How do i teach my guinea pig how to walk a leash?

Question

he is six months old and i am afraid that it is to late to train him to walk. he has a small cage and i feel bad for him. please help.

Answer 1

To get it used to the idea, put it on a short leash, then hang the leash from the ceiling for a few hours. When you go back to get the guinea pig, he'll be calm and WILL NOT fight you at all with the leash. I guarantee you.

Answer 2

Leashes are actually very bad for guinea pigs they can cause all sorts of spinal injuries not to mention they are very incomfortable for them.

As for your guinea pig being fat, how much does he weight? If he weighs over 1500g then yeah he's fat, anything under 800g and he is underweight, it doesn;t matter how big his belly is or anything, guinea pigs are supposed to rather round. They are designed to have a constant flow of food going through them. My guinea pig looks really fat, but he he onyl weighs 1100g which makes him average.

If your worried about him not getting exercise a better option is to make/buy some sort of pen for him to run around it. Chances are he doesn;t like the way it feels on him, he feels restricted and uncomfortable. Not to mention he will probably chew right through it, I've seen those leashes and to be honest they do look very chewable, I don;t doubt that he could chew through that easily.    

Answer 3

Ditto Susan.  A large cage is cheap and easy to build and will give him a much better life.

http://www.cavycages.com

Floor time in a piggy safe area is also a great idea, even more room for him to run around.  Harnesses can cause damage to his spine and are not recommended, plus I can't imagine a guinea pig actually enjoying one.

Answer 4

You put the harness on him and get him used to that

Once he's ok with it and you putting it on him

Try attaching the lead and walking around the house with it

Following him, and don't pull on him

Make sure you get his injections otherwise he could pick something up from the wild

Then you can take him to a nice field and let him squeak and eat all the dandelions he wants :)

Be careful of walking dogs nearby and pick him up when they want to investigate the noise

And try not to take the weird looks to heart :p

And get him a bigger cage or a run for the garden ;)

Answer 5

I just put mine on a leash one day and she loved it, i didnt have to train her at all, i use a harness instead of a collar which some people do.

When i bought the leash and harness i just got told to be able to fit at least one of my fingers through the gaps around her neck and body.

At first is was SO scared to put it on that tight but once it was on her she didnt mind it.

Now my little one loves going on her leash and comes almost everywhere with me while she is on it.

To be honest i dont think you really have to train them to go on one, just as long as its not too tight but also not too loose but the most important thing is that your guinea pig doesnt mind being on it.

It might also help by putting the collar or harness on and letting him/her run around and get a bit more used to it.

Hope this helped you. ♥

Answer 6

You are better off getting a bigger cage http://www.guineapigcages.com/ or buying a playpen for him so he can exercise. Or just pig proofing a room in the house.

The leashes and harnesses are not good. They can break their backs or choke on them if startled. They don't like being restrained like that either.  

Answer 7

You should never,ever,ever in the history of the world put your guinea pig on a leash it is really bad for their back and stressful for them too please i would strongly advise you not to use a leash as t is basicly reducing their lifetime and they will not like being taken out of their cage/pen by you as they will associate this with leash time they also may bite and scratch your ankles in  the process please do not do this it will cause stress and pain for you and the guinea pig and is a waste of money istrongly reccomend you dont use a leash if you have already boght it sell it on ebay or somewhere !!!!! but i have a good technique get him a tunnel and leave him alone with it he will run through it and wonder why he ends up somewhere else and run through again leave this in for a couple of hours everyday and if he is relluctant to go through it at first chop up a treat and put a bit at one end when he goes through it put a bit at the other end and so on HOPE THIS HELPS! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FAT PIGGIE!!!!!!