Hi! I can answer some stuff!
It is definitely possible to train your guinea pig and any guinea pig! I use clicker training, which is a method backed by science and useful for training any species as it relies on the laws of operant conditioning (learning through consequences). Clicker training has been used to train marine animals, zoo animals, rodents, birds, reptiles, cats, dogs, horses, and basically anything with a nervous system! However, I recommend any positive training method or system for training any animal.
I reward my guinea pigs using very tiny pieces of carrot, lettuces, and other vegetables and herbs which are safe for them to consume. I use the same vegetables for training as I do for their daily vegetables. Training sessions are extremely short and highly rewarding. They are max, 5 minutes. I only do 1-2 training sessions a day, sometimes skipping a day between. You don't need to spend a long time to train guinea pigs. They are really smart and can pick up right where they left off the next day or two days after. I train my guinea pigs primarily in their cage and in a training area that I make by setting up an exercise pen. Once they understand a trick, they don't need the pen any more. The pen is simply to help them be more successful by giving them an environment with either one prop in it, which tells them to interact with that prop, or with nothing in it, which tells them to try to come up with something on their own.
You can start training your guinea pig when they are comfortable with the following things:
1. The environment where they are being trained
2. The food reinforcers you wish to use
3. Your hands
The first thing I work on with my guinea pigs are behaviors to help them have reduced stress with living in the apartments. I clicked them for approaching us (which was the foundation for recalls), for displaying curiosity in new environments, for getting their feet touched, and taught them to touch their noses to my finger and a target stick as well (just a wooden dowel, c
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I use shaping for most of their training, which is clicking the animal for approximations of the final behavior until it's perfected. It's actually really fun for the animal! I'll give an example session for when I taught Toora to hop into her carrier:
I clicked her for approaching the carrier.
Approaching the front half of the carrier.
Approaching only the opening.
Sticking her nose into the opening.
Stepping into the carrier.
Stepping into the carrier and stretching her head deeper inside.
Hopping completely into the carrier.
With a clicker savvy pet, the process literally takes a few minutes.
Outside of the husbandry behaviors, I taught tricks mostly for mental stimulation and to keep their busy minds occupied. They LOVE showing off their tricks to guests and are actually really interactive with our guests, climbing into their laps and offering kisses. They have also started using their tricks to communicate their wants/needs with me. For example, in floortime, they offer running into their carrier when they need to go into their cage to go to the bathroom or if they are done playing outside of their cage.
The reason I really like clicker training is that the animal's actions are completely intentional, which leads them to greater understand what they are doing and what is asked of them.