Mart to stage virtual online working sheep dog sale

In a normal year, Skipton Auction Mart stages four seasonal working sheep dogs sales, which attract over 100 entries from breeders, handlers and trialists
In a normal year, Skipton Auction Mart stages four seasonal working sheep dogs sales, which attract over 100 entries from breeders, handlers and trialists

A North Yorkshire mart is set to stage a virtual online working sheep dog sale with real-time viewing in what it claims to be a UK first.

Live working sheep dogs sales, which often attract large crowds, cannot be held while the government's Covid-19 restrictions remain in place.

But Skiption Auction Mart is now going ahead with plans to organise an online initiative over a six-day period from 12-17 July.

Following the forced cancellation of the spring sale earlier this month, in a letter to all potential entrants, the mart's general manager Jeremy Eaton proposed going virtual.

“We deliberated about providing our regular customers with a substitute to ensure that dogs move into the right hands to keep sheep farmers farming and to provide succession on the trial field for trialists.

“Mindful of this, we propose to create a virtual sale following the form of conventional timed auctions, but introducing a semi-social element via pre-sale conference viewing the evening before each sale," Mr Eaton said.

Subject to Department of Health Covid-19 advice, the fixture would feature standalone viewing and sale days for entries from three separate countries - Scotland, England and Wales.

These would also be supplemented by two further standalone All-Ireland and European viewing and sale days, dependant on both entry levels and access to transport facilities with the resumption of freight crossings.

A final closing date for all entries has been set for 16 June to be followed by pre-sale video catalogue viewing via the working sheep dog section of the mart’s website from 29 June.

Then, every evening between 5pm and 7.30pm immediately before each online sale day, vendors would be available for live conference viewing with Q&A sessions and live demos of individual entries.

On each sale day, there would be a 12-hour window between 11am and 11pm for online bidding, to be streamed live via the mart’s website, with an inbuilt click-on bidding facility for potential purchasers.

The schedule would open with the viewing and sale of Scottish entries on 12-13 July, followed by England on 13-14 July, Wales 14-15 July, All-Ireland July 15-16 and European July 16-17.

In the interim, the mart said all entrants would be responsible for producing and submitting videos no later than 23 June, showing individual dogs being put through their paces.

Mr Eaton said: “It is important that videos are submitted in the correct format, with some simple minimum requirements to prove an entry’s authenticity against the dog shown working.

"We don’t want to have to reject entries if the videos are not in the required format."

The mart said it would offer advice and guidance in video production to entrants who felt they may require it.

"Within the working sheep dog section of our website we will have a video of best practice for the pre-sale video," Mr Eaton added.

"We are also working with a provider who can do this for a vendor for a fee and is also able to film drone footage of both hill and top trial dogs.”

The mart reiterated that all arrangements remain subject to Covid-19 advice and that there may be some variations dependant on the number and geographical locations of entries received.

In a normal year, Skipton Auction Mart stages four seasonal working sheep dogs sales, which attract over 100 entries from breeders, handlers and trialists.

At the last sale in February this year, the world record price for a working sheep dog at an official sale was beaten when Northumberland shepherdess Emma Gray hit 18,000gns (£18,900) with her black and white bitch, Megan.

She fell to a telephone bidder from Oklahoma in the United States, cattle farmer and businessman, Brian D. Stamps.