OF the 89 shown for Skipton Auction Mart’s summer sale of working sheep dogs, over half sold through the online, timed sale with live bidding. The showcase comprised of 36 fully broken, 30 part broken and 23 unbroken dogs.

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.

Leading handlers and trialists 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 sold for £7,000 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 £6,900 to buyer Jaehoon Lee, in Korea.

Closer to home, P. Mellin of Oakworth in West Yorkshire sold two year old tri-dog, Ted for £5,800 to David Garvey of North Yorkshire.

Also up there with the leading prices, Irish seller N. Hirrell of County Donegal, topped at £4,500 for a 17 month old, part trained black and white bitch, thanks to Ayrshire based buyer, Hew Young.

Evans took another high price of £4,200 for his fully broken, black, white and mottled dog, Pentre Zac, which 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 £7,000.

The sale prices of unbroken youngsters ranged from £600 to £2,100. 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 £2,100.

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 £2,000, 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 we have 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. It was great to see another varied selection of buyers and sellers.”