Andrew Rutherford’s Doolan’s Milly sold for $7000 at the 2016 Jerliderie Working Dog Auction. Picture – Anna Doughan.

KELPIES sold to $7000 at the 2016 Jerilderie Working Dog Auction at the weekend.

In a tougher auction attributed to seasonal conditions, a crowd of 500-600 people saw 37 dogs of the 53 offered sell for a gross of $111,540 and an average of $2932.

The top-priced dog was Andrew Rutherford’s Lot 10, 2.5 year-old black and tan kelpie bitch Doolan’s Milly, by Jendara Boss II out of Barru Sarah. She was bought by Western Australian buyer, Matt Ryan of Coorow.

Other notable prices in the auction included $6700 for Lot 15, James Fowler’s dog, Pig; $6000 for Lot 13, Warwick Doolan’s dog Dan; $6000 for Lot 8, Gerard Bibby’s dog Louie, and $6000 for Lot 24, Noel Templeton’s bitch Mel.

Buyers came to Sunday’s auction at the Jerilderie Racecourse from most areas of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, but co-organiser Andrew Rutherford said the auction was “a little bit tougher than we expected it would be”. Many of the auction’s buyers have traditionally come from Victoria, but the state has suffered from extremely dry conditions, he said.

At the 2015 auction, 40 of the 42 dogs offered sold for an average price of $3130.95 and up to $7600 for Lot 32 Warwick Doolan’s dog Rocky, a 17 month-old Kelpie purchased by Tolldale Management Gunning, NSW.

For more details, visit the Jerilderie Working Dog Auction website here.