SCIO, Ore. — Ian Caldicott built Wolston Farm on his twin passions: teaching and dogs.

Caldicott, who became interested in dogs while earning a Ph.D. in biology, has amassed 30 years of experience teaching herding lessons to dog handlers, the last 22 at the Scio, Ore., farm he owns with his wife, Raven OKeefe.

Their operation, with about 200 sheep, 55 acres and 11 dogs, has come to include an array of activities, such as OKeefe’s pet portraits and other animal-related artwork and products she creates.

Caldicott also likes to relax by carving “sticks” — as in canes, walking sticks and shepherd’s crooks — to sell.

“A shepherd’s crook is a traditional, practical tool to help you control the sheep,” he said. “Even that little curled up nose at the end of the traditional ones is there for hanging a lantern. If you found something you needed to deal with, you stuck it in the ground and hung your lantern, leaving your hands free.”

Caldicott says training sheepdogs starts with an understanding of the things they do on instinct.

“It involves replicating the things the dog needs to do when interacting with the sheep…,” he said.

Caldicott ups the challenge for dogs by keeping primitive sheep breeds — Shetlands, Scottish Blackface, Black Welsh Mountain — that were often turned loose into the wilderness and left to fend for themselves.

“You want sheep that test a dog; that will split up or run away or even fight if the dog’s not right,” he said.

Sheepdog trials held at Wolston Farm include the well-attended Northwest Championship Sheepdog Trial, associated with Scio’s annual Linn County Lamb and Wool Fair.

“Competing at trials for me now is not just something I do for fun,” he said. “It’s almost a business requirement and part of how I made my reputation for being able to do what I do.”

OKeefe and Caldicott are also changing the way they sell their animals’ wool, from having it processed into yarn and roving, which has become cost prohibitive, into creating felted fleeces.

Using moisture and the friction of a palm sander, their process knots together all the fibers on a fleece’s underside, creating something akin to a sheepskin rug without the skin.

Their yearly “Meet the Lambs” day, with its baby lambs and dogs herding sheep, tends to get people dreaming of living such an idyllic life themselves.

“It always makes us laugh because it’s not idyllic and peaceful at all; it’s hard work,” Caldicott said. “What they see that day takes us two weeks to prepare for.”

He explained why they stay so busy.

“The reason we do so many things is because, with small farms these days, if you don’t have multiple income streams, you’re in trouble,” Caldicott said.

This is the type of thing Caldicott shares as a consultant to people keen on starting small-acreage farms.

The biggest mistake people make is investing all they have into buying it, leaving no money to put in the infrastructure necessary to convert it into what they want.

The other thing people tend to fall down on is marketing.

“The ‘If you build it, they will come’ thing doesn’t work,” Caldicott said. “If you want to have a (Community Supported Agriculture program), for instance, you must start by going to the farmers markets and earning a reputation for good produce.

“In our case, we travel and do demonstrations, which not only brings in a little bit of income but gets our name out there,” he added. “It doesn’t hurt that the dogs also love to show off their skills to the crowds.”