Wyverene Max sold for $A12,200 in the Skipton sale.

SHEEP dogs sold to a top price of £7000 or A$12,400 at the most recent Skipton Auction Mart sale in the United Kingdom.

More than half of the 89 shown for Skipton Auction Mart’s summer sale of working sheep dogs sold via the online, timed sale with live bidding. The catalogue included 36 fully broken, 30 part-broken and 23 unbroken dogs.

Organisers said there was a notably strong Irish entry in the line-up for the 15 June sale, complemented by others from across England, Wales and Scotland, along with the Isle of Man and four dogs from a handler in Finland.

Leading handlers and triallists were again represented, including Welsh legend Kevin Evans, of Brecon, who achieved the top sale price for the field run dogs with his 18 month-old black and white Bitch, Kemi Nan, who has pups due in July. The the daughter of his international trial winner, Derwen Doug, was described as a quality, classy female, suitable for farm and trial work, and sold for £7000 to John Jennings of Pembroke.

Evans has made a major impact at both live and online Skipton sheepdog sales in recent years, regularly heading the selling prices with his own dogs, among them several at five-figure sales, some setting new world records, while others of his breeding in different hands have also commanded solid prices.

The day’s top price was closely followed by seller Ian Dodd of Laylianen, Finland. He sold 15 month old Black and White Dog, Wyverene Max – a son of Kevin Evan’s Derwen Doug – for £6900 or A$12,200 to buyer Jaehoon Lee, in Korea.

Closer to home, P. Mellin of Oakworth in West Yorkshire sold two year old Tri-Dog, Ted for £5800 to David Garvey of North Yorkshire.

Also up there with the leading prices, Irish seller N. Hirrell of County Donegal, topped at £4500 for a 17 month-old, part-trained black and white bitch, thanks to Ayrshire-based buyer, Hew Young. Evans took another high price of £4200 for his fully broken, black, white and mottled dog, Pentre Zac, that sold to R. Jones of Devon.

Though no records were broken, prices held firm on the whole, with trained and part-trained dogs selling between £300 and £7000.

The sale prices of unbroken youngsters ranged from £600 to £2100. The sale’s leading price for an unbroken dog was attained by D. Bevan of Builth Wells, Wales. His 10 week-old, striking lilac bitch, Floss, sold to S. Holt for £2100.

This was closely followed by Irish seller, B. Durning of County Donegal, who sold his well-bred 12 week-old black and white bitch for £2000, to P. Simpson.

Skipton Auction Mart’s general manager and auctioneer Jeremy Eaton said the power of the online selling system has been well illustrated at previous sales by the fact that the sale has been able to match dogs from handlers here in the UK and abroad with buyers across the globe.

“This sale offered a comprehensive selection of fully broken, part-broken and unbroken dogs for both farm work and as trial prospects to suit most tastes and pockets,” he said.