Do you want to teach your guinea pig to do tricks and start out with something simple? Does your guinea pig like to do obstacle courses? Did you just stumble upon this article, and are now interested in it?
If you said yes to any of these questions, you should try teaching your guinea pig to circle around an object.
Here are the 6 steps to teach this trick to your piggy:
- Clicker train the piggy
- Choose a training method
- Find a appropriate place for training
- Get the supplies needed
- Use the method you chose to train your piggy
- Reward your guinea pig after a job well done!
Let’s talk about each step with more detail.
Clicker Training
To reward your guinea pig well after it does a trick, it’s a good idea to clicker train it. Clicker training teaches your guinea pig that if they hear the clicker they will get a treat. The clicker also helps the piggy understand what they did to deserve the reward (a.k.a. the treat).
Clickers made for training dogs and other large animals most likely will be too loud for your guinea pigs sensitive ears. Often, a clicky pen is a better alternative for a guinea pig clicker.
Also, some guinea pigs are scared of (or don’t like) the sound of the clicker; in this case, instead of using a clicker, you should use a verbal marker, which is a sound or a one-syllable word.
To clicker train your piggy; first grab the clicker, treats and your guinea pig, and go to the training area. Click the clicker then give a treat.
Repeat this several times until your guinea pig expects a treat when you click.
Now, wait until your piggy has lost interest in the clicker before clicking and giving it a treat.
Repeat this several times.
Once you are sure that your guinea pig knows that ‘click = treat’ your piggy is clicker trained!
Training Methods
Luring
Luring is probably the most common training method. It is also very good to use for guinea pigs with short attention spans.
Luring is a training method that teaches guinea pigs tricks by guiding them into place with a treat (a.k.a. a lure). Luring is a great way to teach guinea pigs tricks, but you will have to ‘fade’ the lure once your guinea pig has learned the trick, so that you won’t have to lure them when they’re showing off a trick.
To fade a lure, start by moving it quickly; this helps your guinea pig to rely less on the lure than it was before.
After your guinea pig seems confident in whatever trick you’re teaching it, take the lure away completely; only bringing it back as help when your piggy is stuck and doesn’t know what to do next.
Targeting
Targeting is a training method, which is very similar to luring. However, instead of using a treat to guide the guinea pig in place, you will use a target that the guinea pig has been trained to follow.
Depending on the trick, the target is either something the guinea pig has to touch with its nose or with its paw. For this trick your guinea pig will have to touch the target with its nose.
Also, unlike a lure, a target doesn’t have to be faded.
How to Make a Target Stick
You will need:
- A pencil
- A sponge-like ball
- A wooden dowel
- Glue
How to make a target stick step-step:
- Use a pencil to poke a hole in the ball where you would like the dowel to be
- Twist the dowel into the hole
- Take out the dowel then put some glue (hot glue works too) into the hole
- Put the dowel back in
- Once the glue drys start using it!
How to Teach Your Piggy to Follow a Target
Hold the target in front of the piggy. Reward the piggy by giving it a treat whenever it touches/sniffs the target stick. Repeat this a few times before moving on.
Now hold the target a bit farther away. Reward the piggy with a treat when it touches the target stick. Repeat several times.
Teach your piggy to follow the target by having it touch it more than once before rewarding.
Practice leading your guinea pig around with the target stick! Make sure to still reward it with a treat every once in a while.
Shaping
There are two different kinds of shaping: Shaping with luring and Free shaping.
Let’s learn about Shaping with luring first!
Shaping with luring is guiding a guinea pig to each step with a lure then rewarding it with the treat (the lure) after each step.
Here is an example of shaping with luring: Teaching your guinea pig to turn around in a circle by luring it a quarter of the way around. Then repeat this until it has gone all the way around.
Now let’s learn about Free shaping!
Free shaping is waiting for the guinea pig to do each step without help, then rewarding it after each step.
