Top Dog Fetches Top Price

THE top dog at the National Working Stock Dog Futurity and Sale in Scone fetched $9,500, the top price at the sale to date.

There were 52 lots averaging $3,300 from eight week old pups to grown working dogs and more than 112 bidders from throughout Australia and some interest from the United States.

The top dog, Glen Faba Gibber, was bred by Ben Crowe of Murrurundi which sold to Gavin Clarke of Queensland.

See gallery below.

Zac Ede, joint organiser of the sale from Elders, described the sale as the best yet; it grossed $176,000 and had a clearance of 50 out of 52 lots.

“There was a better market and higher price, probably due to the strong livestock market at the moment,” said Mr Ede.

“People are already thinking about getting dogs ready for next year, so it is continuing to grow,” said Zac Ede.

Dan Matthews from Woolbrook won the open dog trial with his dog Lance who he describes as a half-handy dog and said the Scone sale was the Australian landmark of the cattle dog world.

“There is the horse capital here, but this sale is the landmark of the cattle dog world because of the futurity and this is the biggest prize money and the toughest one to win,” said Mr Matthews.

“The cattle were good, the people were good, the weather was a bit cold, but there were a lot of coastal fellas came down and supported it, a lot of Queensland fellas too,” he said.

“The fact that you are only allowed to have two dogs, means people can’t bring a whole team, you’ve just got to bring your best two,” he said.

On the back of record high cattle prices people were expecting high prices for the dogs, but a good dog is seen as money well spent.

“The days of the $1,500 horse and the $200 dog are long gone,” said Mr Matthews.

“This is a sale where you can say what your dog’s worth, but this is a good decider,” he said.

“A lot of cockeys now they don’t have time to train a dog so it is good for them; even if they pay $6,000 for a dog it’s still cheap, because if they get one that is ready to go, it’s still much cheaper than hiring a bloke for a year to do what they do,” Dan Matthews said.

Peter Rutherford, traveled from Blaney to take out the futurity trial with Squeak who had just turned four.

“She’s been good to me, she came second in it two years ago, so we thought we’d come back again and it was good to get the win,” Mr Rutherford said.

“She is a pretty head strong dog, it means she’s hard to train but she is stubborn enough to stand up to the cattle which is good,” he said.

“I’ve come here the last three years and even if I don’t buy a dog, it’s just good to see what is out there and see what bloodlines are working, it’s good to see all the dogs here in one place,” Peter Rutherford.