(10-15-2014, 08:27 AM)Nanno Wrote: Some more thoughts about Sputnik--I'm starting to wonder if I need to keep this little guy. Aside from his dazzling color and interesting personality, he's the smartest goat I've ever encountered. As hard as it is to admit, Sputnik may in fact be smarter than Cuzco--time will tell. When we tattooed the babies, Finn and Snickers yelled and jumped, but neither of them harbored a grudge. They also didn't make the connection when I started prepping their second ears. They never tied the pain to Phil and I either and they went back to their grain as soon as I released the clamp.

Sputnik, on the other hand, knew exactly who hurt his ear and he started flipping out as soon as I began prepping the second one. He also held a grudge for more than a day afterwards. He didn't yell like the other kids. Instead he glared balefully and stopped eating grain for the rest of his time on the stanchion. He wouldn't take a treat from me or Phil for the rest of the day and he wouldn't let me catch him the next morning either. He did eventually get over it, but I found the contrast between kids interesting.

I recently taught Sputnik our favorite crowd-pleasing trick, which is to go down on his knees and "Repent!" Most goats take a long time to learn this trick. Petunia took weeks to start getting it and months before she had it down pat. Sputnik started getting it in one half-hour session, which beats Cuzco's record all hollow. I think this goat would be loads of fun to train and I worry that if someone gets him who doesn't appreciate his intelligence he could turn it to nefarious purposes. He's not naturally sweet and eager to please like Finn, but he absolutely loves to learn and has a longer-than-average attention span (like his mother and, interestingly, like Cuzco).

I have a feeling Sputnik will never be a good family goat because he would be the one training the kids and would soon learn to be mean. I also have no confidence in his future as a working goat. He's more than smart enough to learn anything I want to teach him, but only time will tell if his spark of brilliance will make him an outstanding partner or an outstanding stinker. Right now it's a coin toss. Anyone who saw Cuzco at Sputnik's age would have thought he was too stubborn to work, but I've come to find out that this stubbornness is what gives him the will to work hard and tackle any obstacle. He's also stubborn enough to figure out what I want from him, not because he's a people-pleaser but because he has a drive to learn for learning's sake. Cuzco and Sputnik fix their eyes on you and study you while you train them. Most goats are ok with a little manhandling to get them to do things like "lay down" and "repent," but you can't manhandle Sputnik or Cuzco. They take it personally and then they either run away or fight back and no amount of cookie bribing will make it up to them. They forgive eventually, but they never forget. It's a privilege to work with goats this smart.