I know from reading forums for years that this isn't best practices. I have a sow (Peggy, 2 years old) who lost her cage mate about a month ago and the shelter I work with has a possible match who's in foster care. They would like me to bring Peggy there this Saturday to "meet" her.
Part of me wishes I could trust them fully as they have been helping piggies find homes for many years. I thought about asking if the foster could come stay with me for a few days and try bonding and keep them together permanently if it works....as Ive gathered from experts here
But I feel like I need to respect their methods and will be doing it their way. Before I knew about not separating them again if bonding worked, I had a pair that I had together and then separated (say 30 minutes then apart 24 hours, then an hour and apart another day, and then finally moving in permanently) and they were best friends.
Any thoughts?
Hi
We call 'play dates' at a shelter 'speed dating' at the rescue. It is a quick way to check for personality compatibility for those bondings that fail with the acceptance phase and at that quite effective in this respect- especially with boars where you can often see within half an hour whether they vibe or not. It doesn't work for the cases that fail more narrowly over leadership issues several days in. I have rescue dated and adopted that way several bereaved piggies myself. But I have found some very happy and loving bonds that way - not necessarily with my own favourite but with who my sows chose and who I came to also love very much once I got to know them.
Since I don't usually do boars only pairs, I have found rescue dating a good way of finding a new 'husboar' (neutered boar) for sows of mine; ideally from a rescue that had a batch for my girls to date. We have not always come home with my favourite date (#1) and have occasionally had to go as far as candidate #3 but have come home with best possible partner.
The problem with home dating on spec is control and ownership with can run very quickly into legal quagmire and care issues if people are allowed to take piggies home for a try. A rescue may allow a fosterer of theirs or somebody whose experience they personally trust to do this but it is generally rare.
The vast majority of piggies I have adopted this way were on the understanding that I would find them another solution with other piggies of mine if the intended bonding failed - which I had to do quite a few times; but again, this happened on a basis of the rescues knowing and trusting me for several years and me having a number of groups of various sizes.
Here is a bit more information on it:
Rescues (Adoption and Dating), Shops, Breeders or Online? - What to consider when getting guinea pigs
PS: Guinea pigs don't do play time; each meeting with piggies they are not bonded with is a full-on dating session as far as they are concerned. Bonding by little meetings over several days cuts right across their own species wiring and is extremely frustrating for them if they are not given the chance to work through their own quite precise bonding manual.
The term the shelter uses is not quite ideal but the method works for finding a good personality match quickly as long as the dating supervisor is an experienced bonder - and that kind of personality match will survive a separation if you only start the adoption process after a successful meeting since they have not yet fully bonded. You can abort a promising bonding in the early stages but what is not recommended is a bonding going perfectly well that is interrupted several times unnecessarily.
When speed-dating you can usually spot very early on whether a bond is likely to work or fail (or very much remains in the maybe zone) quite quickly - you learn to pick up on the more subtle body language and exchange of signs. It allows you to home in on those perfect matches that will last a life.
You have to then re-start the full bonding process at home on neutral ground after the adoption but in the knowledge that the bond will very likely succeed. A good personality will thankfully survive meddling by humans who do not understand the natural bonding manual.
I hope that this helps you?
Speed-dated life-long love in 2011: Terfel (front) was rescue dated by my two cataract sows Taffy and Tegyd. Tegyd (on the right) had major fear-aggression issues but was instantly charmed by a delighted young Terfel who adored his blind ladies - later joined by another 'unbondable' widowed rescue sow whose rescue cage was urgently needed for a large neglect emergency intake. They had about an hour together in a pen at the rescue before I brought them home in separate carriers and then fully bonded them here. Terfel followed the last of cataract wives only three weeks later after a quick decline in 2015...
Speed dating is a great way for finding these instant personality matches. It works for both genders as long as you understand that piggies have to always restart the bonding process right from the start with each new meeting unless they can work past the leadership sort-out and into the group establishment phase. Any separation in the earlier bonding stages means that the bond is not fully established. Too much meddling can contribute to a fail because it is a major added stress factor and a huge frustration for the separated piggies who are desperate to get on with the whole process.
Sadly, bonding in small stages has become a favourite method especially in the USA due to human lack of understanding the bonding process.
Speed dated sows: My bereaved Minx met equally bereaved Dizzy (then Daisy) for speed dating at the rescue. They basically snuggled up together and refused to be parted. The bonding process was with minimal dominance; they more were like 'Oh, you keep the teacups in this cupboard? I used to have them in with the plates.'
Here you can see Dizzy on the right snuggling with Minx while she does a social piggy wash to signal friendship.
I bite my tongue...at least it's Oxbow. 
But now it seems like Peggy is settling down and they've gone near each other without Mandy running away or Peggy chasing her. I even saw Peggy lay down much closer to where Mandy was laying. Still chattering away though, but she is eating well 
