Humphrey makes a splash!

Humphrey likes to be informed before he tries anything. His four-year project of understanding the swimming pool and its contests finally came to fruition.

His project started with a particular interest in chlorinating the pool by supervising the process every night for three summers. For two summers, he conducted a series of buoyancy experiments (see earlier post for a lab report), helping him understand concepts of sinks/floats. Once he was satisfied with that, he began crouching by the edge of the pool, using his right paw to splash water this summer. After three weeks of that, he expressed interest in standing on the top step (see image 2 in the collage), which he performed daily for several weeks, using his right paw to splash. Then, this week, he expressed a desire to venture further into the pool (with assistance, of course, see photo 3 in the collage). Instinct kicked in (or the social learning result of watching humans swim, who knows?), and he swam! He's very proud of his accomplishment, and enjoys drying off in the sun.