Sheepdog Sale Report
“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” is how Skipton Auction Mart’s general manager and auctioneer, Jeremy Eaton, described its most recent auction.
89 lots – 36 fully broken, 30 part broken, and 23 unbroken dogs – came under the hammer at its summer sale of working sheep dogs.
According to Eaton, over half sold through the online, timed sale with live bidding.
There was a “notably” strong Irish entry in the line-up for Tuesday’s sale, complemented by others from across England, Wales and Scotland, along with the Isle of Man and four dogs from a handler in Finland.
Sheepdog Sale
Leading handlers and triallists were again represented, among them 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.
Described as a “quality, classy female, suitable for both farm and trial work”, the daughter of his international trial winner, Derwen Doug, changed hands for £7,000 and now heads to John Jennings of Pembroke.
The day’s top price was closely followed by seller Ian Dodd of Laylianen, Finland. He put his 15-month-old Black and White Dog, Wyverene Max – a son of Kevin Evan’s Derwen Doug – under the hammer for £6900, with Jaehoon Lee, in Korea, successfully snapping up this lot.
Meanwhile, P. Mellin of Oakworth in West Yorkshire sold two-year-old Tri-Dog, Ted, for £5800 to David Garvey of North Yorkshire.
Under £5,000
Also, up there with the leading prices, Irish seller N. Hirrell of County Donegal, at £4500 (over €5,200) for a 17-month-old, partly trained black and white bitch. She now heads to Ayrshire-based buyer, Hew Young.
Evans took another high price of £4200 for his fully broken, black, white, and mottled dog, Pentre Zac, which R. Jones of Devon snapped up.
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.
Jeremy Eaton said:
“Though no records were broken, prices held firm on the whole. Trained and part-trained dogs sold for between £300 and £7000.”
“The power of the online selling system has been well illustrated at previous sales by the fact that we have been able to match dogs from handlers here in the UK and abroad with buyers across the globe. It was great to see another varied selection of buyers and sellers.”
Report compiled with Danielle Daggett’s assistance.
Other articles on That’s Farming:
- ‘Breeding is a gamble’ – sheepdog breeder and trainer
