This week I decided to combine the usual two weeks that Nutmeg and I take to learn a new trick and instead just do it in one week. Nutmeg is a very active guinea pig, constantly on the move and I already knew that she was capable of jumping in general so I decided to try getting Nutmeg to jump right off the bat without much research. I watched one youtube video to get an idea of how they create a jump/hurdle for their guinea pig to leap over and we got started right away!

Jump training Video

I discovered that not only is Nutmeg very good at jumping, she also didn’t need too much prompting or leading from me. She was willing to jump over the little jump I created without much help from me, so I felt that we didn’t need the usual two weeks to understand and learn this trick.

The Jumps I created for Nutmeg using popsicle sticks and a wooden spoon

Nutmeg does have a height preference for the height of her hurdle. She was willing to jump over a hurdle of about 2 inches but that is as high as she seemed comfortable going. I made a second hurdle that was a little taller around 2.5-3 inches high but when I tried giving it to her she refused to go over it. Instead, she would push it with her nose and then run away. So I think it’s safe to say that a hurdle around 2 inches high is Nutmeg’s ideal jumping height.
Something else I discovered this week when Nutmeg got tired of jumping she would rest her little front paws on the wooden spoon of the jump and lean against it. I think that was her way of telling me that she was done practicing for the day.

Nutmeg doing her Jumps

Overall Nutmeg did a really amazing job with her jumps! There were many times when I didn’t have to prompt her to do the jump, she would happily come over and do it herself. I think she kind of enjoyed having something to jump over.

We’re going to give this trick 5 carrots for training and 4 carrots for mastery since it was really quick and easy to learn. I think Nutmeg already had an idea of how to jump from her own adventures so it didn’t take too much work on my part. Plus it was really cute just to watch her jump over her little hurdle!