02/04/2024
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PREPARING FOR YOUR NOVELTY SEEKING RESCUE DOG
When we adopt a dog, it's normal for us to think they might spend days, weeks or even years getting used to us and our ways.
We're all prepared for the anxious dog who takes time to come out of their shell.
But are we prepared for the dogs who come into our lives like Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball?
Looking back on my life with Flika, I think she prepared me for another kind of adoption. The 'keep your eye on the dog' rescue.
To be fair, she had useful predecessor in Tobby. I adopted Tobby as a crusty old pensioner back in 2015. His very first act, despite his decreptitude, size and stiff limbs, was to find his way in to the henhouse. The henhouse my egg-loving breakfast-stealing 9kg cocker spaniel a third of his size couldn't get in to. I found him in there, looking sheepish. He'd thankfully got himself stuck as he tried to extricate himself.
But Flika, she was a law unto herself.
I couldn't take her anywhere.
Well, I could. And I could guarantee you that she'd have exploited any weakness in food management within minutes. She was a whirr of fur. I'd let her off lead, and she'd be gone. Once, I found her minutes later around the back of a barbecue, eating greasy remnants off stones. Another time, she was in a friend's son's bedroom, eating a pizza box.
Who knew that newly adopted dogs could get into *everything*?
Truth be told, I had a bunch of fosters and adoptees who were the same. New places energised them. Instead of taking their time to get a feel for the place, or even finding out their beds and bowls like most dogs did, like a bunch of others, Flika came in and got into everything.
She'd do the same in other people's houses too. If it was new, she was interested!
Novelty-seeking is a personality trait that crosses situations and age gaps. Where most dogs get less interested in novelty as they age, some dogs find it as fun as ever.
This isn't just some quirk. A curiosity, if you will.
When you think about how many dogs end up in shelters as young adolescents, it's important to understand that shelter populations may include a higher proportion of novelty seekers than we might expect.
Novelty seeking of course contributes to straying. While many dogs will stick to the safety of home turf if they get out, novelty seekers have no fear of going further than they've ever been - and then being unable to find their way back home. They may be more attracted by unfamiliar dogs and people - Flika was forever chasing people off down roads, finding new friends like the Littlest Hobo, Tobby was known for visiting the neighbours' dogs whenever I took my eye off my ancient adoptee.
If they're good at identifying and exploiting weaknesses in the perimeter, you may find yourself understanding exactly why your newly adopted dog ended up in the shelter in the first place.
Plus, adolescence tends to stoke the fires burning in our dogs to seek out new sensations and go exploring. It's a biologically conserved trait across mammalian species. Go forth and multiply, say adolescent genes.
It's little surprise then that our curious, exploratory, risk-taking, bold novelty seekers end up in shelters. Flika was on her seventh home by the time I adopted her.
While we expect our newly adopted dog to take their time settling down, if we've adopted an adolescent from a shelter of unclaimed strays, it may be useful to know whether you've got a novelty seeker on your hands. Knowing you've got an avid Dora the Explorer is important - because they're exceptionally good at exploiting weaknesses in the system.
How do you know? Because they hit new places like a formerly impoverished person hits the sales after a jackpot on the lottery... They want it all! They're into everything, exploring everything. If caution is required, they've not got one iota to spare.
Our novelty-seekers can be a lot of fun. Many will belong to working breeds or their crosses. As you can imagine, being a curious, bold dog has its advantages if you're of the hunting or herding persuasion.
They can also be a nightmare on legs, as you chase around your elderly senior who seems to have found a new lease of life and you wonder if any of your cupboards are safe at all.
This can be hard to spot in shelters or even in foster if they live a life of routine and security, but a walk in a new place will feel a lot different than a walk in a familiar one. All that fizz and energy you'll see will tell you that you've potentially got a novelty seeker on your hands!
