Training update

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates - there have been a lot of problems with the main Cavybeat website that have yet to be sorted out. Meanwhile, the guinea pigs are still doing well with their training. Odd Sock is definitely getting the idea that lap=food and they all come out immediately to beg at the front of the cage even before I've started called them.

Creepy experience with piggies...

I was doing the beg triaining again, and the piggies were being whimsical and very enthusiastic, reaching their little noses right to the top of the cage. They were in their typical areas: Allopoka poking her nose round the water bottles, Mushroom in the middle, and Odd Sock under the hay rack, emerging to grab bits of food that she'd drag off to eat.

Suddenly, someone else came out onto the verandah. The guinea pigs froze and raced into their pipes and bedrooms. I got the other person to go and called the piggies in an encouraging voice for about five minutes, to no avail. Mushroom emerged from the bedroom once, but dashed back in when she saw me watching her. Odd Sock poked her nose slightly out of the pipe, but even my dropping food onto the floor couldn't coax her into the open.

Since with my old piggies, the sign for "food coming" was a whistle, I decided to whistle. I picked up a kind of toneless chord-sound, like one of those bird-whistle things you pick up at markets.

Then the spookiest thing happened... Allopoka burst out of the bedroom and raced straight through the pipe. Mushroom followed. They scuttled around the cage for a while, like they were exploring a new setup for the first time.The piggies started to take food again, sans Odd Sock, who was now hiding in the bedroom. They started on the bits I'd put on the floor of the cage, then moved on to accepting it from my hands. I kept whistling, they kept eating.

But something was different. There was a tension in the air. Instead of just Odd Sock's half-hearted retreats behind the hay rack, each piggie took their food back into the shadows to eat, afraid to linger in the open. They were slower to beg and quicker to startle.

After a few minutes of this, I was in front of the cage, with the pipe on the other side, and Allopoka half-hidden behind the hay rack, Odd Sock and Mushroom having returned to the bedroom. I was running out of ideas for my tuneless tune, so I whistled a sound that I thought would be a pathetic imitation of a cavy chirp.

Apparently... not so. Allopoka freaked. She was so desperate to get into the pipe that she first smashed against the side, like she couldn't get away fast enough. I decided to disappear for a while, so I put the rest of the veggies, on a plate in their cage, and left. At this stage, all three piggies were hidden and silent. They didn't look like coming out any time this century, even for a pile of lettuce.

But about half an hour later, I decided to go back to collect the plate. I expected they'd still be hiding. To my surprise, an outbreak of wheeking greeted my approach as the verandah light popped on. The veggies were gone and the piggies were back to normal.

Odd little incident. Could this behaviour somehow be related to chirping? I'm thinking of creating a new section on the Cavybeat site specifically for unexplainable incidents such as these. People could send in accounts of strange behaviour, chirping surronded by odd circumstances etc. Maybe even possible explanations for these things. I'd guess this would go under "Wheeks and Squeaks", but may possibly have its own section (perhaps I'd also move Cavy Instincts into this and have a sort of Guinea Pig Behaviours section).

Do you think this section should be made? Should it be its own section, in an existing section or part of a new section? Any names ideas? Or have you had a similar strange cavy experience? Comment!!

Odd Sock shows more signs of progress!

The other day (apologies for the post delay) I was playing with/training the guinea pigs and feeding them treats at floor time. Odd Sock suddenly hopped up onto my lap, so I gave her a carrot, and she proceeded to repeat this over and over. I was training them on a tiled floor - usually it's a towel - so it's possible she felt more comfy off the slippery tiles. However, in later sessions on a more grippy floor, Odd Sock repeated the exercise, and Allopoka followed her. We seem to be seeing some progress with "Come" training! On the other hand, check out the Cavybeat Youtube Account, where I will be posting some videos of the piggies playing, eating and making some noise at their latest floor time.

Begging for Food - Training Instructions

I have now taught the "beg" trick to six guinea pigs over the course of my decade having them as pets. The current Cavybeat piggies have just been introduced to the trick.

Aim of the trick: At a given command, in our case "Piggies!", guinea pigs will rush to the front of the cage for food. Treats such as small pieces of tomato are given through the front of the cage. In some cases, guinea pigs might put their front legs against the cage to reach higher, or wheek for food.

