A few years ago, I was leaving the kennel (养狗场) where I worked, only to find a baby goat at the end of the driveway. The kennel's owners are known animal rescuers and I figured someone outside dumped him over the fence.
I'm an animal lover and I've brought home dogs, cats, horses, chickens and fish, but never goats. The tiny kid was too adorable to resist. I named him Quincy, and with the help of some experienced friends, bottle-fed him in my bathroom. Quincy proved to be quite special. When he was about a week old, I tapped my fingers on the bathroom floor and said, "Lie down." I was amazed when he dropped down. I was even more amazed when he did it three times in a row.
A quick study, Quincy learned to lie down, bow, and turn in a circle in no time. He is house-trained, jumps in the back of my SUV when I say "load up," and spends the day wandering with my dogs, whom he considers his brothers and sisters. He knows the name of everything I feed him — apples, water, carrots, and strawberries.
I love to train animals and often take my dogs to shows where they can perform their tricks. Quincy did his first show when he was just six weeks old. He knew only a few tricks then, but he did them perfectly and never misbehaved or got nervous in front of the crowd.
Now he has a whole inventory: He'll shake hooves (蹄), come when called, walk on a rope, wave, smile for the camera, and more. Quincy and my dogs perform regularly at schools, nursing homes, and charity events. Quincy can even "read" his tricks off cue cards (提示板), which always earns the most applause.
It's hard to believe that the goat kid nobody wanted turned out to be one of the smartest and most good-natured animals I've ever had.
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