Novelty-seeking

[corvus]

Do you have a dog that particularly shows novelty-seeking and exploratory behaviour? I'm talking about not just willingness to try new things, but seeking out new things. Responding to novel objects by approaching them rather than hanging back or avoiding?

If you do have a novelty-seeking dog, how do you find them to live with? Do they need a lot of mental stimulation? Are they drivey? Do they get easily bored?

[~*Shell*~]

Do you mean a dog who is naturally curious? If i was to put something in the middle of the yard when Zero wasn't there, he would go and explore it the second he saw it. He's not one to hang back if there's something new going on.

Is that what you mean?

[Diva]

I have one, but at 9 years of age it is not as evident as it was. Novelty has always been highly rewarding to her and noticably more so than others I have owned of the same breed. She isn't easily bored, but she used to invent new games for herself all the time. Active but not particularly high drive, just a pure excited sticky-beak for any new thing, person or place.

[corvus]

It's a bit more than being naturally curious. Novelty-seeking behaviour in humans is linked to thrill-seeking and high risk activities and often drug-taking. They are the folks for whom ordinary life is never quite enough. When looking at this in animals, though, an individual is normally considered novelty-seeking if they spend a lot of time racing around exploring things. Obviously, it exists on a continuum rather than either having it or not having it. In the wild, novelty-seeking animals might find new sources of food etc. more quickly, but expose themselves to higher risks of predation and other dangers at the same time.

[WoofnHoof]

Mine (sibe) is a bit more cautious, he will wait until no one is watching him before he goes and investigates something new, he does it the most when I'm out he takes things off benches he doesn't always destroy things often he just pulls it down for closer investigation. Every now and again my chi will go and get something but it's usually to play with rather than to actually investigate what it is IYKWIM.

[The Spotted Devil]

I was fortunate enough to spend several days staying with the breeder of my dog when the litter (of 9) was 5 weeks old. The one thing that kept drawing me to Ziggy as a puppy was his novelty seeking behaviour - always the first out of the pile of puppies to explore something new or different. But the caveat is that he adapted to the novel object or situation extremely quickly and moved on to the next thing that caught his attention. That was a very appealing trait for me as I specifically wanted to train him in obedience and agility.

He is still the same - something novel or scary or unusual and he's desperate to check it out but then he's over it and ready to move on. I certainly encourage exploratory behaviour through shaping and clicker training. In terms of training it can be challenging as he becomes bored very quickly. However, I've learned to chop and change what we train in a session and vary the type and delivery of reinforcers. I've just come in from doing some quick training - a few minutes practicing a very basic seek back then straight into weaving poles (training for accuracy) then a quick seek back to reinforce what he had done so well earlier and give him a break from weaving poles and then straight into some speed training for the weaving poles to finish on an adrenaline filled high. I love working with him - it is a real balancing act between pushing him out of his comfort zone and building confidence.

[Kaz]

It's a bit more than being naturally curious. Novelty-seeking behaviour in humans is linked to thrill-seeking and high risk activities and often drug-taking. They are the folks for whom ordinary life is never quite enough. When looking at this in animals, though, an individual is normally considered novelty-seeking if they spend a lot of time racing around exploring things. Obviously, it exists on a continuum rather than either having it or not having it. In the wild, novelty-seeking animals might find new sources of food etc. more quickly, but expose themselves to higher risks of predation and other dangers at the same time.

Oh yeah..... that's my Bozley. Pound rescue, staffyx pigging type dog.

Highly intelligent, independent, thrillseeking escape artist. He will try absolutely anything. He is trouble with a capital T.

Sometimes I think he is going to drive me insane and he has cost me a fortune in damages and fortifications.

But he makes me laugh and we bonded in that very special way that doesn't always happen however much you love your dog.

Life is always interesting when you have a Bozley in your life :D :D

Oh yeah - he gets bored easily and would prefer to be on the go all day.

And he has an incredibly high drive.

Edited May 11, 2010 by Kaz

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

My dog, acd x, definitely likes exploring.

She probably would stay home if I was there, or she didn't know where I was, but if we're out on walks she will explore to the limit of where she can see me.

Wasn't too keen on her idea of exploring in the creek today, managed to persuade her not to do that.

Every new place we go, she checks the limits of it. And she loves being up high with a good view. Which is fine on the club balcony, but not so good where the sand dunes are supposed to be being rehabilitated at the beach.

Sometimes she will tell the new thing - it shouldn't be there - like the beach umbrella. But she seeks out new things.

And she is easily bored. Fortunately she mostly deals with that by sleeping.

[corvus]

Interesting.

Kivi isn't keen on new things, although he accepts them quickly. I don't think he would ever look for novelty. He does like to explore, but he's happy to put it off until it's convenient.

Erik is a funny one... He is easily bored and as soon as he gets bored he's walking around poking things with his nose. He'll be walking around the house just poking every object he comes across with his nose, presumably to see what happens? It's not uncommon for him to poke too hard and have something fall down on top of him, and then he barks at it and creeps over and pokes it again and then jumps back and barks at it again. I find in training he also gets bored easily and he loves nothing more than learning something new, whereas Kivi would be happy to stick with what he knows his whole life.

