Can piggies learn commands?

BaoandBoba

BaoandBoba

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I’m curious if anyone has taught their piggies commands. At night I always tell my piggies “hui jia” or “go back in your pen” in English, and they do it every time. I can’t help but wonder if they actually know what I’m saying or just know that at night we go back in our pen.
 
I think I have, although mainly accidentally 😂
Daisy, my nearly 5 year old, comes to me when I tell her "medicine!".
I don't think they understand what you are saying, but probably the way you are saying it, and associate that tone of voice with going inside their cage.
 
My girls soon learned what "What's this?" means. It means a treat. "Dindins" means veggie time. They drop everything and rush to the door or the hutch when I say anything in my piggy voice. Everyone has a piggy voice right?
 
I think they are perfectly capable of learning voice commands.
I actually think certain piggies are extremely intelligent and are capable of a lot more than we give them credit for.
Not voice commands, but I love this video of a guinea pig doing tricks


Please note I like the video because the piggy is free to choose what it does, and is not being forced into unnatural positions or to do things it doesn't want.
 
They can definitely learn things. My piggy Plum Blossom lives in a big heard and is on long term loxicom. When I call her she makes her way over while everyone else takes no notice of me. She may not understand the concept of having a name but she knows if she comes when called she will be rewarded with some tasty medicine. For everyone else calling "Plum Blossom" has no meaning, just some random hooman babble.
If I want everyone to rush over at once I say "whoooose ready for vegetables?" Well, just the "whooo" is enough really 🤣
 
A lot of mine know their names, and "come here" although come here is usually done with a hand gesture and I think its more the gesture they've learned. But it only takes a couple of days for mine to learn to come running if I have tasty medication for them 😅
A couple of them are actually very smart and I wish I had enough time in the day to spend a couple hours teaching them tricks 🤣 Delilah, Cherry and Oliver especially would do well, I think.
 
I sometimes have the feeling that they understand a lot more than we give them credit for. We had some situation when it felt like they understood every word. :whistle: Sometimes it feels they are understanding human much better than I'm understanding guinea pig. But of course that's not just vocal communication.

Guinea pigs learn fast, but extremely specific to situations. It takes quite some time for them to generalize something they've learned.
But give them rituals and they learn really fast. (Of course not every piggy is a little Einstein.)
 
BaoandBoba said:
I’m curious if anyone has taught their piggies commands. At night I always tell my piggies “hui jia” or “go back in your pen” in English, and they do it every time. I can’t help but wonder if they actually know what I’m saying or just know that at night we go back in our pen.
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Yeah piggies can learn commands, some are smarter than others haha. My Guinea pigs know “ Veggie time ‘ Do you want hay ‘ Snacks ‘pea flakes “pellets Also one of my Guinea pigs knows to do tricks like spin and T. rex
 
I’m not sure if mine respond to commands or simply the sound of my voice.
They have a sense of time though - they know when it’s time for afternoon veggies, or even a midday snack.
I think though, that I’m far better trained at obeying their commands than the other way round.

Talking of which - it’s veggie time and I can hear shouting!
 
All my pigs have had excellent body clocks. They know the usual daily routine and get most indignant when it doesn’t happen. They seem to have weekends sussed, but they don’t understand about bank holidays.

My gang can also tell the difference between their human’s cars. They know who’ll give in to pester power and get most offended when we occasionally switch cars for the day.
 
We have never really tried to teach commands, but most of mine have known the meanings of basic words and responded appropriately (my two current pigs get very excited when they hear the word 'treat!') They also generally know the word "No" (they hear it when they start chewing on baseboards.) We did have one pig many years ago, Linney, who would popcorn on command, which was the closest thing they ever came to doing tricks. I always say when I get a new pig that I am going to teach them some cute piggie tricks and then never seem to do it... but next time, for sure! LOL!
 
No commands as such here, but we make a kind of clicking noise when we approach the cage with food - they sure learned what that meant fast! Food is an excellent motivator :)) It is lovely to see them come running at dinner time 😊
 
Mine know 'Piggy tea-time' and the response to that one is definitely different to their response to 'Piggy treats' despite both phrases being closely followed by something yummy!
 
Each of my pigs know their names and will come when called. Mia normally jumps out of the hutch/leaves the cage and will go back in when I tell her. They know 'no' and 'quiet' as well as 'good night' (they settle down for the night). They also know 'beep beep' which is what I say when I want them to move which works most times but there is the odd one stuck like super glue not wanting to move. I also talk to them when doing health checks and nails. I'm sure they pick up on certain cues, like 'next foot' then they'll hand me their next foot or 'other side' and they'll turn around. They're definitely smarter than we give them credit for. I mean they must be, they know how to wrap us around their little fingers.
 
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