What to do:
Optional preliminary step: before you commence this training, you can get your guinea pigs associating the training word ("Piggies!" in this case) with food, by calling it before you feed them their vegetables.
1. Approach the cage with treats, calling "Piggies!" (or your chosen word) in an encouraging voice. If the guinea pigs are familiar with you, this may be enough to get them excited and started wheeking.
2. Sit/stand next to the cage in the place where you will be putting the food. If your cage is big, use the same place each time. The guinea pigs might be confused about why you're just standing there, and may go into their hideys at this stage.
3. Get a small piece of lettuce - a long, dangly piece is more attractive to guinea pigs than a little flake, and hold it through the cage bars. Keep calling "Piggies!" in an encouraging tone (not too shrieky or loud) and wait.
4. It may take a while for the guinea pigs to come out. Once they grab the piece of food, let go of it so they can eat it. Don't worry if they drag the food away to each it somewhere else - this type of training is better done with quickly-consumed foods such as lettuce, so they move back for more.
5. As soon as a guinea pig reaches the edge of the cage, give them a piece of food immediately. At this stage, it's quite important that they get it quickly. Once they realise running to the front of the cage results in lettuce, there is no problem with a small delay.
6. Enthusiastic guinea pigs might hop up onto the edge of the cage with their front legs. In my experience, guinea pigs that are enthusiastic will do this spontaneously, and if the guinea pig isn't, they cannot be trained to.
7. Repeat frequently so the guinea pigs get used to this idea. Generally, the "beg" trick is the quickest and easiest to train - mine got the idea in two days.

Her Obstreperousity Makes Progress

Her Obstreperousity*, Odd Sock has shown some interesting progress in her latest training session. Although she still doesn't appear to get that coming to human when called = food, she has discovered that hopping onto my lap will generate another treat. Okay, it's not technically what she's being trained to do. It's just too cute not to reward.

*Obstreperousness? Obstreperousified?

First Training Sessions

Training has commenced. The first command the guinea pigs are learning is "come", an exercise with a sitting person where they clamber up into the lap, for a piece of lettuce. Ultimately the treat will be administered only once they are on the lap, but at this stage the lettuce is visible at all times as an incentive. I will analyse it Pig by Pig:

Allopoka was the first to attempt this trick, and completely hopped up only once with treat clearly visible. Her ambiguous nature was very obvious and she stopped several times to pursue unheard noises and stare into the middle distance through the piece of lettuce dangling in front of her nose.

That Obstreperous Abysinnian, Odd Sock, was next in line. She was far more willing and responded well, hopping up onto my feet for her treat.

Mushroom was the final pig. In training as in age, she was between the others. Willing to pursue the lettuce but also distracted and easily bored. Is her boredom a sign of unintelligence or is she hiding deep intellect behind those blue eyes?

Meet the Contestants

We've all seen the videos. "Trained Guinea pig/rabbit/hamster!" "My rat Fred does a trick." "U can train mice 2 do tricks!!!!!"

This blog is an outpost of the Cavybeat site, where I will be testing this theory by attempting to teach my three female guinea pigs a variety of simple, safe tricks with food incentives.

Without further ado, let's meet our three "contestants" for the title of Officially Trained Guinea Pig.

The Obstreperous Odd Sock
Alternative identities: Sock, Sockie, Ruffles (due to her coat; see photo)
Age: Approximately three years old
Breed: Part-Abysinnian
Appearance: White, ginger-brown and black. Thin white facial stripe. Rough coat with two rosettes on sides of rump.
Special talents: Evading capture in the cage.
Phobias: Yet to display any.
Medical notes: Has had bumblefoot in the past.
Other notes: Abysinnians are rumoured to be a smart breed. Will the Obstreperous Odd Sock live up to this reputation?

The Metamorphosing Mushroom
Alternative identities: Mushy, Badger (see photo)
Age: Approximately three years old
Breed: Apparently part-Sheltie or Peruvian. May be a silky?
Appearance: longish hair toward rump. Smooth, silky dark-grey-and-white coat. White facial blaze that varies in shape depending on the direction her long hair is combed.
Special talents: Escaping, squishing into narrow or flat gaps, destroying fences and boundaries
Phobias: Having her face touched.
Medical notes: Has had URI, bumblefoot, mites in past.
Other notes: Mushroom can be quite crazy at times but will settle down for a cuddle. She is a talented escaper but is this a result of her flexible, metamorphosing body or some hidden genius?

The Ambiguous Allopoka
Alternative identities: Ally, Poksie
Age: Approximately two years old
Breed: Short-hair
Appearance: Short, white coat with speckled brown spots on rump and face, light ginger patches on face, black-and-pink ears. White blaze on face.
Special talents: People-friendly, gentle, nursing nature. Squealing at the vets'. ?Chirping?
Phobias: Hates having her teeth examined (see Special talents). Frightened of wind.
Medical notes: Previous unspecified weight loss/listlessness, possibly UTI, cleared with Baytril.
Other notes: Random outbreaks of midnight chirping have been blamed on the Ambiguous Allopoka.