Tricks and Toys

Question
Hello Kat,
  Do you  know any tricks i can teach my 5 yr-old,female guinea pig?Please tell me i would really like to teach her new tricks! Do you know any toys i can give her?What i am really looking for are some toys i can make at home.Also are there any games i can play with her?

Answer
Hello Alexandra,

There are many tricks you can teach your piggy. I'll give you instructions for one and a link to instructions for another (the method for "pick up the basket" can be used to teach her tons of other tricks as well). The main thing to remember when trick training is piggies will do just about anything for a food treat. Just use your imagination and I'm sure you will come up with many things you can teach her. Pet safe stuffed animals are excellent toys, as are kitty jingle balls. Since you are looking for homemade toy ideas here are some other options: a tiolet paper tube stuffed with hay and the corners folded over, houses made out of cardboared boxes, shapes cut out of cardboard for them to toss around, and if you are good a sewing, pillows and blankets make great toys too, just to name a few.

Hoop Trick:
What you need: a hoop (an embroidery ring works well), veggie treats, a
piggy
What to do:
1. Hold the hoop, standing on end, flat on the ground with piggy on on
the side of the hoop opposite your free hand and a treat in the hand
not holding the hoop.
2. Hold the food treat just in front of the piggy's nose and lead her
through the hoop with it telling her "Through the hoop" or "Jump" or
whatever command phrase or word you choose.
3. Give her the treat.
4. Repeat process a few times.
5. After a few tries, put the piggy on one side of the hoop and show
her the treat then hold the treat on the opposite side of the hoop
without guiding her through and give the command phrase or word.
6. It may take a few tries. If she still doesn't quite understand, guide
her a few more times and then try again.
7. After she is going through the hoop without any guiding, slowly raise
the hoop a teeny bit each time (it should not be raised more than 2
inches total, that's about as high as you can expect from any piggy, for
some piggies no more than 1 inch is better).
8. Congratulations! Show off your well trained piggy to your family and
friends.
NOTE: Remember to always give your piggy his treat when she completes
the trick. Otherwise, she'll decide she doesn't care to bother anymore.
Also make training sessions no more than 10 minutes. If you start to get
too frustrated, stop the session and try again tomorrow. It will usually
take at least a few sessions for the piggy to successfully complete the
trick. Don't get too discouraged. She will learn with patience, love,
and time.

Pick Up The Basket:
http://vickysclickertraining.com/guinea_pig_training.html

-kkat
http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs