Wouldn’t it be so cute if you could teach a guinea pig to shake/give a paw? Well, you can! You can actually teach a guinea pig to do the trick ‘shake.’
Here are the six steps to teach a guinea pig to shake:
- Clicker train your piggy
- Pick a training method
- Find a suitable area for training
- Grab the materials and treats needed
- Use the method you choose to get the piggy to put its paw on your hand
- Reward your guinea pig after a job well done!
Let’s talk about each step in more detail.
Clicker Training
In order to reward guinea pigs after doing a trick, you will have to clicker train them. Clicker training is teaching your guinea pig that whenever they hear the clicker, they have done something well, and they are going to get a treat.
A clicker usually is a small box that makes a loud, ‘click’ sound when you push one side of it, but because guinea pigs have small, sensitive ears, this kind of clicker is too loud. A better alternative is a clicky pen.
Some piggies are scared of (or just don’t like) the sound of a clicky pen; if this is the case with your guinea pig, you can use a verbal marker, which is a sound or a one-syllable word, instead of a clicker.
To clicker train your pet, get a clicker (if you use one) and some treats that your piggy likes. Click the clicker, then immediately give the guinea pig a treat. Repeat this several times until the piggy expects a treat when he (or she) hears the clicker.
Now, wait until your guinea pig loses interest in the clicker before clicking. Repeat this several times. Once you’re sure that your guinea pig knows that ‘click = treat’, your piggy is clicker trained!
Training Methods
Luring
Luring is training your guinea pig to do tricks by using a lure, which is a treat that your piggy likes, to guide them into position. This method can be used with a variety of different tricks and is also great to use if your guinea pig has a very short attention span, because guinea pigs are greatly motivated by food!
Just be sure you use treats that your guinea pigs like and once your guinea pig knows the trick well enough, make sure you fade the lure.
To fade the lure, start by moving the lure faster when you practice the trick so the guinea pig relies less on the lure over time, then, when the piggy is ready, take the lure away completely.
After you take away the lure, only use it as a little help if the guinea pig gets stuck.
Targeting
Targeting is a very similar training method to luring. However, with targeting you don’t use a treat to guide the guinea pig in place, you 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. In this trick your guinea pig will have to touch the target with its paw. Also, if you teach this trick with targeting, your hand (nothing else, only your hand) will have to be the target in order to teach the piggy to put its paw on your hand.
Unlike a lure, a target doesn’t have to be faded.
Shaping
Shaping is teaching guinea pigs tricks step-by-step. There are two ways to shape; the first way is shaping with luring and the other way is free shaping. Let’s talk about free shaping first.
Free shaping is waiting for the guinea pig to do each step without help, then rewarding it after each step.
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; then waiting until it jumps all the way on top of the platform before rewarding.
Now let’s talk about shaping with luring.
Shaping with luring is guiding a guinea pig to each step with a lure then rewarding it after each step.
Example of shaping with luring: Teaching a guinea pig to turn around in a circle by luring it a quarter of the way around, then giving it a bite of the lure, then repeating this until it has gone all the way around.
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. This area should be calm, quiet and free of distractions. In addition to this, 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 pigs’ cage is in.
You will need a clicker (if you use one) and treats that your piggy likes.
This trick can be taught with shaping (free or with luring), luring or targeting.
Tips for Training
Here are a few tips that can help with teaching this trick:
- Always give your piggy the same hand to put their paw on when you do this trick.
- Always have your piggy put the same paw on your hand.
- Only train for about 5-15 minutes a day, depending on your pet’s attention span
- Be patient with your pet during training
In other words, always give the same hand to your piggy when doing this trick and teach the piggy to always use the same paw.
Before you start to teach your guinea pig this trick, choose which hand you will use and which paw you will teach your guinea pig to use.
Also remember to keep training sessions short and to be patient during training.
Let’s learn how to teach this trick with different training methods.
How to Teach Guinea Pigs to Shake with Free Shaping
Put your hand that you chose for the trick on the floor right in front of your piggy. Now, wait until it puts both paws on your hand, then reward it by clicking (or saying the verbal marker) then giving it a treat.
Repeat this a few times. Now wait until it puts the correct paw (this means the paw that you chose earlier) on your hand before rewarding it.
