Welcome to Black Moon Farm
Black Moon Farm is a small hobby farm located on two acres just north of South Haven, MI. We share our lives with some amazing English Mastiffs raised for work, as well as several rescues. We have goats and chickens, which help provide for us. The goats are Mini-Mancha and Nigerian Dwarf, and produce milk for us and the puppies. We occasionally produce a litter of Mastiff pups. With every litter we produce, we aim to improve upon the parent generation. We place all our pups on a contract designed to protect them for life. Please look around and feel free to contact us.
WE NOW HAVE GOAT KIDS. CHECK OUT THE NURSERY PAGE TO SEE THEM!
WE NOW HAVE GOAT KIDS. CHECK OUT THE NURSERY PAGE TO SEE THEM!
Our Story
Black Moon Mastiffs started in 2005 with the purchase of my first mastiff, Finn. I had always dreamed of raising Mastiffs, but I knew I wanted to do it right. It took me a lot of time to work up the courage to put my baby boy in the show ring, but a week before he turned 2, we did our first show. It was pretty brutal, but by the end of the weekend, he had picked up two wins towards his championship. And most importantly, Finn loved to show! We spent the next year campaigning him, and retired him three wins away from his grand champion title. As it turned out, Finn had no interest in breeding. For his health, I neutered him at 5. By that time we had championed out 4 of my own dogs, and helped Angie Smith at Hidden Pine's show a few of hers too!
Before I bred my first bitch, Dot, I midwifed under Angie for a year to make sure I could handle the puppy part. Turns out I could, and Dot's first litter produced 17 puppies. That was some work! Her second litter was 14, but she got seriously sick 4 days into them, and so I hand raised the pups with the help of my then husband Will. The second litter produced Sally, who can be found at Hidden Pines. She delivered her first litter in early 2013, and I'm so happy with what she produced that I'm glad I wasn't the one who had choose a pick! Dot was spayed after her second litter, and after great consideration she was placed in a pet home. As much as I loved her, I realized she would be happier in a house that had more time for her.
In my experience as a breeder, fancier, and handler, I've come to realize that while Mastiffs require a job, they don't all want to do the same one. Finn loves to show, Roger couldn't stand it. But give him a cart to pull and he will work himself to death and love every second of it. Now I try to provide all of our dogs with a job. And sometimes that means that having to place dogs that I have no job for. After our females are spayed, they are sometimes available for a new home if there is not a job that I can find for them to do. We only place our retired dogs in situations where they will be happier and better provided for in another home. We do not take a commitment to breed lightly, and our dogs are not disposable.
As far as our name? Well, a black moon is the opposite of a blue moon. Instead of an additional full moon in a calendar month, it's an additional dark moon in a calendar month. Dark of the moon cycles represent the beginning of a new cycle, a fresh new start. We feel that's pretty fitting.
Before I bred my first bitch, Dot, I midwifed under Angie for a year to make sure I could handle the puppy part. Turns out I could, and Dot's first litter produced 17 puppies. That was some work! Her second litter was 14, but she got seriously sick 4 days into them, and so I hand raised the pups with the help of my then husband Will. The second litter produced Sally, who can be found at Hidden Pines. She delivered her first litter in early 2013, and I'm so happy with what she produced that I'm glad I wasn't the one who had choose a pick! Dot was spayed after her second litter, and after great consideration she was placed in a pet home. As much as I loved her, I realized she would be happier in a house that had more time for her.
In my experience as a breeder, fancier, and handler, I've come to realize that while Mastiffs require a job, they don't all want to do the same one. Finn loves to show, Roger couldn't stand it. But give him a cart to pull and he will work himself to death and love every second of it. Now I try to provide all of our dogs with a job. And sometimes that means that having to place dogs that I have no job for. After our females are spayed, they are sometimes available for a new home if there is not a job that I can find for them to do. We only place our retired dogs in situations where they will be happier and better provided for in another home. We do not take a commitment to breed lightly, and our dogs are not disposable.
As far as our name? Well, a black moon is the opposite of a blue moon. Instead of an additional full moon in a calendar month, it's an additional dark moon in a calendar month. Dark of the moon cycles represent the beginning of a new cycle, a fresh new start. We feel that's pretty fitting.
