The 30 Most Expensive Dogs Ever Sold
Most dogs cost somewhere between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. A small number have sold for far more. China’s new rich bought Tibetan Mastiffs as status symbols, a family paid six figures for a guard dog, racing greyhounds have gone for small fortunes, and ranchers and shepherds now bid on top farm dogs the way they bid on prize cattle. If you’re wondering what everyday ownership costs, our list of the most expensive dog breeds to own covers that. This list is different: every entry is one real dog with a publicly reported sale price.
Each price is shown in the currency it was paid in, with a rough U.S. dollar figure at the exchange rate of the time. The ranking follows those U.S. figures, so dogs with close prices could swap places depending on exchange rates. Some of the biggest prices came from the seller’s own account and were never independently confirmed. Where that’s the case, we say so.
1. The Golden Tibetan Mastiff Puppy: 12 Million Yuan (About $1.9 Million)
In March 2014, a one-year-old golden-haired Tibetan Mastiff reportedly sold for 12 million yuan, about $1.9 million, at a luxury pet fair in Zhejiang province in eastern China. AFP, citing a local newspaper, reported that the buyer was a 56-year-old property developer from Qingdao who wanted to breed dogs himself.
The breeder, Zhang Gengyun, told the Associated Press that the same buyer also took the puppy’s red-haired brother, paying 18 million yuan for the pair with his credit card. An industry insider told reporters that prices like these may be inflated by deals among breeders, which Zhang denied.
If the figure is accurate, it’s the highest price ever reported for a dog. But because it rests on the breeder’s own account, Guinness World Records still lists Big Splash (number 2) as the most expensive dog. The Tibetan Mastiff boom in China cooled soon afterward, and prices for the breed dropped sharply.
2. Big Splash (Hong Dong): 10 Million Yuan (About $1.5 Million)
Big Splash, known in China as Hong Dong, is the dog Guinness World Records lists as the most expensive ever sold. The 11-month-old red Tibetan Mastiff sold in March 2011 for 10 million yuan, about $1.5 million at the time. The buyer was described as a coal baron from northern China and was never publicly named.
His breeder, Lu Liang, called him a perfect specimen. Lu said the young dog already weighed more than 180 pounds and had been fed chicken and beef, along with Chinese delicacies such as sea cucumber and abalone. He also suggested the new owner could earn the money back through stud fees.
The sale made headlines around the world and became the symbol of a craze in which giant, lion-maned Tibetan Mastiffs were treated as luxury goods by wealthy Chinese buyers.
3. The Red Tibetan Mastiff Twin: 6 Million Yuan (About $970,000)
The golden puppy at number 1 didn’t sell alone. According to breeder Zhang Gengyun, its red-haired brother went to the same buyer at the same March 2014 pet fair in Zhejiang for 6 million yuan, roughly $970,000.
Zhang told the Associated Press that the buyer, from Shandong province in eastern China, paid 18 million yuan for the two dogs together. As with the golden puppy, the price was never independently confirmed, and skeptics in the dog trade suggested that some of the era’s eye-popping mastiff prices were arranged among breeders to push values up.
Even so, the sale captured how far the Tibetan Mastiff craze had gone. The Tibetan Mastiff is an ancient guardian breed from the Himalayas, independent and protective, and was never meant to be a fashion accessory. Within a few years, the bubble burst and many breeders struggled to sell dogs at all.
4. Yangtze River Number Two: 4 Million Yuan (About $582,000)
Before Big Splash, the record belonged to a black Tibetan Mastiff called Yangtze River Number Two. In 2009, a woman identified only as Mrs. Wang reportedly paid 4 million yuan, about $582,000, for the dog, then around 18 months old.
According to reports at the time, she found the mastiff in Yushu, in China’s Qinghai province, and decided to buy it on the spot. When she brought the dog home to Xi’an, a motorcade of about 30 cars, reportedly Mercedes, came to meet them at the airport.
