International quest for new working dog bloodlines pays off at auction

Queensland working dog breeders are venturing overseas in search of unique bloodlines to use in artificial insemination programs.

Working dogs with bred with semen from America piqued the interest of buyers at this year's Ray White Working Dog Sale, with one Border Collie bred by a US dog even attracting international attention.

The top-priced pup, Carrdoon Charm, was bred by Gavin Carr of Carrdoon Genetics, based at Doondoon near Mundubbera.

Charm was the result of an artificial insemination mating between Carrdoon Netty and semen from US sire J Crazy J Sam, a dog Mr Carr personally scouted during a 4500 kilometre research trip across the United States.

"Charm has a great nature to work with and I feel she will be medium strength with nice herding ability," Mr Carr said.

"She comes from a consistent litter of 10 pups, all showing strong working instincts."

The buyer, Michael Lennon from Vanuatu, flew in to inspect the dogs in person and spent a day with Mr Carr to evaluate the line before purchasing Charm, along with another female from Carrdoon genetics for a friend.

Mr Carr said that the buyer favored a younger dog, believing a pup like Charm would adapt more easily to the tropical climate.

Charm was a half-sister to the top pup sale from 2024, lot 79, Carrdoon Della, that sold for $32,000 to Rob Grieve at Westwood.

Both dogs are out of Carrdoon Netty, a proven breeding female in Mr Carr's program.

Mr Carr has been breeding and working dogs for 18 years, alongside a commercial cattle operation using Droughtmaster herd crosses for breeding and finishing.

"I've been over to the US twice now, looking at dogs across the country - Mississippi, Nebraska, up near Salt Lake City," he said.

"The sire of Charm ticked nine out of 10 boxes for what I was looking for."

Mr Carr highlighted the value of collaboration among Australian breeders, noting he worked with a group of fellow dog breeders to import the genetics.

"When you can work with your mates and bring dogs in together, it's good- you get to share what you've got," he said.

With semen from five US bloodlines now available within his breeding program, Mr Carr believes Australian breeders have the potential to not only benefit from international genetics, but also to export quality working dogs overseas.

"I think we've got a lot of very good stockmen in Australia, with real hands-on knowledge," he said.

"Moving forward, I'd like to bring more international buyers to us."

Breeders Marty Addy and Emma Sutherland of Rolleston, trading under Addy Sutherland Partnership, also enjoyed success at this year's sale, with both U.S. and Welsh bloodline Border Collies in high demand.

Their sales included Addy's Elsie, a female AI collie, which sold for $10,500 to Jay Hurlock, and Addy's Buck, a male AI pup, which fetched $7000 from Damien Overton.

Both pups are sired by the American dog 7J IKE.

"We've been going down the AI road for the last three or four years and we're just trying to improve our genetic pool, bringing in outside blood," Mr Addy said.

"Obviously, every dog's different, but looking at attributes, when we had success with UK bloodlines, we were looking for more herding ability and trainability."

This year marks the first time Mr Addy worked with US bloodlines, using semen from 7J IKE after waiting for the right breeding conditions.

"We're really liking them," he said.

"The attitude seems very trainable, and I think they'll have a fair bit of force down the track."

Their Welsh AI pups, lot 73, Addy's Teak, sold for $5500 to Glen Humble, and lot 80, Addy's Syd, sold to Trevor Turner for $6500, both were sired by Welsh sire, Henre Sam.

Mr Addy also shared his success with Welsh genetics in the past, with their Red Spot pups from the 2023 sale averaging $15,666.

"I think it's a benefit for the Australian working dog industry," he said.

"It's not everyone's cup of tea, like there's a fair bit of money involved in it.

"It's a bit of a gamble, but increasing the genetic pool of dogs in Australia, I don't think we can go wrong."