[moosmum]

Yep,I've got one too.

She is not particularly drivey or excitable,never been easily bored but thats likely her environment too....Lots of mental stimulation

She can be an emarrassment tho'.

She will poke and prode at things,like the girl sitting on the curb with her back to us.As we walked past Lou gave her a sharp prod on the back of her neck to test out the neat little bun sitting there! Just a big sticky beak,always checking out anything new and not shy about it.

Edited May 11, 2010 by moosmum

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Mine has worked out how to get the DVD player to eject. And how to turn the fan heater on and off. I'm just glad she's not so keen on exploring when I'm out.

[moosmum]

Mine has worked out how to get the DVD player to eject. And how to turn the fan heater on and off. I'm just glad she's not so keen on exploring when I'm out.

Interesting!

We have to take the phone off the hook if we leave our girl because if it rings and we aren't her to answer she will try to get it off the hook.Also great at alerting us to things that are as they should not be,like horses in the yard or another critter in trouble.She often tries imitating our behaviour and has a great sense of the ridiculous.She even has a "silly walk" where she lifts her feet out and to the sides in an exagerated manner while tossing her head side to side.

I had another like this as a kid and they have both been very cluey dogs as far as people go,with a very human like type of intelligence.

The other was more easily bored,being a town dog and would wander to look for amusement.(in the years when this sort of thing was common and taken for granted!)Both try new things and "helping".

ie: see you watering the garden so come up nudging your hand till you give them the hose to have a go themselves.

[Aidan]

Sabella was like this when younger but matured out of it. I often wonder if training and leadership take a bit away from them.

[moosmum]

Sabella was like this when younger but matured out of it. I often wonder if training and leadership take a bit away from them.

The girl we have now was just raised as part of the family,with the kids.No formal training, she never needed it!

The one I had as kid tho' got lots of training.Could be very stuborn with a kid as leader but learned so easily!Back then I used to challenge that I could train him to do anything with in 5 minutes,just say what.(stupid kid,smart dog)

Enormous self confidence in both these dogs too.

[Diva]

In the wild, novelty-seeking animals might find new sources of food etc. more quickly, but expose themselves to higher risks of predation and other dangers at the same time.

This, yes.

Drug taking, no.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Diva

So your dog hasn't had a taste of your beer or coffee if you left it where s/he could reach it?

Pretty sure mine couldn't pay a drug dealer, and she leaves the poisonous plants alone, but she knows how to cadge treats off friends and strangers.

[corvus]

My supervisor has a working line Kelpie who is on the cautious side. He pointed out to me that if you're a dog in the bush and you see a snake, it's probably a good thing at that moment to NOT be a novelty-seeking, highly confident individual. A bit of caution is healthy.

Erik to me has a fair whack of caution and generally doesn't engage in risky doggy behaviour. He is one for sussing it out and then trying to figure out what it's for if it seems safe. I think he is quite creative, and I wonder if that relates at all to novelty-seeking. I think that he was much more creative as a young puppy than he is now, but he was more cautious as a puppy as well.

Another thing in humans that is sometimes related to novelty-seeking is manic behaviour as a result of an over-sensitive reward system. Now this sounds like Erik. Very keen to get rewards and very sensitive to obstacles in the way of getting rewards. Aversives get quickly forgotten and rewards are remembered better than average. Erik is nutty about rewards. Any reward. And if I have inadvertently set up an expectation for a reward and don't deliver he can be very difficult.

ETA He has come SO close to figuring out how to eject dvds. I'm glad he hasn't got there yet. He's turned the dvd player on, though. And he's well known for getting dvds off the shelves and opening the cases when he's bored. We had to do a sneaky switch-a-roo last week when he chewed on one of the dvd cases from the video store.

Edited May 12, 2010 by corvus

[Diva]

Diva

So your dog hasn't had a taste of your beer or coffee if you left it where s/he could reach it?

Pretty sure mine couldn't pay a drug dealer, and she leaves the poisonous plants alone, but she knows how to cadge treats off friends and strangers.

I don't drink beer (or any alcohol) much. And she knows better then to get between me and caffeine. There is risk taking, then there is plain foolishness

...but the serious answer is no, I'm careful not to let that happen. But she would if she could.

Edited May 12, 2010 by Diva

[moosmum]

Diva

So your dog hasn't had a taste of your beer or coffee if you left it where s/he could reach it?

Pretty sure mine couldn't pay a drug dealer, and she leaves the poisonous plants alone, but she knows how to cadge treats off friends and strangers.

I don't drink beer (or any alcohol) much. And she knows better then to get between me and caffeine. There is risk taking, then there is plain foolishness

...but the serious answer is no, I'm careful not to let that happen. But she would if she could.

The one I had as a kid used to pick th poppies mum had growing,pluck all the petals and eat the centres.Yep,a druggie!