The story spread worldwide, and the dog was widely called the most expensive in the world until Big Splash sold two years later. It showed how quickly Tibetan Mastiffs had gone from working guard dogs on the Tibetan plateau to trophies for China’s wealthy.
5. Julia the German Shepherd: $230,000
Julia is the most expensive dog ever sold by Harrison K-9, a company that trains elite protection dogs for wealthy families. The German Shepherd sold for $230,000, a sale reported by The New York Times in 2011.
Her buyer was John Johnson, a debt-collection executive with homes in Minnesota and Arizona. Before moving in with the Johnsons, Julia spent years in training, including three years in Germany, and lived with the family of the company’s vice president so she would be used to home life as well as guard work.
Julia was an extreme case even for this business. The company’s president has said a fully trained protection dog usually sells for between $30,000 and $80,000, with an average of around $50,000. Buyers aren’t paying for pedigree alone. They’re paying for years of training in obedience, protection and calm behavior around children and guests.
6. PJ Burninitdown: $85,000
PJ Burninitdown is the most expensive racing greyhound ever sold at the National Greyhound Association’s auction in Abilene, Kansas. In April 2015, the young dog sold for $85,000 at the association’s auction for first-time racers, according to the Associated Press.
The buyer, Steve Sarras of West Virginia, planned to race the dog at a track in Arkansas. The seller, Jay Rangel of Abilene, also set an owner’s record that day with about $550,000 in total sales.
The price beat a record that had stood since 2006. It came during the last years of big-money greyhound racing in the United States. Many states have since banned the sport. Florida, once the center of the industry, ended live greyhound racing at the end of 2020 after voters approved a ban in 2018.
7. Greys Bricklayer: $80,000
For nearly a decade, Greys Bricklayer held the record at the National Greyhound Association’s auction in Abilene, Kansas, after selling for $80,000 in 2006. Only PJ Burninitdown’s $85,000 sale in 2015 topped it.
Prices like this reflected how much money a top racing greyhound could earn on the track and later at stud. Buyers at the Abilene auctions were looking for young dogs with fast bloodlines and strong early trial times, hoping to find a champion before anyone else did.
Today, a dog like Greys Bricklayer would have far fewer places to race in the U.S. Most American tracks have closed, and many retired racers now go to adoption groups instead. That makes the 2006 sale a snapshot of a very different era for the breed.
8. Kim: £27,100 (About $37,000)
Kim holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive sheepdog. The 12-month-old red-and-white border collie sold on February 3, 2021, at an online auction run by Farmers Marts of Dolgellau, Wales. The hammer price was £27,100, or £28,455 with the buyer’s fee, about $37,000 before the fee.
Kim was reared and trained by Welsh handler Dewi Jenkins of Talybont, near Aberystwyth. Her buyer was E. Vaughan of Partridge Nest Farm in Staffordshire, England.
Kim’s sale broke a record set only a few months earlier by Henna (number 14). It also showed how much the market for trained sheepdogs had grown. A dog that can gather and move a flock on its own saves a farmer hours of work every day, which is why buyers will pay so much for a proven youngster.
9. Capree Eve: A$49,000 (About $31,000)
On October 20, 2022, a 20-month-old kelpie named Capree Eve sold for A$49,000 at an on-farm sale at the Capree stud near Newbridge, south of Bathurst in New South Wales. That’s roughly $31,000 and was an Australian record for a working dog at the time.
Her breeder, Chris Stapleton, had expected around A$30,000 and said he was surprised by the result. Eve was bought for the Gilmore family’s Tattykeel sheep stud at Oberon, with an agent bidding online on their behalf.
Kelpies were developed in Australia to work sheep in tough, hot country, and good ones are prized for their stamina and their ability to work huge mobs with little direction. Reports at the time described her price as a likely world record for a kelpie.
10. Jill: £26,000 (About $29,000)
In October 2022, a sheepdog named Jill sold for a record £26,000, about $29,000, at Bala Auction Mart’s field sale in Gwynedd, Wales. Field sales let buyers watch each dog work sheep before bidding, so a strong run in front of the crowd can push the price up fast.
Jill’s name came up again two years later. Her son Mirk, sold by Welsh handler Dewi Jenkins, made £19,100 at Skipton in 2024 (number 17). Bloodlines matter a great deal in the sheepdog world, and a mother with a record price behind her adds value to her pups.
The buyer wasn’t named in reports, but the sale put Jill among the most expensive sheepdogs ever sold.
11. Cabra Glebe Barra: A$41,000
Cabra Glebe Barra set a new top price at the Ray White Livestock Rockhampton Working Dog Sale on May 3, 2026, selling for A$41,000 at the CQLX saleyards at Gracemere, Queensland. The white male border collie, two and a half years old, came from Joe Leven’s Cabra Glebe Working Dogs at Casino, New South Wales.
He was bought by Sam and Ellise Galea of Broadlea Station, Nebo. The price beat the A$40,000 that Cabra Glebe Liz made at the same sale in 2024 and the A$33,000 top price of 2025.
Barra is the latest in a run of record-breaking dogs from the Leven family, whose border collies are trained to work cattle. Five of their dogs appear on this list. In cattle country, a dog that can handle stock calmly in big, rough paddocks can save a station the cost of extra workers.
12. Eulooka Hoover: A$35,200 (About $27,000)
Eulooka Hoover holds the record at Australia’s best-known working dog auction, the Casterton Kelpie Muster in Victoria. In June 2021, the kelpie sold for A$35,200, about $27,000, to a sheep and cattle grazier from north-east Victoria.
That year’s auction had to move online because of a COVID-19 lockdown, the first time the Casterton sale was run on an online platform. Bidding stayed open for more than a week before closing on June 13.
Hoover, then around 28 months old, was bred by Rob Macklin of the Eulooka Kelpie stud in South Australia. Trainer David Lee of Edenhope, Victoria, bought him at 14 weeks old and described him as an all-rounder who worked both sheep and cattle. The Casterton auction records still list him as the top-priced dog in the sale’s history.
13. Cabra Glebe Liz: A$40,000 (About $26,500)
At the 2024 Rockhampton Working Dog Sale at Gracemere, Queensland, a 21-month-old border collie named Cabra Glebe Liz sold for A$40,000, about $26,500. She was presented by Joe Leven of Casino, New South Wales, and bought by James and Helen Parker of Monto, Queensland.
Some Australian outlets called it a world record for a working border collie, because A$40,000 is a bigger number than the $38,893 that Guinness gave for Kim (number 8). Others pointed out that the Guinness figure was in U.S. dollars and that Kim’s price was worth more in Australian dollars. Either way, Liz became the most expensive border collie ever sold in Australia at that point.
The Parkers already knew the Leven dogs well. A year earlier, they had bought Cabra Glebe Sid (number 20) for a then-record A$33,000. Liz went on to a working life on their cattle property, where she was nicknamed Queen Lizzie.
14. Henna: £20,000 (About $26,000)
On October 19, 2020, a four-year-old tri-colored sheepdog named Henna sold for £20,000, about $26,000, at an online sale run by Skipton Auction Mart in North Yorkshire. At the time, it was a world record for a working sheepdog at an official sale.
Henna was sold by Kevin Evans of Llwynfedwen Farm, near Brecon in Wales. Her buyer, Welsh hill farmer Donna Jones of the Black Mountains, watched video of Henna online and then went to the Evans farm to work the dog herself before bidding.
The sale beat a record set earlier that year by Elan Valley Sally (number 18), sold by Kevin’s father, David Evans. It was itself beaten a few months later by Kim (number 8). With sales moving online during the pandemic, buyers from much farther away could bid, and prices for top dogs climbed quickly.
15. Cabra Glebe Jenny: A$38,000 (About $25,000)
Cabra Glebe Jenny was the first big surprise at the 2024 Rockhampton Working Dog Sale. The border collie, a litter sister of Cabra Glebe Liz, sold for A$38,000, about $25,000, setting a new Australian record for a border collie.
Jenny’s record lasted only a short time. Later in the same sale, Liz sold for A$40,000 (number 13). It meant the Leven family of Casino, New South Wales, broke the national record twice in one day with two dogs from the same litter.
Two sisters selling for this much shows how highly buyers rated the Cabra Glebe line. Their border collies are bred and trained to work cattle, a tougher job than many people expect, since a dog has to stay calm and keep its distance from animals that can weigh far more than it does.
16. Megan: 18,000 Guineas (£18,900, About $24,500)
On February 21, 2020, Northumberland shepherdess Emma Gray sold her two-and-a-half-year-old black-and-white border collie, Megan, for 18,000 guineas at Skipton Auction Mart. That’s £18,900, about $24,500. British livestock auctions still use guineas, with one guinea equal to £1.05.
Bidding opened at 3,000 guineas and climbed fast. The winner, bidding by phone, was Brian D. Stamps, a cattle farmer from Oklahoma. The price smashed the previous world record of 14,100 guineas set by Cap (number 22).
It was Emma Gray’s second record in a row. A year earlier, she had set a record for a female sheepdog with Brenna (number 23). Megan, born in July 2017, came from strong trial-winning bloodlines on both sides.
17. Mirk: £19,100 (About $24,300)
In March 2024, Welsh handler and trialist Dewi Jenkins sold his two-year-old dog Mirk for £19,100, about $24,300, at CCM Skipton Auction Mart’s online spring sheepdog sale. The buyer was Monty Motto of the Shetland Islands in Scotland.
Mirk came from a family with a record behind it. His mother, Jill (number 10), sold for £26,000 at Bala in 2022. Dewi Jenkins, from Tynygraig in Ceredigion, is also the man who trained Kim (number 8), the Guinness record holder.
Few handlers have sold so many top-priced dogs. Jenkins’s success shows how reputation works in the sheepdog trade: buyers bid with more confidence when a dog comes from a trainer whose dogs have already done well on farms and at trials.
18. Elan Valley Sally: £19,451 (About $24,000)
In June 2020, a 19-month-old border collie named Elan Valley Sally sold for £18,525 at an online sale run by Farmers Marts of Dolgellau, Wales. With the buyer’s fee, the total came to £19,451, about $24,000, a world record at the time.
Sally was sold by David Evans of Penclyn Farm near Brecon and went to a buyer in the UK who wasn’t named. She was bred by Dean Addison, and her father, Derwen Doug, belonged to David’s son, Kevin.
The sale beat Megan’s record (number 16) from only a few months earlier. Then, in October, Kevin Evans broke his own father’s record with Henna (number 14). For a few months in 2020, the record for the world’s most expensive sheepdog stayed in one family.
19. Rapido Rosin: £16,800 (About $22,700)
Rapido Rosin was the top lot at the Romford sales trials in east London on July 17, 2025, selling for £16,800, about $22,700. The young greyhound, born in April 2024, ran the fastest trial of the day in 24.17 seconds before the bidding started.
She went to the kennel of trainer Paul Young, who bought two more dogs at the same sale. Reports put the day’s total at £117,150, with 41 of the 48 greyhounds entered finding buyers.
Her price topped the £16,300 that Drumcrow Mini (number 25) made in 2022, then reported as a British sales record. Greyhound racing is still popular in Britain and Ireland, so a puppy that shows real speed at a sales trial can draw serious bids.
20. Cabra Glebe Sid: A$33,000 (About $22,000)
In 2023, a 21-month-old border collie named Cabra Glebe Sid sold for A$33,000, about $22,000, at the Ray White Livestock Rockhampton Working Dog Sale at Gracemere, Queensland. It was an Australian record for the breed at the time.
Sid was bred and sold by Joe Leven of Doubtful Creek, near Casino, New South Wales. His buyers, James and Helen Parker of Monto, Queensland, said they paid more than they expected but saw value in a young dog that would work for many years. A year later, they came back for Cabra Glebe Liz (number 13).
Sid’s price beat the A$30,100 record set by another Leven dog, Cabra Glebe Big, in 2021. He has since been used for breeding, which helps a buyer earn back some of what a top working dog costs.
21. Cabra Glebe Big: A$30,100 (About $22,000)
Cabra Glebe Big was the first of the Leven family’s record-setting border collies. In September 2021, the 27-month-old male sold for A$30,100, about $22,000, at the Geurie Golden Collar working dog sale, which was held online through AuctionsPlus.
His price doubled in the final half hour, with A$100 bids coming in every 30 seconds. He went to a cattle operation in North Queensland. Breeder Joe Leven of Doubtful Creek, near Casino, New South Wales, had trained him to work cattle.
At the time, Big was the most expensive border collie ever sold in Australia. That record was broken by Sid in 2023, then by Jenny and Liz in 2024, and by Barra in 2026, all from the same family’s breeding program.
22. Cap: 14,100 Guineas (£14,805, About $21,400)
In May 2016, a 16-month-old black-and-white sheepdog named Cap sold for 14,100 guineas, £14,805, at Skipton Auction Mart’s late spring sale. That’s about $21,400 and was a new world record for a working sheepdog at an official sale.
Cap was bred by Padraig Doherty of Ardagh Sheepdogs in County Donegal, Ireland. His buyer was a sheep farmer who asked to remain anonymous and took the dog home to Northern Ireland.
The price smashed the previous record of 8,800 guineas set by Bob (number 28) in 2013, and it stood until Megan sold in 2020. For a dog barely out of puppyhood, the price showed how much buyers will pay for natural talent backed by early training.
23. Brenna: 14,000 Guineas (£14,700, About $19,000)
On February 22, 2019, Northumberland shepherdess Emma Gray sold Brenna, a two-year-old tri-colored female, for 14,000 guineas, £14,700, at Skipton Auction Mart. That’s about $19,000 and was a world record for a female sheepdog.
Brenna came from top trial bloodlines. Her father was Llangwm Cap, a Welsh National and International Supreme Champion owned by Welsh trialist Aled Owen. She fell just 100 guineas short of Cap’s all-time record (number 22).
Her buyer was Dr. Pamela Helton of Frederick, Maryland, the artistic director of the Third Millennium Ensemble, so Brenna moved to America. She is one of several top British border collies on this list that went to American buyers.
24. Hazeldell Kimmy: A$27,000 (About $19,000)
Hazeldell Kimmy was the top seller at the June 2022 Casterton working dog auction in Victoria, fetching A$27,000, about $19,000. The 33-month-old black-and-tan kelpie was sold by Dubbo stock contractor Kahlee O’Leary on her first visit to Casterton.
O’Leary had set a reserve of A$9,000, but a pre-auction online bid of A$13,600 passed that before the live sale even began. She had bought Kimmy as an eight-week-old pup.
The buyers were young: Ashley Meaburn, 20, and her 11-year-old brother, Lachlan, who bought Kimmy for their business, Ashlach Ag, on a wool and prime lamb property at Oatlands, Tasmania. It’s proof that a great working dog is seen as an investment even by the youngest farmers.
25. Drumcrow Mini: £16,300 (About $18,700)
On September 13, 2022, a greyhound named Drumcrow Mini sold for £16,300, about $18,700, at a Greyhound Trader sale at Oxford. It was reported as a British record for a greyhound at auction, beating the 12,600 guineas paid for Callmesteve at Sheffield.
What made the price surprising was how little racing she had done. Her record showed just one run, a time of 22.08 seconds over 400 yards at Dundalk in Ireland. Buyers were betting on her potential.
She was bought by a syndicate and went to trainer Frank Gray’s kennel. Her record lasted until 2025, when Rapido Rosin (number 19) sold for £16,800 at Romford.
26. Beloka Rumble: A$25,000 (About $16,700)
Beloka Rumble was the top-priced dog at the June 2023 Casterton working dog auction in Victoria. The 21-month-old red-and-tan kelpie sold for A$25,000, about $16,700, which was A$8,000 above the A$17,000 reserve.
He was offered by Ash Caruana of Penshurst, Victoria. The auction grossed more than A$316,000 that year, as farmers from across Australia bid on fully trained dogs.
Casterton calls itself the birthplace of the kelpie. The breed’s story is often traced to a dog named Kelpie that worked in the district in the 1870s, and the town’s annual Kelpie Muster has become the best-known working dog sale in Australia.
27. Glencairn Seven: A$22,200 (About $16,600)
In June 2018, a kelpie named Glencairn Seven sold for A$22,200, about $16,600, at the Casterton working dog auction, a national auction record at the time. The seller, Christian Peacock of Waterloo, Victoria, had set a reserve of just A$5,000.
The winning bid came from Elders Hamilton stock agent Steven McLeod, acting for a client who wasn’t named. According to reports, the client had seen Seven working in a YouTube clip and sent McLeod to the sale to buy him. The client wasn’t a kelpie breeder and wanted the dog for sheep work.
Seven’s sale marked the start of a big jump in prices for Australian working dogs. Within four years, the top price had more than doubled, with Capree Eve’s A$49,000 sale in 2022.
28. Bob: 8,800 Guineas (£9,240, About $14,000)
Bob made a lot of money for his owner. In May 2013, the 15-month-old black-and-white sheepdog sold for 8,800 guineas, £9,240, at Skipton Auction Mart, a world record at the time. That’s about $14,000.
Bob was sold by John Bell of Parks Farm, Howden, near Selby in Yorkshire. Bell had bought him at Skipton the year before for just 300 guineas, as a 13-week-old pup, and trained him himself. Bob was bred in Northern Ireland by Ivan Stevenson of Broughshane, County Antrim.
The buyer was an anonymous phone bidder, and the dog was reported to be heading to a new home in the United States. Bell had set an earlier record in 2011 with a female called Dewi Fan, who sold for 6,000 guineas.
29. Beloka Laila: A$20,000 (About $13,200)
Beloka Laila was the top-priced dog at the June 2024 Casterton working dog auction in Victoria. The 11-month-old female kelpie, offered by Paul MacPhail of Welshpool, Victoria, sold for A$20,000, about $13,200. Reports named the buyer as the family of Australian boxer Mitch Leek, though accounts differ on whether Mitch or his father did the buying.
The same buyer also took the sale’s top pup, Beloka Bootz, for A$9,000. No price records fell at Casterton that year, and 33 of the 49 dogs offered sold, at an average of A$6,169.
Even in a quieter year, a top young kelpie still sold for more than many people pay for a used car. Laila was still young and only partly trained, so her buyers were paying for her promise as much as her skills. A good kelpie can work for many years.
30. Pentir Lassie: £7,600 (About $10,700)
Pentir Lassie hadn’t been trained at all when she sold. In May 2021, the nine-week-old sheepdog puppy fetched £7,600, about $10,700, at an online sale run by Skipton Auction Mart, a world record for an untrained puppy.
She was bred by Glynne Jones of Pentir, near Bangor in north Wales, and was born on March 12, 2021. Her buyer was Damian Barson, a dog behaviorist and gundog trainer, who said he simply had to have her after seeing her in the online sale.
Her price beat the £6,100 paid at Skipton that January for Bet, an 11-week-old pup sold by David Evans. A puppy that young is a gamble, so buyers pay for bloodlines. Lassie’s price shows just how much the right pedigree is worth in the sheepdog world.
