“Fermi”

Fermi was a really sweet boy with a good dose of intensity, much like his mom, Penelope.

He was the "Mad Smiler." A greeting from Fermi was highlighted by a full toothy grin. If his entire body was not wiggling from his furiously wagging tail, one would mistake it for junkyard dog snarl. But Fermi was just one of those dogs who smiles.

At Fermi's core was enthusiasm. Whatever was to be done, it should be pursued with rigor and positive attitude. His leadership qualities made him unafraid to be independent and to make his own choices. That included bounding over a six foot privacy fence from a mere stand still, simply to see if there is a squirrel on the other side. That was just Fermi, he had things to do..."Fermi things."

Fermi was an early riser and as a pup, used to let us know he was ready to start the day with his soft moan of "now-now-now-now." So he'd start our morning with a chuckle. We partition our home with baby gates to manage the pack. For Fermi - even at the age of 13.5 years at this writing - those are merely wonderfully fun toys to jump over. Partitions didn’t interest him, but jumping over things was definitely high on his list of hobbies. He didn’t mind challenging himself to go high or far. Fear was for the other dog.

In regards to running, showing, and doing obedience Fermi was up for it all. He had the standard operating protocol of an optimist. He just loved to run, do obedience and show. We would say that Fermi likes to work, but we didn’t think Fermi would think of it as work. For Fermi it was all about something to brighten his day. One of his favorites was the butt scratch. Fermi would return the favor of a butt scratch with a performance of the Fermi version of a Butt dance, complete with all the high stepping and butt swaying. Fermi performed his butt dance with his normal energy and enthusiasm - think Richard Simmons after a few drinks.

Humans making funny noises or high-pitched sounds drove Fermi into a frenzy of joyful excitement! Do that, and we felt that we were boxing a kangaroo. Official household rule: never sing any Franki Valli songs if we were wearing nice clothes.

Fermi continued to be extremely tight with his brother, Feynman until Feynman passed at the age of 14. They seemed to have had the ability to keep any rivalry out of the picture and gravitated toward sticking together. It was pleasant to watch. We often called them the "two-headed monster," as they were almost always together.

Fermi was an uncomplicated dog. He was a life enthusiast with just a touch of alpha.