Puppy love comes with a world record $11,000 price tag

The 11-week-old untrained black and white Border Collie puppy called 'Bet' was sold at the Skipton Auction Mart's first online dog sale of the year.

To give the sale price some local context, in 2018 at the working dog auction held annually at Casterton in Victoria during the annual Kelpie muster, a working dog pup sold for what was considered a staggering $5800.

In 2019, kelpie breeder Shane Maurer of Getitdun Working Dogs near Yass set an Australian record price for a working kelpie at the Jerilderie Working Dog Auction when he sold his bitch 'Eveready Possum' for $25,000.

The UK pup was sold by a well known sheep dog trialist and farmer David Evans from Penclyn Farm at Brecon in Wales.

The previous unbroken sale record for a working dog at these UK auctions was $6500 realised for Northern Ireland's Donal Mullaney last October.

The sale record was no fluke, Mr Evans also owns the world record price for a sheepdog with a price of $35,500 for paid for four-year-old 'Henna' last year.

The Evans' family are highly regarded sheepdog trialists in Europe.

'Bet' was sired by son Kevin's own red dog, 'Spot', recently bought from Germany out of John Bowen's Tess, a leading Open trials female, she returned to Wales with an unnamed buyer.

Mr Evans also sold another high-priced pup at the same auction making $6700 with a second 11-week-old black and white bitch, 'Karven Flash' to an online buyer from Norway.

The Evans' father and son made almost $97,500 with six dogs in the sale.

Dog buyers were from Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland, America and across Europe.

The next chance for Australian working dogs to challenge the spectacular UK prices will be at the Jerilderie working dog auction on Saturday, February 27.