Dog Saves Flock of Sheep From Flood

When the water rose, Abby went to work. As a result Linda and Brad Neunzig still have their 75 sheep.

It was Abby, a 6-year-old Australian kelpie, they credit for saving the biggest livestock investment on their 50-acre farm when the Stillaguamish River overflowed with little warming last month.

“She’s a working dog,” Linda Neunzig said. “She’s not the kind of dog you’d have if you lived in a subdivision.”

The couple moved to the farm with their children, Sam, 5, and Mattie, 8, in December and have about 75 head of Katahdin sheep, which have hair rather than wool and are worth about $300 each, as well as some cattle, horses and other livestock

Heavy rains Oct. 20 and 21 brought widespread flooding across Western Washington.

“At midnight, there was no water. Within two or three hours, all the barns had 2 or 3 feet in them,” Neunzig said.

Unlike some herding dogs, kelpies, which range from 25 to 45 pounds, have no distaste for water. Going where people couldn’t walk, Abby herded the sheep from one barn to another and eventually drove the sheep to safety.

“She moved the animals for us,” Neunzig said. “She started about 12:30, and at 4:30 we gave up – the water was too deep.”

About 60 sheep were put in a trailer and carried to high ground, and all the sheep were saved.

“We would have lost all the sheep, no question about it,” Neunzig said.

The water stopped about 2 inches short of the Neunzigs’ house. They lost about 100 chickens, some fencing and a corn maze.

For Abby, saving the sheep was just a romp.

“She was quite happy,” Neunzig said.