Guinea Pig Agility Training

Agility training as a sport was originally developed for dogs, but has been taken up by owners of rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs, or "cavies". Although guinea pig agility-training enthusiasts lack an official organization, the sport can provide both owners and their guinea pigs with a lot of enjoyment.

  1. Benefits

    • Training to go through agility courses or individual obstacles can provide guinea pigs with physical and mental stimulation. Guinea pigs can become dangerously overweight if left in a cage to eat all day. Training guinea pigs to do even simple tricks also helps strengthen the bond between pet and owner.

    Training Equipment

    • The best way to train guinea pigs is with positive reinforcement, since they are very timid and fragile pets. Animal trainer and author Karen Pryor recommends clicker training, where a click is used to let the animal know when it has done something correctly. A small clicker can be purchased at a pet store or any place that sells dog-training equipment. You'll also need a long stick with a sponge on the end and a bag full of bite-sized pieces of your guinea pig's favorite treat.

    Imprinting

    • The key to clicker training is teaching your pet that a click means it will get a treat. Work with the guinea pig in its cage, where you can limit distractions. Click your clicker, then present a treat, such as a bite-sized piece of Romaine lettuce. Repeat this until your guinea pig looks expectantly at you for a treat after hearing a click. This can take minutes, days or weeks, depending on the guinea pig.

    Tracking

    • After you've taught your guinea pig to respond to the clicker, introduce the stick and sponge to your training. Click and reward the guinea pig for approaching the stick. Move it very slowly away, and click and reward when the guinea pig follows it. Ignore all other behavior. Train with your guinea pig a few minutes per day. Gradually begin to move the stick over an obstacle, such as between a set of weave poles, and reward periodically when the guinea pig follows.

    Obstacles

    • Guinea pigs are much too small to go through agility obstacles made for dogs. Guinea-pig-sized tunnels can be purchased at most pet shops. Some toys constructed for parrots may be large enough for a guinea pig. Using whatever appropriately shaped small objects you have on hand, constructing a hoop or small jump and a line of weave poles can be a simple matter. A small line of wooden toy blocks or even a toy car can be turned into a jump or obstacle for the guinea pig to crawl over.