Sheepdog Mirk sells for £19,100 through Skipton Auction Mart’s online sale

In October 2020, Kevin Evans set a new world record selling his tri-coloured bitch, Henna for £20,000.

Sales prices almost reached those lofty heights again this month.

Last week’s timed, online-only sale of working sheepdogs saw leading handler and triallist, Dewi Jenkins, achieve the principal price once again (Tuesday 12th March).

This time Jenkins sold his two-year-old Dog, Mirk for £19,100 to Mr Monty Motto of the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

Jenkins, of Tynygraig, Ceredigion in Wales speaks highly of the eye-catching Mirk; a homebred dog with class, natural ability, plenty of forward gear and quality breeding behind him. Adept at farm work and ready for trials, Mirk is a grandson of Jenkins’ prized dog, Jock, with whom he won the international supreme championship sheep dog trials in 2022.

Also in October 2022, Mirk’s mother, Jill, sold for a record price of £26,000 at Bala Auction Mart’s field sale in Gwynedd, Wales.

Following Jenkins’ top price, other notable prices for fully broken dogs included two-year-old Fern, sold by S. Massey of Dumfries for £5000. Fern was sold to Ross Clarke, also of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Adam Ledgar of Cheshire wasn’t far behind, selling one-year-old bitch, Vicky for £4300 to H Chapman and Son, Carnforth, Lancashire.

The spring online sale also saw some high prices for part-broken and unbroken sheepdogs. Elaine Hill of Holmrook in Cumbria became the happy new owner of young Aran Jet, a nine-month-old, part-broken bitch sold by John Bell, Howden, for £4200.

Similarly to the top-priced Mirk, Jet is a granddaughter of Dewi Jenkins’ champion dog, Jock and is proving to be a spectacular working dog.

Karen Karkow of Oxford in the USA purchased a part-broken Dog, Hilltop Stan, from David Wood of Derbyshire for £6500, and an unbroken pup, Mirk, for £1100 from Carol Mellin of nearby Oakworth, West Yorkshire, the highest price unbroken dog.

There was a good trade throughout, with 25 of the 32 fully broken dogs and bitches entered sold. All those put forward were registered.

The bitches averaged £3202.50, and the dogs averaged £4546.50. 17 of 35 part broken dogs were sold, comprising five registered bitches averaging £1701, two unregistered bitches averaging £1155 and ten registered dogs averaging £1706.25.

Trade was strong for unbroken pups, too, with six of eight sold.

Two registered bitches sold averaged £1680 and one unregistered bitch sold at £525, along with two registered dogs averaging £708.75 and one unregistered dog also sold at £525.

CCM’s next sale of working sheepdogs will be a live field sale, held on Friday 17th May.