How clever are piggies?

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Briony_S

Briony_S

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I was just wondering this because if I tell my two off for chewing the divider etc.. I say something like "george no" and he looks at me and carries on. On average I say this 2/3 times in a row then he will look at me and walk off to do something else.

Is this normal or do I have a clever piggie? Tiger seems to do it to but not to the extent that george does.

Would they understand what naughty is? Is there anyway of letting them know not to do something again?

This however does not work when they are rumbling they just ignore me :(
 
People say that guinea pigs aren't exactly the most intelligent of animals, but my eldest two definitely seem to get what I'm talking about by the sound of my voice!
Like, if they've been chewing on their hutch and I say 'Flip sake, Fry' and am generally quite frustrated, he immediately runs into his house, whereas if I sit and compliment him (you know, baby talk ")( he'll wander up to the bars and look for treats or a cuddle!
 
I have always felt that mine understand the tone of my voice. When Rolfy and Harris have a rumble at each other, I tell them quite firmly to "pack it in you to" and they do, if I speak it normally they just carry on! So it's maybe my tone of voice rather than what I say that startles them a bit and makes them stop. x
 
i think ther intellegent. My Lincoln fasinates me. When i come back from shoppin and am putting the stuff away my oh tries to help. i get annoyed with him and tell him to go away and Lincoln looks at his dad and starts telling him off lol. when my oh has ago back at me Lincoln rumbles at him. tee hee stickin up for his mom. My oh has no chance :)
 
Mine know my voice and can feel my presence.

For instance Logan is a rumbler he is constantly at it with Jasper, but if I stand up and he sees me then he stops, he knows its wrong! Jasper don't care he is huge and popcorns off!

Twinkle loves me and if he heres me he is wheeking and at the bars wanting a treat.

Eccles constantly stares at me and Pudsey will not harass him when I am around

Sunshine is always mounting poor Radley who just lets him! but by the tone of my voice he knows he shouldn't do it and gets off him when I tell him too.

The girls don't do much so can't compare their intelligence but the boys are always up to mischief I just love boars they are daft! :)
 
I've found that piggies quickly learn voice recognition. Last weekend my parents looked after them, and from them being very nervous with them to start with, they soon learned what voices to associate with food! :))

One of my 3 girls is the most intelligent piggy I've ever owned - she is scarily clever! She knows her name, is the first to learn any new routine etc, and always gets the better of the other 2 etc.
 
my piggies know the sound of our garden gate and shout and wheek at everyone who comes through the gate. Pretty clever i think.
 
Mine all know their names but Misty is crazy. Just have to say where's the girls? or girl and he starts squeaking like crazy, up on his back legs sniffing. Higher pitched you say it the worse he is :)) When it comes to food there definatly not stupid. Slightest rustle and they won't shut up until they get something.
 
My two piggies recognise the sound of the fridge door being opened and closed and the sound of the salad compartment. They both start to squeek as much as to say, don't forget me. Archie my boar who is really free range when we are around, gets back into his cage on command, get him a slice of cucumber from the fridge and say "get in Archie" and he is back in in a flash. Or sometimes if you say to him "come and see" he will follow you through to the hall next to the kitchen and wait for a treat. I have had two boars now that do this, I think they are clever little animals.
 
that really is clever! mine do the squeeking at the rustling bags and fridge door and also at me coming downstairs in the morning as always do their veg straight away.
 
Mine all know there names and my voice.
As soon as the key goes in the back door the wheeks start and the anticipation on their faces is priceless, waiting to see what veggies mum has brought them...

How can people not love piggies?
 
Mine all react to my footsteps & voice & know their names. Today i was watching Toddie who was sitting under his stool, i said "Toddie are you sad? (he looked straight at me) Are you munching under there? Why don't you go join Maddie?" & he did, this may be complete coincidence but i like to think he was listening to me :))
 
I've found that my piggies react more to the tone of my voice than words. I've got several phrases with a distinctive "melody" for "walkie" (going into the walkie box), "may I have a cuddle with you?" (picking them up), "come on" (follow me/come to me), "tsk, tsk, tsk" for food etc...

They certainly know each other's names. If one is not so keen to come into the walkie box, it works quite often when I say "(companion's name) walkie grass. (Piggy's name) walkie grass?" - and in it goes!

They also like being praised for what they are learning/doing right. At least up to the point when eventually they figure out that I'm trying to make them do something they're not too keen on...

Guinea pigs also have good memories. First time they heard me putting the run up in the spring after several months, they immediately came bounding out of the flower border and couldn't get in fast enough! Once I nearly caused a builder to fall from a neighbour's roof when I called the piggies back out of the border into the run with "cucumber, cucumber, come on, come on" - and they promptly did, God bless their greedy guts! He'd thought I been strying to set him up!

