Man's Best Friend typically refers to the companionship of a dog, but for Kyle Shoulders, junior in animal science production management, a different creature has taken the role.
Rusty, part Saanen and Nubian goat, has been under the care of Shoulders for six months. He purchased Rusty from Bulger Creek Farm LLC in Notasulga.
Along with Rusty, Shoulders' friend, Kayla Steinkopf, junior in sociology, followed suit with the purchase of Nova, her personal goat.
Nova was named after the Auburn eagle and is Rusty's partner in crime, as the two get very anxious when they are separated.
Steinkopf and Shoulders were both new to raising goats and learned a lot during the first two weeks.
"Bottle feeding is not fun," Shoulders said. "It was fun the first time, especially is it isn't your goat."
Steinkopf said the goats were in diapers for a short while.
Steinkopf's parents were supportive when she decided to welcome Nova into the family. Her father has met Nova and Steinkopf said he really liked Nova.
"My dad likes headbutting him," Steinkopf said. "If you put your hands in a "Hook 'em horns" kinda thing, [Nova] will butt you back."
Rusty and Shoulders have made their mark on social media after a photo of Rusty and Shoulders in a river started to circulate with the caption, "I wanna be this happy."
"We were hiking at Chewacla one day, just trying to get them used to following us," Shoulders said. "We got hot and went into the water after."
Shoulders did not have a Twitter account at the height of the meme attraction and had to find out from a family GroupMe. Shoulders assumed the popularity would die down after a day or two, but "it kept going and going and going."
"I had an Instagram for [Rusty] and one for me, but I deleted them after a while because it got weird after a while," Shoulders said. "I started my Instagram back though."
Fame through goat ownership wasn't the goal for Shoulders. After getting rid of his horse and being unable to bring his dog to Auburn, he decided to purchase a goat.
"In between a horse and a dog, a goat," Shoulders said.
Shoulders said he wanted to go on trips and once he found out people could own pack-goats, he liked the idea of having one to help him on his trips.
One of those trips was the iconic lake trip that has been retweeted, memed and posted on many forms of social media.
Shoulders said owning a goat is very low-maintenance and relatively easy. Rusty lives on a farm about 20 minutes away from Shoulders. He tries to make it out to the farm to see Rusty as many times as he can during the week.
When Shoulders gets the chance to walk Rusty around campus, those around them don't know how to react.
"They ask, 'Is that a goat?' and I say, 'Well, yeah.' and they always want to pet him," Shoulders said.
Owning a goat in college may seem strange to many, but both owners claim that it is cheaper and less work than owning a dog.
"They both love people so much, because they've been around them since they were babies," Steinkopf said.
Steinkopf said the goats both have distinct personalities.
"Rusty in really funny and Nova is more loving and in your face," Steinkopf said. "When we're in the car, Nova tries to get really close and in the front seat. When I try to take a picture of Rusty, he tilts his head like, 'What do you think you're doing?'"
Shoulders and Steinkopf hope to make Nova and Rusty therapy goats. Shoulders said the requirements are reasonable and they believe Rusty and Nova would be great therapy goats.
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