B4
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021
Tail-waggers share a love of farms
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
GRAND RONDE — “Away!”
At the command, “Marc,” a 3-year-old
border collie, bounded left, driving a fl ock of
Polypay sheep across the hill’s ridgeline.
Water droplets dappled pastures and
low-hanging clouds formed a garland around
the trees. The morning air smelled earthy.
“Down. Good boy.”
The voice belonged to Piper Klinger,
Marc’s owner, who runs this sheep ranch with
her husband, Bob Klinger.
Bob, 77, has worked with sheep for more
than 50 years and made his name as Oregon
State University’s sheep herdsman for decades
before retiring to full-time ranching.
Publicly, the Klingers are known for
high-quality Polypay sheep, innovative pas-
ture management and “agrivoltaics,” meaning
grazing sheep under solar panels; privately,
they say one of the most signifi cant features of
their farm is their dog, Marc.
One common thread many farmers share is
their love for dogs. The farm dog, some say,
is the “unsung hero,” “part of the family” and
one of the most important parts of rural life.
In December and January, the Capital Press
solicited stories from readers about their dogs.
Some rescued animals or protected crops; oth-
ers have simply brought joy to their owners’
lives. These are a few of their stories.
Photos by Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Bob Klinger, left, with his wife, Piper Klinger, and ‘Marc’ in between.
‘Marc’
“Been doing sheep for some 50 years.
Never thought I’d have a dog this good,” Bob
Klinger told the Capital Press.
An old friend gave Marc to the Klingers
last summer, when the dog was 2 1/2 years
old.
The Klingers say Marc is the ideal work-
ing dog. Piper said he learned the commands
to herd sheep in no time at all. Bob said Marc
“works the sheep in the chute like a pro” for
sorting and vaccinating. When the Klingers
need to pass through a section of electric fenc-
ing, Marc keeps the sheep from escaping
through the gap.
He intuitively knows which critters are
friends and which are foes, they say; he hunts
down mice and voles, but he lets the farm’s
chickens climb on his head, and he recently
befriended an otter in the creek.
Plenty of border collies are good working
dogs, said Piper. What makes Marc unique,
she said, is that although he enjoys herding,
he’s not obsessed with it. Instead, he’s gentle,
affectionate and sticks close to Piper’s side.
Piper smiled, scratching Marc’s head, as
she described their fi rst day together.
“When he hadn’t even been here an hour,
he walked over to me, put his foot on my leg
and looked at me like, ‘Here I am, I’m yours.’”
‘Sally’
Pete Paradis scooped his 3-year-old grand-
son, Elias, off his lap and slid out of his truck.
As the two approached the mouth of an alley-
way that sloped through the vineyard, three
white Maremma sheepdogs sauntered toward
them.
Paradis said the smartest of the three —
though a bit people-shy — is “Sally.”
“She’s not the nice little dog that comes up
on your lap. This is about as far from that as
you can be,” said Paradis. “She’s more like a
farm animal, a domesticated wolf, if you will.”
Sally is a working dog, and she does her
job well.
Linda Bangs, left, and her husband, Mike
Guebert, with their dog ‘Athena.’
Her main role is to protect the Silverton
farm’s 100 or so Boer meat goats against pred-
ators. Alone, she faces off coyotes. Alongside
the other two dogs, Paradis said she can make
cougars think twice.
Sally’s deeply bonded to the goat herd.
That she was down near the vineyard this
winter morning, in fact, was because she had
heard the maa-a-a-a of goat kids in the nearby
barn.
“Isn’t that right, Sally?” Paradis said.
Sally looked up.
Paradis said Sally’s intelligence startles
him.
At dusk, she leads the goats to the barn or
underneath trees. When it’s her dinnertime,
she takes turns with the other two dogs, mak-
ing sure one is always on watch duty.
Although her fi rst duty is to her goats, Sally
has also protected the vineyard. Paradis recalls
one night, a storm-downed tree ripped open a
fence. The goat herd could have entered the
vineyard block and destroyed it, but Sally
guarded the hole until her master arrived in
the morning.
“Sally sat on the inside of the fence, look-
ing at me like, ‘It’s about time you got here,’”
Paradis said.
program.
Ironically, Guebert and Bangs, who now
run a meat operation, were once urban-dwell-
ing vegetarians before they were exposed to
humane livestock production methods.
The couple’s Great Pyrenees, “Athena,”
guards their pasture-raised dairy cows, goats,
pigs, poultry and waterfowl.
