Humphrey was a very strong willed self opinionated individual. To say he had a mind of his own would be an understatement. He felt he had to be the first through any doors and wanted to be involved in everything that was going on, ensuring he was the centre of attention at all times.
As he was neither greedy, nor did he have an interest in toys or balls, he could not be enticed or bribed with treats or rewards to change his mind and acquiesce in any requests that were made of him. One of his favourite tricks was to go out into the garden, where he would be determined to stay for as long as he wanted. No amount of calling would convince him that it was time to come inside no matter how late at night it might be. If I resorted to trying to herd him back in he would have a great time evading me until I gave up and went inside myself. Humphrey would then delight in coming to the door to tease me by hovering around just outside. If I opened the door hoping he would relent and come in, he would stand in the doorway for ages while I tried to cajole him to enter, occasionally running back out again and disappearing off round the corner out of sight so I was back to square one.
Humphrey did not like eating much either. I would prepare his food and put it down in front of him. He would then proceed to run around the kitchen snorting, stopping occasionally to look at the food and then run off again. I would make a cup of coffee and sit down talking to him and try to convince him to eat. Sometimes he would come to me for a fuss and then oblige me by having a few mouthfuls of food, but more often than not I would end up putting his meal back in the fridge to be served up later on.
At the end of a busy day, he loved to curl up on the floor and sleep peacefully like a little angel snoring away and looking like butter wouldn’t melt, while I suspect all the time he was dreaming of what naughty activities he could get up to next.