GLEN MINIKIN Copyright: GLEN MINIKIN Emma Gray trains sheepdogs full time and has about 20 on her farm Image caption: Emma Gray trains sheepdogs full time and has about 20 on her farm

Finally, a border collie from Northumberland has become the world's most expensive sheepdog after being sold to an American ranch owner for £18,900.

Two-and-a-half year-old Megan was sold by shepherdess Emma Gray - who has represented England at the World Sheepdog Trials - at an auction in North Yorkshire on Friday.

"I had to ring the auction and just make sure it wasn't a hoax and that I wasn't dreaming," she said.

The average price for a working dog is about £2,000.

Megan will go from herding sheep in the north-east of England to rounding up Wagyu cattle in Oklahoma.