you want to go for the more expensive 7 day shipping option...

Here is a preview of the wall and the desk version. You can click on the pigtures to enlarge them..

Holidays for Undercover Guinea Pigs Calendar 2014

I compiled a list of holidays to be added to the undercover guinea pigs calendar 2014.
I have received my sample of the calendar this weekend and it looks good, so if you want to order let me know by filling out the form at the 'Order calendar 2014' tab at the top of this page.
After you checking this list below, and maybe adding some dates, I am ready to order the calendar!

Please let me know if I got any dates wrong, you want your country added, or if you are missing a holiday.
This year I added all public holidays of the countries we usually get orders from. These are USA, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Australia.

1-1-2014	New Year's Day
6-1-2014	Epiphany
20-1-2014	Martin Luther King Day (USA)
27-1-2014	Australia Day (AU)
14-2-2014	Valentine's day
17-2-2014	Presidents' Day (USA)
17-3-2014	St. Patrick's Day
18-4-2014	Good Friday
20-4-2014	Easter
21-4-2014	Easter Monday
25-4-2014	Anzac Day (AU)
26-4-2014	King's Day (NL)
1-5-2014	Labour Day (BE, GE)
5-5-2014	Liberation Day (NL)
5-5-2014	Early May Bank Holiday (UK)
26-5-2014	Memorial Day (USA)
26-5-2014	Spring Bank Holiday (UK)
29-5-2014	Ascension Day
8-6-2014	Pentecost
9-6-2014	Pentecost Monday
9-6-2014	Queen's Birthday (AU)
19-6-2014	Corpus Christi (GE)
1-7-2014	Canada Day (CA)
4-7-2014	Independance day (USA)
11-7-2014	Day of the Flemish Community (BE)
21-7-2014	National Holiday (BE)
15-8-2014	Assumption of Mary (BE, GE)
25-8-2014	Summer Bank Holiday (UK)
1-9-2014	Labor day (USA, CA)
27-9-2014	Day of the French Community (BE)
3-10-2014	German Unity Day (GE)
4-10-2014	Animals' Day (NL)
13-10-2014	Columbus Day (USA)
13-10-2014	Thanksgiving (CA)
31-10-2014	Halloween
31-10-2014	Reformation Day (GE)
1-11-2014	All Saints (BE, GE)
2-11-2014	All Soul's (BE)
6-11-2014	Saint Nicholas (BE)
11-11-2014	Veterans Day (USA)
11-11-2014	Armistice Day 1918 (BE)
15-11-2014	King's Day (BE)
27-11-2014	Thanksgiving Day (USA)
5-12-2014	Sinterklaas (NL)
25-12-2014	Christmas
26-12-2014	Boxing Day
31-12-2014	New Year's Eve

Please leave a comment below if anything is wrong, you want a date or your country added to this list!

Order the Undercover Guinea pigs calendar 2014!

Hi all,

I have ordered a sample of our new 2014 calendar, to see if all lovely pigtures we received are looking great in the calendar.  Thanks to everyone who sent in pigtures!

After seeing the samples and adding the holidays I can start ordering and sending out the calendars.
So if you already know you want a calendar, you can already let me know you want one by filling out the form on the 'Order calendar 2014' tab (at top of this page).
Like previous years there is a wall and a desk calendar, which cost 15 and 12,50 euros respectively, plus additional shipping costs.

Also like last years I am ordering through the Dutch version of vistaprint, which means the month and weekday names are in Dutch and the weeks start on Monday!

I will add the holidays in English, if you want any of your country's holidays added let me know and I will add them.

As usual you can nominate a shelter near the end of this year, and after all orders are sent we will vote for which shelter will get our donation.

I wanted to try ordering early this year as I noticed the prices going up near the end of the year.

Thanks all for pigticipating!
Mieke

Pigtures wanted! Calender 2014

Hey dear guinea pig loving readers,

We had a small poll about whether we should make a new Undercover Guinea Pigs Calendar 2014. The results showed that you are all in favor and want to buy a calendar, contribute a pigture or do both!

This months Calendar Piggies: My Lily, Roos, Daisy and Woopy

So, it's time to send in pigtures again!
It would be nice if the pigtures are of a reasonable resolution, If you only have low res pigtures, you could have more than pigture on a month. That way the pigtures don't have to be that big to look okay, and together they will fill up the page! Plus it gives us as viewers more piggies to watch.
You can do (month) themes, like halloween, christmas or easter, or ,
but cute, funny pictures or just pigtures are fine too! It can be a pigture of just one pig or of a group, it doesn't really matter, so surprise us with your piggies gorgeousness...

Like previous years there are 12 pages to fill, and one to go on the front, which so far has been filled by our beautiful late Agent F, who started the idea for this blog.

Like the other years the calendars will be available in desktop and wall calendar, but if possible I would like to try to ship the calendars before the end of the year, because I noticed the shipping goes up quite a lot towards Christmas...
Any money that is not paying for the calendars itself will be donated to a guinea pig shelter. You can suggest a shelter and then can vote at all the nominated shelters.

If you have a nice pigture let us know, we have an email how to contact us on the  contribute tab (second one below the pigture of Fugly).

Looking forward to your entries!

Mieke