PENSHURST Kelpie breeder, Ash Caruana was thrilled to achieve the top sale price at the 27th Annual Premier Australian Working Dog Auction at the Australian Kelpie Muster in Casterton on Sunday, fetching $25,000 for one of his dogs ‘Beloka Rumble’.

Sold to an online bidder, the price was a record for Mr Caruana, 31, who has owned and run his own stud called Caruana Kelpie Stud since 2018.

Mr Caruana bought ‘Beloka Rumble’ when he was only a four-month-old pup and put a lot of time and energy into training him.

The standout sire had the opportunity to show off his prowess in the working dog demonstrations on Sunday morning before the auction in the afternoon.

“He performed really well in the demo,” Mr Caruana said.

“I knew he had plenty of potential, but I never had the expectation of topping the market.

“It’s definitely a great outcome.

“He’s still only two years old so he’s still got plenty of maturing to do so for his age it was good to top the auction.

“He was part of my A-Team.”

The top bidder for ‘Beloka Rumble’ was another Kelpie stud owner, David Webb, from Kobyboyn Kelpie Stud in Seymour.

Mr Caruana said leading up to (the Kelpie Muster) vendors were required to supply footage of their sale dogs to the Casterton Kelpie Association to be uploaded to AuctionsPlus.

“When you put your entry in you’ve got to provide a video link,” he said.

“People watch all the footage of your dog and then the auction is held in conjunction with AuctionsPlus online.

“So, if the bidders are not at Casterton, they can bid online.”

Mr Caruana described ‘Beloka’ as a very versatile dog - an all-rounder that can be used in the paddock and yards and he also works sheep and cattle.

“For his age he had plenty of miles under his belt and was a ‘sirey’ type,” he said.

“I used him as a sire to get one litter of pups out of him before he went to Casterton.

“I joined him with my main bitch and got seven pups from him, and they will mostly all sell - but I’ll keep a couple for myself.”

‘Beloka Rumble’ was the only dog Mr Caruana had for sale on Sunday, however, he was very excited that another one of his dogs he bred and sold as a pup was also for sale and sold for $12,500.

This is the third year he has sold dogs at the Australian Kelpie Muster and also takes his dogs to Jerilderie in NSW and Lucindale in South Australia and generally sells them for between $10,000 and $15,000.

Mr Caruana said it takes a lot of time and effort to get dogs trained to be sale ready.

“To that level - it definitely takes a lot of effort,” he said.

“I’d like to thank Pets Domain and Stockman & Paddock - they supply all my dog food and worming tablets and anything health wise to keep all my team in top shape.”

Mr Caruana also paid tribute to the renowned Joe Spicer from Glenthompson’s GoGetta Kelpie Stud for assisting him in getting his Kelpie stud up and running.

“He has been really helpful in the last six to seven years in helping me train my dogs and get established,” he said.

“I’ve become very good mates with Joe - he’s been very good in guiding and teaching me most of what I know.”