It's Aquadog!

For a novice swimmer, Murphy has gone just plain crazy when it comes to water. As soon as I get him near the boat landing where I swim him, he begins to cry with anticipation, ans as soon as I open the door, he jumps from the vehicle and runs to the water, jumping in and waiting for me to produce and throw his toy, a squeaky barbell that I got from the dollar store.

And once he goes to get his toy, Murphy brings it to me. I generally have to coerce him into letting go, typically by pulling the toy underwater until his head follows and he lets go. But now he's learned to hold on and take the ducking, and what's crazier is that now he's even going so far as to put his own head under the water completely if I try to conceal the toy from him by submerging it. Several times yesterday, as he was treading water in front of me and waiting for the throw, I held his toy underwater only to have him plunge his whole head under the water and grab it! Since when do dogs do this? I've never had a dog willing to put his own head under water before, but Murphy'll do it in an instant if he thinks that his toy is there. And he's obviously even doing it with his eyes open as I've moved the toy away from him only to have him still locate it and snatch it and bob to the surface with it all proud and happy.

I wish that I had video of this stunt, but my camera's far from waterproof.

When I got this dog, they told me that he was purebred German Shepherd, but now I'm suspecting that he's part Otter!