Wheekly Guinea Pig Help...Training Your Guinea Pig

Hello humans and guinea pigs out there who are in the Olympic spirit! If we had posted this post a few years ago, Olympia (hence the name) would be the one talking about training your guinea pig, since she used to be the fastest guinea pig on the island. Now, I, Sandy, am proclaiming myself the fastest guinea pig. Yes, guinea pigs are able to be trained.

http://www.guineapigagility.com/

As you can see, this talented guinea pig has been trained to jump over a PVC pipe hurdle. Another thing you should keep in mind is older guinea pigs don't tend to be as agile as younger guinea pigs. Often, young piggies will be caught jumping onto a igloo hideaway ("pigloo") or jumping and balancing on a cylinder tube, as Celery used to do.
Some tips for training a guinea pig include:
1. Be patient! Sometimes your guinea pig won't want to cooperate, but that's okay. Just give him/her a day off.
2. The fastest way to a guinea pig's heart is through its belly. Guinea pigs love food and treats. Just make sure the treats are healthy, and don't give guinea pigs yogurt drops (guinea pigs are lactose-intolerant).
3. Keep the training sessions 5-15 minutes long. Guinea pigs don't have the longest attention span, and they'll get bored after a while.
4. Work in stages. What that means, is don't start with a hurdle such as the one shown above. Maybe start with a hurdle that a guinea pig can easily step over, just so that they know that they have to go over the obstacle, not around.
5. Have fun! I know this is at the end of lots of lists, but if you don't have fun, your guinea pig won't. If you are frustrated, give your piggie a treat and say "good job", but don't take your anger out on your guinea pig.

texample.net

One more thing: DON'T get your guinea pig an exercise wheel. If you would like to know why, visit one of our last posts to find out. Until then, have fun training your guinea pig to be in the Olympigs!