Jim tops Skipton spring working dog sale at £9,000

There was a bumper entry of just over 50 working dogs available for sale at the recent CCM Skipton Auction Mart spring working sheepdog sale.

The entries came from right across England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

It was a well-bred rising two-year-old black, white and mottled dog called Jim that topped the sale, selling for £9,000 (€10,491).

Jim was brought to sale by young Wales handler and triallist Llion Harries. Jim was sired by the much-admired Jock that had a very successful trialling career, winning an English nursery, English national and an international supreme championship.

Jim pulled in avid interest from online before he fell to Canadian buyer Campbell Forsyth of Eriksdale, located in the Interlake region of central Manitoba, some 118km north of Winnipeg.

Taking the next best price of £6,700 (€7,809) in the trained section was Syfnny Sal from well-known trainer Kevin Evans from Brecon.

This November 2023-born bitch was Kevin's Welsh nursery champion. The champion bitch was purchased by American buyer Dr Karen Thompson of New Kent, Virginia, a retired theologian who has been working, training and breeding border collies for over 40 years.

She has also served on the board of directors of the American Border Collie Association.

Part-broken dogs

The top call of £7,500 (€8,738) in the part-broken section went to a handy October 2023-born dog named Glen.

Glen was the property of Emma Jane from Derwent in the Derbyshire Peak District.

The smart dog was sired by Ricky Hutchinson’s Jonah, another multiple trial-winning stud dog. The young dog was sold to A Cotswold from Chipping Norton.

Unbroken dogs

Topping the unbroken section and selling for £1,200 (€1,398) was a six-month-old pup from Nicla Lock from Co Mayo.

This flashy black and tan pup named Sue was sired by KG Gambles dog Ballyglass Dug, that has been consistently producing quality young nursery types.

Sue was picked up by Donegal man John McLoone.

Pick up a copy of this week's Irish Farmers Journal to read the full report.