Working dog trainer Joe Spicer's GoGetta Kelpie sale breaks record

Mr Spicer's Glenthompson-based GoGetta Kelpie stud offered 15 working dogs in an AuctionsPlus-only sale over the weekend, selling all 15 to a top price of $28,000, and an average price of $17,733.

This smashed the previous Australian record average price of $10,580, set at the Jerilderie Working Dog Sale at Jerilderie, NSW, in February this year.

Despite the incredible, record-breaking result, Mr Spicer said what mattered most was recording a 100 per cent clearance and the 15 dogs going off to the right homes.

"But our hopes and expectations were well and truly surpassed well beyond what we ever could have imagined, by absolutely smashing the record for the highest average at any working dog sale," he said.

"A lot of hard work and long, frustrating days have gone into each and every dog to take them to this level."

Mr Spicer is no stranger to media attention, having been the expert breeder-trainer in popular ABC television show Muster Dogs.

And some of the dogs in the sale either featured in or were related to dogs that featured in the show.

Lot 1 - Jones's Zoey (also known as Truce) - was the dam of some of the famous dogs on the show, and she made $14,000.

Mr Spicer said this was a "unique opportunity" to purchase such an outstanding bitch.

Lot 3 - GoGetta Blud - was half brother to the original dogs from the show, and he made $13,000 at the sale.

But the dog that made the highest price was Lot 5 - GoGetta Trunk (also known as Mouse) - who was the control dog in Muster Dogs.

Mouse, who is a bitch, sold for $28,000 to Cumbre stud in central Victoria

READ MORE:

Mr Spicer said despite "tearing our hair out at times", they planned to continue running auctions annually moving forward.

"We discussed all of our options, and we could have offered a few of them at different sales around the country, but we felt this way really added the personal touch," he said.

"People could come and meet the dogs before the sale and get to know their personality and see if they were going to click with that dog.

"A lot of our buyers have been working with us for 30 years."

He said running the sale online only got rid of the hype.

"We wanted the focus to be on the dogs," he said.

"The helmsman system was the best-possible auction scenario.

"We don't know what the dogs are worth until people start bidding - we could advertise them for $5000 or $50,000, but at the end of the day it's what the market wants to pay that's important."