Top Results for the RMA Working Dog Auction

The strength of working dog sales continues to shine through in 2022, with the 11^th Annual RMA Network working dog auction held on the weekend soaring to new heights. Held in conjunction with AuctionsPlus since 2016, the annual RMA working dog sale is the longest running dog sale to utilize AuctionsPlus, providing pre-bidding in the week leading up to the sale along with live video and audio streaming on sale day.

The auction saw a total of 3,124 users logging in from across Australia to view the 42 catalogued dogs. The catalogue included a wide variety of dogs, comprising of Kelpies and Border Collie crosses, which ranged in age from six-years-one-month to six months old. The auction saw 35 dogs sell to an average of $8,471, an $861 increase on last year, with Lot 10 – “Mandalay Tex” topping the sale at $29,000 - $3,500 up on last years top price. The two-year-old Kelpie has Capree, Wyanbah and Eshman bloodlines in his pedigree and is described as having a “strong eye and big work ethic.”

Prices were not the only year-on-year increase for the RMA sale, as a rise in online activity was also up. Sitting 26% higher on last year, online bidding activity saw 68 bidders place over 250 bids on 98% of the catalogue, resulting in 20 dogs purchased online. Successful buyers spanned between Queensland and Tasmania. Topping the online purchases was Lot 33 – “Sam”, which returned $18,000 to a NSW buyer. Sam is a one-year-old Border Collie, described as “becoming a good lead dog with a nice herding instinct and is developing a clean bite on the front end of cattle.”

Securing top price for the offering of pups in this years sale was Lot 39 – “Bauers Cass” with the seven-month-old female pup selling for $13,000. Having started on sheep and recently introduced to cattle, Cass is described as having “a natural breakout and paces nicely behind her stock, …showing nose and heel bite on cattle with no bark.”

Other sale highlights included Lot 5 – “Gwydir Gibbs” with the two-year-old Kelpie selling for $15,000. Described as having “a natural cast, feeling his stock nicely while still having enough strength to be used in the shed and yards” Gibbs finds his new home across the Bass Strait in Tasmania.

To view the full sale result catalogue click here.