Teach Your Guinea Pig to Stand Up on Her Hind Legs

Guinea pigs or cavies can be taught tricks if you are patient. Guinea pigs are not the brightest animals on the planet. But they are curious and always hungry, which can work to your advantage. For this trick, I taught my guinea pigs to sit up on their hind legs with both forelegs off of the ground. Out of all the guinea pigs I ever was owned by, the only one that truly mastered sitting up was Cocaine (pictured.)

One nice advantage of the trick is that we could take photos of Cocaine looking spellbound by any Christmas presents that my parents or my boyfriend's parent sent. The packet of hay cubes that my ex is holding was a Christmas present. I also took pictures of Cocaine sitting up to read Christmas cards, but none of those photos survived.

A Note About Guinea Pig Conformation

Guinea pigs have great difficulty sitting up due to their huge bottoms and tiny legs. Cavies are built for horizontal, not vertical, motion. Very fat guinea pigs, old guinea pigs that may have joint stiffness or guinea pigs with hind leg mobility issues cannot sit up. They may try, but they will flop on their sides, which scares them.

The best candidates for this trick are young guinea pigs (3 years or under) at a healthy weight. Pregnant guinea pigs should not sit up straight as they could fall over.

Get Their Attention

Find out what treat really widens your pet's eyes. This is a treat that they will want to make a special effort for. Cocaine was great in that all vegetables fit this treat definition. Baby carrots or yogurt drops for rodents make great choices and they are easy to hold for a few minutes. Cut or break the treat into small pieces. Only bring out these treats for training sessions.

Spark Their Curiosity

Let the guinea pig sniff the piece of treat, but don't let her take it from your fingers. Slowly lift the treat up so your pet has to stretch her neck to keep her nose and mouth near the yummy treat. Keep lifting until at least one foreleg is raised off of the ground. Praise the piggy softly and give the treat. That's enough for one training session. Keep the training session to only a few minutes per day. Cavies have really short attention spans.

Lift Off!

For the next session, repeat the process until the guinea pig has both forelegs in the air. When the guinea pig does this, give several pieces of treat or a "jackpot." Don't use a loud voice to praise your piggy because this could scare the piggy. Use a soft, gentle, cooing voice.

Guinea pigs cannot hold this position for more than a couple of seconds, so if you are going to take a photo of the trick, take many photos in order to guarantee that at least one will be of the guinea pig sitting up like a rabbit or appreciating a Christmas present.

References

Pet Place. "Training Your Guinea Pig." Talia Starkey. http://www.petplace.com/small-mammals/training-your-guinea-pig/page1.aspx

Author's personal experience