If your piggy puts both paws on your hand, gently tilt your hand to the side so that the paw that is not the paw you chose earlier falls off. If your guinea pig puts one paw on your hand, but it’s the wrong paw, gently push your piggy off of your hand (do not reward it) and try again.
Once your guinea pig knows which paw its supposed to use, repeat this trick several times until your piggy is putting its paw on your hand with more confidence.
Once your piggy is showing more confidence as it does the trick, teach it to keep its paw on your hand for a longer period of time. The easiest way to do this is to keep feeding it pieces of food before it has a chance to leave.
Repeat this several times. Slowly make your piggy rely less and less on food to have it stay on your hand for a while.
To do this, once it’s on your hand, move the food around (but don’t lure your guinea pig off your hand) so that your piggy stays on it for a while but isn’t relying as much on food to stay on your hand then it was before. But when you are doing this, don’t keep your guinea pig from getting the treat for so long that it loses interest and gets off of your hand.
Next fade this ‘lure’.
Once your guinea pig puts its paw on your hand and keeps it there for a while without using food to make it stay, reward it with a cue.
How to Teach Your Guinea Pig to Shake using Shaping with Luring
Shaping with luring is very similar to free shaping, the only real difference between them is that shaping with luring uses a lure.
To teach your piggy to shake using shaping with luring, is to do what I mentioned above under the heading, How to teach guinea pigs to shake with free shaping, but make these few changes:
- Lure your guinea pig so that it puts both paws on your hand, instead of waiting for it to do it on its own.
- Lure your guinea pig so that it puts only one paw on your hand, instead of just waiting for it to do so.
- Once your guinea pig has learned the trick, start fading the lure.
How to Teach Your Piggy to Shake with Luring
Put your hand that you chose earlier on the ground in front of your guinea pig.
Now, lure it onto your hand then click and give a treat; if it puts both paws on your hand, gently tilt it to the side so that the paw you didn’t choose for the trick falls off, and if your piggy puts one paw on your hand, but its the wrong one (the one you didn’t choose earlier) gently push the piggy off of your hand–don’t reward it–and try again.
Once the piggy puts the correct paw onto your hand, practice the trick several times until your pet shows more confidence.
Once your pet shows more confidence when doing this trick, teach it to keep its paw on your hand for a longer period of time. To teach this, start by giving your guinea pig extra treats before it has time to get off of your hand.
Practice doing this trick and having your pet keep its paw on your hand for a longer time.
Now, start having your piggy rely less on food to stay on your hand longer. To do this, once it gets on your hand, give it a treat, then keep your hand in the same position, so your guinea pig sniffs it for a little bit before getting off.
Now, fade the lure you used to get the guinea pig on your hand.
Once your piggy puts its paw on your hand and keeps it there for a while without using a lure (unless it’s really stuck) reward it with a cue word.
How to Teach Your Piggy to Shake with Targeting
To teach your guinea pig to shake with targeting, you will have to teach it that your hand is a target which they have to put their paw on.
First, choose which hand will be your target hand (the hand you will teach your guinea pig to put its paw on). Now wait for it to put a paw on your hand then give it a treat. To teach it to put a certain paw on your hand, just move your hand so that it’s right in front of the paw you want your piggy to put on your hand.
Practice this several times, then start moving the lure faster.
Now, teach your guinea pig to keep its paw on the target (your hand) for a little while by giving it a few more pieces of food before it has a chance to leave. After having your piggy keep its paw on the target for a bit longer a few more times, move the extra treats around to make your pet rely less on it to stay. Repeat this several times.
Now slowly take away the lure and extra treats.
Once your guinea pig does this trick without any help from treats, it has learned it and now you can show it off!
Rewarding Your Piggy with a Cue
Once your guinea pig has learned to shake, you should reward it with a cue word. A cue word 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 teach your guinea pig to shake with targeting, you will not use a cue, instead, you will just put your hand on the ground in front of it to tell it when to shake.)
To reward your pet with a cue once your guinea pig has learned to shake, reward it by saying the cue word, click and then give it a treat.
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 it, then reward them by clicking and giving a treat.
Once Your Piggy Can Shake…
- Practice this trick often
- Show your friends
- Raise your hand a little (about 1.5 inches–approximately 4 cm–is a good height) above the ground to make it a little harder for your guinea pig
I hope this has been helpful!