When Mischief came down with cataracts on both eyes, she learned to follow my voice while I kept telling her "good girl" or "uh,uh,uh" for being on course or not. That way, she could cover a distance of up to 5 yards!

The more you put in, the more you get back! If at the risk of some pretty strange stares from neighbours...
 
Yep, they are pretty clever! Mine know the words "hungry", "breakfast", "no" "leave him alone" (which they always ignore!) and, of course "cucumber". Plus, if I whistle a certain way they know that it usually means cucumber time! Even the babies who have only been with me just over 3 weeks are beginning to understand the whistling! -c

Mind you, I am always talking to them or the dog or me, so it's no surprise that they learnt words & when to avoid me, especially when they are in trouble! :x

Who cares?! I love them all & wouldn't want to ever be without them! x)xx>>>
 
Briony_Y said:
I was just wondering this because if I tell my two off for chewing the divider etc.. I say something like "george no" and he looks at me and carries on. On average I say this 2/3 times in a row then he will look at me and walk off to do something else.

Is this normal or do I have a clever piggie? Tiger seems to do it to but not to the extent that george does.

Would they understand what naughty is? Is there anyway of letting them know not to do something again?

This however does not work when they are rumbling they just ignore me :(
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When i first saw the title i thought too b***** clever for their own good lol.

I think its the tone of your voice that let's them know when you mean business.
Chestnut doesn't listen to me he is a little monster lol
 
Yes, the one thing they are REALLY resistant to is any version of "No!" or "Don't do that!"

However they know perfectly well what they shouldn't do. Have you come across the look over shoulder - back end firmly faced at you - attack on the carpet fringes (or whatever) as well?
 
I didn't think mine particularly recognised me or cared whether it was me or someone else feeding them, but I had someone helping me feed the veg recently and all the pigges went into retreat - they wouldn't come forward or wheek like they normally do when it's just me - stranger danger!

Sophie
x
 
yes they do know what no is but ignore it sometimes I think :)) I say no to them from the couch if I hear a rumble and get nothing. As soon as I stand up and say it (without moving from the spot) they stop as they can see me so they know I am going to come across and tell them off in a minute if they don't :))
 
i have one of both,one is very very smart! actually smarter than my mums dog lol and the other is a bit daft!

Biscuit, whom i call often call pig (*** ask me why it jst stuck b4 we called her biscuit) and she definatly knows that means her, even if I'm talkin about her to my mum on the phone the minute i mention her name she starts squeeking! she also knows what 'bedtime' means when i say it she will run upstairs and get in her bed and also when my boyfriend gets out of bed in the mornin he is able to eat and move around the room and they wont even get up, the second i get out of bed, b4 iv even stood up she is whistlin for her breccie and she definatly know when she is being naughty!

my other piggie treacle makes me laugh, she has ran off my bed on quite a few occasions by accident (she dosnt hurt herself) she gets tangled in her blankets and cant get out, bless her though she is never naughty so innocent!
 
My guinea pigs have also figured out when I'm the one getting out of bed and the floorboards are creaking upstairs, according to my husband. they won't get up for him!

And they certainly do remember voices. At the vets, Minx would sit outside her hut quit happily in the waiting room, but as soon as she'd hear the voice of Carol, who had operated on her bladder - even through the door! - she'd dive straight back in!
 
I don't think guinea pigs are particularly clever - at least, mine definitely aren't.

They definitely respond to my voice though and like has already been said - they respond to my different tones rather than what I say. It's a wee shame they get a right fright when I'm giving one of the cat's a row for something.
 
yes mine go mad for veggies when I get up but don't bother for paul. they seem to know when they are getting them too. Sometimes I get up early to move my car (still in my pjs) and they know I am not going to feed them as paul is in a rush for work and as soon as I walk back in they start. Other days I do not need to move my car and when I come down they go mad straight away. (think they know when paul is there they don't get morning veggies)
 
i think it depends on the pig
also, a lot of their "intelligence" is through things such as sound/voice recognition, which they find easy as their hearing is so good
so i would have thought that the more a pig gets used to certain sounds or voices, smells and different people, the easier they find it to distinguish certain events or experiances that happen alongside them
a pig who has had little or no human contact could be just as intelligent as a pig who is handled every day and lives in close proximity with humans, however the first pig would not respont to things the second one would and would therefore maybe not be seen as as clever
 
You are completely right, Gracie!

Basically, the more you encourage and do with your pigs, the more they will respond to you! It's easier with young ones, as they become more placid when adult.

But there are differences in character, as you would expect. Some are very inquisitive and enjoy being challenged, while others are happy with working out when the next batch of food is likely to arrive.
 
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