NORTH Wales dog trainer Sion Jones had a field day at Skipton mart’s summer working sheep dogs sale on Friday, claiming the top call of 10,000gns (£10,500) on the trials field and repeating the feat in the unbroken pen with a 1,600gns (£1,680) youngster.

Mr Jones, of Corwen, headed the broken dog prices with his 20-month-old tri-coloured bitch, Tess, a daughter of Netherlands-based former World Sheep Dog Trials champion Serge van der Sweep’s Gary.

Tess put in an impeccable run on the trials field, creating keen interest at the ringside before falling for both work and potential trialing to a buyer from Northern Ireland who asked not to be named.

Earlier in the day, Mr Jones led the way in the unbroken pen with a 1,600gns sale of his near six month-old tri-coloured dog, Cefneithin Rex who was bought by regular Scottish buyer, Jock Sutherland, from Durness.

Two dogs made joint second top call of 6,600gns and both fell to Welsh buyer, top trialist Kevin Evans, of Brecon.

First up was the November, 2017, black and white dog, Pen-y-Borough Bodger, from North Craven’s Shaun Richards, of Eldroth. The second was Lecsi, a 16 month-old black and white mottled bitch from North Wales handler, Dylan Edwards.

Elsewhere Northern Ireland teenager Shannon Conn from County Londonderry, who won through to the junior handler final of ‘One Man and His Dog’ as a 13-year-old in 2015 and in the same year became Irish Junior champion, achieved 3,200gns with her October, 2017, tri-coloured dog, Cad (Lad), a nursery trials winner and qualifier for the North of Ireland nursery final in February this year, when bought by K&HA Ridley, of Consett.

In the unbroken pen, Welshman Dean Addison made 1,110gns with Rose, a red and white bitch, bought by Shaun Procter, who farms with his father Trevor at Great Musgrave, Kirkby Stephen. Selling well at 1,400gns was an August, 2018, red, white and tan bitch, Cydros Dot, from Laura Barnes, of Pickering, which sold to Stuart Fairfax of Bakewell.

The summer fixture attracted 77 dogs – 44field-run dogs and 33 in the unbroken pen. Prices and averages: Broken dogs –18 registered dogs from 650gns to 6,600gns (av £2,745); 13 registered bitches from 250gns to 10,000gns (av £3,029); 1 unregistered dog 750gns. Part/unbroken dogs – 10 registered dogs from 450gns to 1,600gns (av £805); 10 registered bitches from 400gns to 1,500gns (av £805).

Skipton’s final working sheep dog sale is on Friday, October 25. Entries close on October 11.