Water Rats

A while ago I posted about our efforts to introduce the girls to water. Since that initial introduction, we've continued working on it once a week or so. Overall, both Saké and Sushi seem unimpressed. They are not averse to walking through the pan of water but haven't paid much attention to the water itself.

Saké and Sushi's first time playing in water.

Last night we had a real breakthrough. The water was deep enough that their toys floated and for the first time the girls actually seemed to notice the water. Sushi pushed the toys around a bit and Saké actually spent some time holding onto them with her paws, pushing them under the water, and in general just starting to play.

They aren't swimming yet, but I'm glad to see they are finally showing some interest in playing in the water. Someday maybe they'll get to this:

Rats vs. Water, Round 1

The first attempt at introducing Saké and Sushi to a lifetime of water playtimes went pretty well. Both ended up with wet feet and improved their climbing skills in an effort to get away from the water as quickly as possible.

We started with a new paint pan, with just a couple of inches of water.

New paint tray with a few toys to capture the rats' attention.

We initially set the rats down by the tray and neither showed any interest in their new toy. Saké immediately raced through it, ignored the water, and climbed up Dave's leg. Sushi spent a bit more time investigating.

They are unimpressed.

Sushi's curiosity overcomes her apprehension.

I think Sushi was more interested in her toys than the tray of water.

Two feet in...

Sushi went so far as to put both front feet on the tray. However, one of those feet landed in a tiny bit of water, causing her to race away from the tray and climb up Dave as quickly as possible.

Eventually, both rats were willing to investigate things a bit more. We're a long way from swimming rats, but overall the water introduction seemed to go well.

All feet in...