When he was a puppy young Ferdi would often wander off on his own and sit on a grassy hilltop smelling the flowers, his mother was concerned for him and would often try to force him to play with all the other young puppies, but still Ferdi decided to keep to himself. It was his handlers who noticed that he was deaf and upon seeing his sweet and gentle nature and also his deep love of smelling flowers they named him "Ferdinand" after the endearing children's book about a gentle bull that loved to smell flowers.