Rockhampton Working Dog Sale's record $33,000 bid for Border Collie

Cabra Glebe Working Dogs from Casino, New South Wales, sold the 21-month-old border collie, Cabra Glebe Sid, for $33,000 at the Ray White Livestock Rockhampton Working Dog Sale at CQLX, Gracemere, on Sunday.

Working dog breeder Joe Leven of Doubtful Creek via Casino, NSW, sold the dog to buyers James and Helen Parker of Monto.

The Parker family run a Wagyu beef commercial operation near Monto and run up to 750 breeders, where they breed cattle for the feedlot market.

Ms Parker said Sid was their pick heading into the sale.

"We were really keen on (Sid), as he was just an all-round working cattle dog," she said.

"We use working dogs every day on our property and they're a big part of our operation.

"Sid was just a type of style dog that we were after.

"We were not looking for a trailing dog, just a working dog that goes all day, has good instinct and train ability."

Sid hadn't even begun working the cattle in the sale ring, before the first couple of bids started flying in for him.

"We paid a bit more than what we thought we would, but we can see the value and (Sid's) a young dog and he'll work for us for many years," Ms Parker said.

The previous record, also set by the Leven family, was for Cabra Glebe Big, which fetched $30,100 at the annual Geurie Golden Collar Working Dog Auction in 2021.

Mr Leven said the record bid reflected the value of a "good working dog".

"You don't expect great things like this to happen very often, but the sale itself and this particular result of $33,000 bid is a real testament to the working dog," Mr Leven told the Queensland Country Life.

"There's no doubt there's a labour shortage and there's people screaming out for labour and skills and the humble old working dog is answering the call in a lot of ways.

"There are things that a working dog can do that you can't pay people to do and people are starting to realise their true value."

Sid's sire was Carrdoon Boss and he was out of Handsfords Goldie.

Mr Leven described Sid as "complete package.

"He's exhibits great ethic and proven genetics," he said.

"He has walk-up strength, with a clean calm bite. He is not whip shy and works from horseback."

Mr Leven said it was a sad farewell, but they were happy to see him go to a good home.

"We're sad to see him go and I had a bit of a lump in my throat as he sold," he said

"He's a beautiful dog.

"We're retaining his sister, she's probably just as good, a tad better, but beautiful nature dog."

In total, Ray White Livestock agents offered 112 working dogs, with 98 lots sold on the day.

In the dogs section, 36 lots of the 42 offered sold to gross $315,250 and average $8756, up by $1538 on 2022 sale result, which 56 dogs sold.

A price of $4300 was paid for the top service fee, which was for Cabra Glebe Joey, to buyer Roger Geldard of Miles, with proceeds going to Dan Rutledge and family.

In the pups section, aged four to 10 months, 70 lots were offered, with 62 sold on the day for a gross of $285,200 and average of $4569.

A top price of $16,000 was paid twice during the sale, with lots Addy's Jazz and Addy's Hope, offered by Marty Addy and Emma Sutherland, taking home those top honours.

The Rockhampton Working Dog Sale was conducted by Ray White Rural Livestock team at Gracemere and Rockhampton, with auctioneers Liam Kirkwood, Bill Seeney, Joe Grove, and Blake OReilly, taking the bids.

The sale was also simulcast through StockLive, with online registering 165 bidders and 1075 viewers on the day.

In total, 335 individual online bids were taken, representing 36 per cent of the sale and $196,500.

Dogs were sold across Queensland and New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia.

Ray White Rural sale organiser Gary Wendt, Gracemere, said it was brilliant to achieve those results on the day.

"With the catalogue we had, it was sort of expected, but you never know where the top price is going to be," Mr Wendt said.

"I'm really impressed with the outcome.

"Five years ago at our first inaugural sale, we had just eight working dogs and we set off with a 10 year plan to expand this sale and it's fair to say we were ahead of our time.

"Tim Flynn and I love working dogs and it's great to see that people have got the same passion we have."

A working dog trial was also run in conjunction with the sale, with competitors and their dogs competing over two days before the sale on Sunday.

Handler Dan Killey and his dog, Nadnat Percy, won overall, achieving 283 points over the two days.

Mr Wendt said the trail was well received, with working dog handlers coming from from across the country to compete.

"It can be a bit slow and tedious at times, but it is quite enjoyable when you see a good run put together," Mr Wendt said.

Queensland Country Life will have a wrap up of the sale in this week's print edition.