Sonora, CA – A spunky canine that won “Farm Dog of the Year” surprised many attendees at the 107th California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.
Meet Willy, a miniature dachshund, not the typical breed thought of as a farm working dog. At the meeting held in Anaheim recently, Willy earned the $1,000 Grand Prize in the fifth annual California Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year Contest. Open to members, the competition involves submitting photos of the pooch and answering questions about them.
Two-year-old Willy, adopted in February 2023, belongs to Marshal Hagedorn, owner of Hagedorn Forestry Management, a Shasta and Tehama counties tree feller and cattle runner in the Montague area near the Klamath National Forest. Along with his girlfriend, Bailey Thomas, they quickly noticed that Willy became an active member of the ranch, helping control critters like rabbits and ground squirrels. He has never been trained to corral livestock and uses his bark and energy to move calves and even larger cattle…