Loading into a carrier makes life a lot less stressful for cavies
There are a lot of reasons why you might want to take your guinea pig out of her cage. You'll eventually want to get her to do floortime and laptime with her and this provides a low-stress alternative to chasing your guinea pig around the cage with your hands to pick her up!
Benefits of training "load up"
Although both of my girls can easily be picked up, I choose to use this method to transport them into and out of the cage. Why? Because it gives them more free choice. If there is a way to give your guinea pigs more choices and options, always opt to do so.
They feel like they have more control over their environment, which gives them more confidence to run around, play, and try new things during floor time and lap time. This behavior can even be used to introduce concepts of potty training!
A quick plan to teach this behavior
If your guinea pig is successful at following target sticks, your finger, or platform work from the previous step, then training this behavior is going to be quite easy because it builds on foundation skills your guinea pig has already learned. There are several ways to train this behavior. This page shows my go-to method. There is a complete video tutorial at the bottom of this page.
1. Shaping interest in the carrier/upside down hidey
Your guinea pig should be comfortable with the process of shaping from teaching her to hop onto platforms. The reason you want to use shaping, at least when first training this behavior, is because you want your guinea pig to learn how to seek out and enter the hidey on her own without luring her with treats.
To shape interest, click your guinea pig for orienting towards the hidey and give her treats near the hidey.
2. Shaping entry into the carrier/hidey
Next you want to click and treat your guinea pig for entering the hidey with her nose. Give her the treats right in front of her nose to keep her interest inside of the hidey. Eventually, she'll start to offer going further and further into the hidey until she actually hops into the hidey. Let her back away from your treat if she needs to.
3. Building value for entering and staying
The next step is to offer treats to your guinea pig for entering and staying in the hidey. When your guinea pig enters, feed her opposite from the entrance/exit so that you do not block her ability to escape (remember Rule #2). Give her a lot of treats in a row. If she leaves, that's okay. Just wait for her to hop in again.
If you want to finish training this behavior using targeting or luring, this is when you start using these two things. Train until your guinea pig smoothly follows the target or lure.
4. Introducing the release cue
The purpose of the release cue is to tell the guinea pig that you are going to stop reinforcing her for staying in the hidey and you are going to reward her for coming out of the hidey. To train this, say, "get off" or "get out" or "go free" and then lure her out of the hidey. You can practice this on the platform first if your guinea pig is timid (platform doesn't have sides).
If your guinea pig doesn't readily follow the lure, click and treat her if she is close to following the lure.
5. Add the verbal cue
Up until now, the hidey itself was a cue for your guinea pig to load herself up. You can start to introduce the verbal cue now. Put the hidey down and then say your load up cue ("load up" or "get in") as she enters the hidey. Don't repeat the cue. Just say it once and wait. If your guinea pig doesn't respond in time, just take the hidey away and try again later.
If you are using targeting or luring, say your load up cue first, wait a half second, and then lead her into the hidey with a target or a lure.
6. Training "load up" as a communication system
Your guinea pig now has the skill to load up into a carrier or an upside down hidey. The next step is to train her to offer it as a means of communication. Teach this by asking her to enter the hiding and giving her a treat as usual when she offers hopping in and then moving her from cage to floortime or from floortime to cage. When she comes out of the carrier, give her a click and treat.
When she offers the behavior uncued, use this as an opportunity to reinforce her with just moving from cage to floor or from floor to cage. Eventually, she'll make the connection. How long it takes your guinea pig to make this connection is not indicative to her intelligence and is more related to differences in temperament.