Here is an example of free shaping: Teaching a guinea pig to jump onto a platform by waiting until it puts its front feet on it first, then rewarding with a treat; then waiting until it jumps all the way on top of the platform before rewarding.
Getting Ready for Training
Before you teach a guinea pig any sort of trick, it should be able to follow a lure or target and be tame enough to take bite-sized pieces of food out of your hand.
You will also need a suitable place for training. The training area should be familiar to your guinea pig; E.g. It could be the room your piggy has floor-time in or the room your guinea pig’s cage is in. This area should also be calm, quiet and free of distractions.
For training you will need a clicker (unless you use a verbal marker for training) and treats that your piggy likes. You will also need an object, such as a plastic cup, for the piggy to walk around.
This trick can be taught with shaping (free or with luring), luring or targeting.
Let’s learn how to teach your guinea pig to circle around an object!
Teaching Your Piggy to Circle around an Object with Luring
Place the object that you will train your piggy to circle around (a plastic cup works well) on the ground.
Lure your piggy all the way around the object. Every time the piggy gets all the way around it, reward it by giving a treat. Practice this several times.
After your guinea pig is pretty comfortable with the trick, start fading the lure by moving it faster, then taking it away completely. After taking it away, do not use it unless your piggy forgets what to do next.
Now reward the piggy with a cue. Keep reading for more about cues.
Gradually have your guinea pig walk farther to get to the object.
Teaching Your Piggy to Circle around an Object with Targeting
Your piggy will need to know how to follow a target first (under the heading of ‘How to Teach Your Piggy to Follow a Target’ in this article).
Put the object your guinea pig will learn to circle around (a plastic cup is a good option) on the floor.
Now, use the target to get your piggy to go halfway around the object, then give it a treat to reward it. Repeat this a couple of times before moving on.
Now, try getting your guinea pig to go all the way around the object before rewarding it with a treat. Practice this several times and if needed, go back to the previous step.
Gradually have your piggy walk farther to get to the obstacle.
Teaching Your Piggy to Circle around an Object using Shaping with Luring
Set the object your piggy will learn to walk around on the ground.
Now lure your piggy around the object and click and reward it with a treat every time it goes halfway around it. Repeat this several times.
Now try luring your piggy all the way around the object before clicking and giving it a treat to reward it. Practice this several times, and if needed go back to the previous step.
Start fading the lure by moving it faster, then taking it away completely. After taking it away, do not use it unless your piggy forgets what to do next.
Reward the piggy with a cue. More on cues later.
Gradually have your guinea pig walk farther to get to the object.
Teaching Your Piggy to Circle around an Object with Free Shaping
Place the object you will use on the floor. Now wait for your guinea pig to go a quarter of the way around it. Click and give your piggy a treat once it does. Repeat this step a couple times.
After practicing the previous step several times, try waiting for your piggy to go halfway around it before clicking and rewarding it with a treat. Practice this several times. If necessary, go back to the previous step.
Now, wait until your piggy goes all the way around the object before rewarding it. (Once your guinea pig goes all the way around it, reward it with a cue).
Rewarding with a Cue
Once your guinea pig has learned to circle around an object, you should reward it with a cue. A cue is a one to two syllable word that you will introduce after your piggy has learned the trick.
A cue tells your piggy when it is time to do the trick. (If you taught this trick with targeting, you will not use a cue, instead, to tell your piggy to do the trick you will just pick up the target and guide your pet).
To reward your piggy with a cue, say the cue word you picked, click and then give it a treat (I have written earlier when to introduce the cue).
At first, your piggy will not know that the cue means they have to do the trick, but once they do, say the cue to tell them when to do the trick, then reward them by clicking and giving a treat.
Once Your Piggy Knows the Trick…
- Teach it to circle around the cup (or whatever object you used) twice
- Use this trick in an obstacle course for your guinea pigs
I hope that you and your piggy have fun learning this trick together!
