Guinea Pigs Don't Bounce
Guinea Pig's Don't Bounce relates the memorable first year (2003-04) in the
development of pet care company Animals at Home. A nationwide success story
today, with nearly 60 area franchises, AAH's beginnings were very much a leap into
the unknown by husband and wife team, Denis and Shelley Chirgwin, who had left
behind the financial security and certainties of life in the Surrey suburbs to move to
the Isle of Wight and launch a business venture - looking after animals in their own
home while the owners were away - which was far removed from their previous
experience
Denis's diary entries during that first year form the basis for this account of the
fledgling business. The couple's encounters with the extraordinarily diverse
assortment of animals - and owners - were full of interest, incident and eye-opening
insights into family life. The stories are candid, laced with humour - animals do the
funniest things but so, sometimes, do the people looking after them! - and not without
pathos. Time and again, the importance of pets to the lives of those who own them is
underlined.
The diary extracts are augmented by reflective passages as the author looks back on
subsequent related events and developments, while the text is colourfully illustrated
throughout by a selection of cartoon images depicting some of the most memorable
incidents.