The couple recall that one night, Athena
woke them up with persistent barking. Gue-
bert said he threw on his boots and ran out-
side. There, he found two injured coyotes near
the turkey pens, pieces of coyote skin and fur
scattered about and Athena “sitting as if she’d
been there the whole time.” Athena even
showed her owners a portion of the fence that
needed repair.
“She’s an amazing protector, and she’s also
just the sweetest dog,” said Bangs.
Bangs squatted down, running her fi n-
gers through Athena’s white fur. They were
on a green hill inside a multi-species graz-
ing paddock where dairy cows and meat goats
munched together.
The couple were so pleased with Athena
that they wanted to pass on her genetics, so
they bought a male dog, ‘Zuri,’ and across
about six months, Athena had two litters, 20
puppies total.
“She’s an amazing mom,” Guebert said.
‘Kit’
Liana Livingston, 18, and her sister Emme-
line, 11, say their dog “Kit” — named after
American frontiersman Kit Carson — is one
of the best parts of farm life.
Kit, a border collie-McNab shepherd cross,
helps drive 120 or so beef cattle at a time on
the family ranch in Starkey.
“It saves a lot of time when he helps move
the cows,” said Liana Livingston.
The dog also scares away coyotes and even
had a battle with an angry badger.
Although Kit’s a working dog, the girls say
it’s his fun personality that makes life colorful.
Kit is 5, but the girls say he still acts like
a puppy. After the Livingstons feed the cows
and are about to put away hay strings, Kit likes
to grab the strings’ ends and pull them for a
game of tug-of-war. He also loves catching
rocks and snowballs, and can shake hands and
play dead.
When it snows, the Livingstons say, Kit
is “very skilled at hooky bobbing.” The girls’
parents drive their truck through the snow,
and the girls, along with their siblings and Kit,
hook onto the bumper and squat down for a
ride.
The only problem, Liana said, is that some-
times Kit grabs her pants while she’s holding
onto the bumper.
“He defi nitely keeps farm life light-
hearted,” she said.
‘Poppie’
Robin Wylie, 64, who owns a ranch in
Nampa, Idaho, and manages several farms
across eastern Washington state, said her dog,
“Poppie,” fi lls a hole she didn’t think anyone
could fi ll.
When her previous dog died, Wylie was
devastated.
“I said to my friend, ‘I don’t want to get
another dog yet,’” she said.
But her friend ignored her comment and
called her the next day to say she found
another dog for her, a 10-month-old cross-
breed that a cattle rancher was giving away.
“We really bonded,” she said.
Wylie said Poppie is incredibly smart and
even knows the days of the week. Wylie’s
daughter visits every Monday at 9 a.m. Each
Monday just before that time, Poppie waits by
the door for her arrival.
“How can she know what seven days is?”
said Wylie.
Poppie helped Wylie’s heart heal after the
loss of her previous dog, and she also brought
life and laughter to the farm. She’s interested
in everything and often sports a green manure
mustache. She’s gentle with Wylie’s grand-
children, but she’s tough when she needs to
be, driving away skunks, stray dogs and coy-
otes. When inside, Poppie often curls up
under Wylie’s desk, keeping her owner’s feet
warm. Poppie has some English shepherd in
her, which Wylie suspects makes her a good
“all-purpose farm dog.”
“She’s the most perfect farm dog I’ve ever
had,” said Wylie.
WALTER E. NELSON CO.
Your local janitorial and paper supply...and much more!
‘Athena’
Mike Guebert and his wife, Linda Bangs,
co-own Terra Farma, a small farm producing
pasture-raised meat, eggs and milk in Corbett.
They run a Community Supported Agriculture
Enjoy reading? Wish you had a group
to discuss local books with?
Join Coast Weekend’s monthly book club
On Wednesday, March 3 at 6 p.m., Long Beach Peninsula author Jan Bono will discuss her new
book, “Fisher Girl, Fisher Wife, Fisher Poet,” with Coast Weekend editor Alyssa Evans.
Bono has lived by the water and maintained a strong connection with fishing throughout her life.
The book features fishing-inspired poems.
Catch the interview at facebook.com/coastweekend or zoom.us/j/99950024448
(enter meeting ID 999 5002 4448).
Readers can ask Bono questions during the event. Anyone is welcome to join.
LET U S
HEL P YO U
HELP
COMPL E T E YOUR
COMPLETE
YO U R
I NT E RI O R
A ND
E XT E RI O R
HO ME
PRO J E C T S!
Copies of the book are available to order online at janbonobooks.com.
Questions? Email Evans at aevans@dailyastorian.com
2240 Commercial Street
Astoria, Oregon
503.325.6362
www.WalterENelson.com
Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm