However, thanks to the efforts of one Yorkshire sheepdog supremo, Bob has just smashed the world record price paid for a dog of his age.

John Bell, who trains dogs from his farm near Howden in East Yorkshire, spent nearly five months training the 11-month-old dog and sold him for a total of 4,000 guineas (£4,200) at Skipton Auction Mart.

The price, paid by an anonymous Scottish buyer, is well in excess of the record paid for a dog under the age of 12 months and was just narrowly short of the top price ever paid for a working dog in history.

Mr Bell, who has been training dogs for more than 60 years, is used to success having helped rear several high priced dogs during his career.

He was not surprised by the huge sum Bob attracted and says he knew he was a winner from the day he started training him.

"He was just so mature for a dog his age," he said.

"He was such a good listener and had been beautifully reared. He is a very special dog and would come in often and play with children, but when he was out working in the field he was as focused as a dog of three years old.

"He was living in the Hull area and had been sold to a lady there as a pet. However he had become too boisterous for the house. He had become unmanageable"

Mr Bell said that border collies often do not prove to be good pets as they have too much energy to settle into domestic life. However this quality makes them perfect for becoming working dogs.

Mr Bell began training dogs at the age of 10 from his home in the Yorkshire Dales and as a teenager would make pocket money by selling the animals he had helped rear for a few pounds. He moved into the training of show horses and eventually settled in his current location not far from the M62. He retired 10 years ago and since taking up the training of dogs again has enjoyed much success.

He recently trained dogs which appeared on the BBC tv series The Chase and one of the animals he worked with has recently embarked on a new career in California.

He said: "The training methods I have developed are my own and with the top prices I have made all these times I must be doing something right."

The normal practice when it comes to buying sheep dogs involves prospective purchasers observing the dogs in a brief showcase. However, such was the price that Bob was expected to fetch, interested parties came down for a much longer time, involving different sets of sheep and environments.

People had come from as far away as Wales and the north of Scotland to see Bob and Mr Bell said he often has people coming from across the country to buy the dogs he trains.

"It is something I really enjoy and find it really natural doing these things. In fact I like to describe what I do as 'producing dogs' rather than training them."

When it comes to the secret of his success, Mr Bell tries to keep his cards close to his chest but says he one day has plans for a book detailing the methods and techniques he has developed.

MR BELL'S TRAINING TIPS

Be patient– it requires many hours of work with each dog on most days of the week.

It can take more than six months to train an animal.

Read each dog from the next and treat them as you see them. Every animal is different.

You need lots of room to work with the animals and different environments for them to work in.