~Thoughtfully Bred, Lovingly Raised~
Loblolly Moon Farm
Our Dogs
All of our parent dogs have been chosen for their quality genetics and excellent temperaments. They live here with us as family pets, not as kenneled breeders. In certain cases, we may turn to outside sires that are the family pets of other reputable, like-minded breeders. Because we keep our volume low, we are able to focus on giving your puppy an excellent start in life. Litters are whelped and raised in our busy home from day one, so socialization begins early and often. Socializing your puppy is our greatest pleasure.
We perform Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) exercises on our puppies from day 3 to day 16. ENS is a method developed by the U.S. Military to optimize the performance of its working dogs. Very young puppies are introduced to a series of very mild, controlled stressors in order to gently stimulate the neurological system earlier than would generally be normal. Performing these simple exercises is believed to bolster the immune and cardiovascular systems, and to increase stress tolerance. If you are interested in learning more, the internet contains a wealth of detailed information on this subject, or, ask us to demonstrate the exercises for you.
Our dogs are fed a high-quality, biologically appropriate raw diet which we prepare here ourselves. We know that raw feeding may not be for everyone (after all, there can be an inarguable “ick” factor, as well as inconvenience), but we feel that investing in this premium feeding program pays dividends when it comes to the health and vigor of our animals, which is especially crucial for the demands of a breeding program.
Puppies begin weaning onto raw food starting just prior to four weeks of age. We feel that the raw food really gives them an edge during that critical weaning period and makes the transition from nursing so much smoother. For families who do not wish to continue with raw feeding (which has been, by far, the majority), we will transition the puppy to quality kibble before they are ready to leave at eight weeks.
Our Dams
Sharon
Sharon is our purebred Bernese Mountain Dog. She is a daughter of the Brazilian champion Maximo A Don Aspen. She is smart, beautiful, and a joy to have on the farm. Like all Bernese, she is slightly wary of new people initially, but soon warms up and is a delightful ham. Shedding aside…if they didn’t weigh one-hundred pounds and have a tail like a baseball bat, I honestly think Bernese would rule the world as everyone’s favorite dog! They are warm, incredibly attentive, gentle, and relaxed. Sadly, the most heartbreaking thing about them is that they don’t live very long, with an average lifespan of 7-9 years. I know there are a lot of purists in the dog breeding world who scorn the idea of “designer dogs,” and in certain cases, I might be inclined to agree with them, but, when you think about the bernedoodle, it just makes so much sense. Enter the poodle… athletic, highly intelligent, incredibly personable, very trainable, and hypoallergenic. The result of mixing these two breeds is often a dog that ends up being the best of both worlds, and lives for 14-17 years!
Shelby
Shelby was our first breeding dam, who has since been retired, but, two of her puppies are being raised to continue her line in the future. She is the most intelligent dog we’ve ever owned and is incredibly athletic. I often joke that I’d put Shelby up against your border collie in a Frisbee match any day of the week! She is very affectionate and is seldom away from my side. More than any dog we have raised, she delights in puzzle games and never tires of the challenge.
Tara
Tara is my F1B curly girl. She has great tan-points and a nice, compact body, especially for having a higher percentage of poodle DNA. The poodle DNA shows up in her coat, which makes for less shedding and hopefully, more hypoallergenic puppies. My personal preference is for the looser, wavier bernedoodle coat, but we try to produce F1B pups at least once a year for families who are concerned about allergies. I have been thrilled with the cleanliness of the 50/50 dogs in our home, but for true allergy sufferers, the non-shedding coat of the poodle backcrosses is a safer way to go. Tara is a little more stoic and independent, which are qualities that I’ve come to admire, particularly because we have so many dogs! She loves to cuddle and is very affectionate, but is also prone to getting lost in her own world with a toy. She loves to play fetch and soccer and will never quit as long as she has someone willing to play ball.
Margeaux
Margeaux is my 62% poodle/38% Bernese mix. She has very curly hair, like Tara. Structurally, she favors her poodle lineage, but the ace up her sleeve is the Irish-spotting gene she’s inherited from her bernese parentage. Irish spotting makes for gorgeous, symmetrical facial blazes in bernedoodles. She will have her first litter in 2023, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what she will produce. She is sweet and loving and comes in a small package.
Murphy
Murphy is being raised by a very good friend of ours. We chose him for our program because I loved his sturdy, solid body structure and his gorgeous blaze. I can’t wait to see the puppies he sires. He is very cuddly and good-natured. His owner brings him and his “sister” to play with the pack over here sometimes. He is an absolute joy. Murphy is a sable bernedoodle, one of the most unique, albeit arguably unpredictable coat colors. Sable puppies are born looking almost black. As they grow, it becomes evident that it is, in fact, only the tips of the hair that are dark. The dark tips grow out to reveal a hidden base color, which can range from light cream to a deep, chestnut brown. An individual strand of hair can have multiple shades on it, which gives the coat a lot of dimension. The result is stunning. As a sable matures, the coat will often fade, or “clear” to a lighter color as more of the base color emerges. It’s happened more than once that sometime in the first year, an owner drops their beloved sable off to the groomer and returns to a dog they hardly even recognize at first, because the black tips have been shaved off, revealing a very different looking dog! Often times, as the coat clears, the ears and areas around the face will remain saturated, which makes for a very dramatic look. Some sables can also display the tan-point gene, which gives those great rust-colored patches on the jaw-line and muzzle, ears, eyebrows, legs, chest, and base of the tail.
Bruno
Shelby’s son, Bruno, is being considered for our breeding program. Bruno is the spitting image of his Sire, Hugo. He is so like his sire in looks and temperament, it almost feels as though I’m raising the same dog. He’s a big, cuddly ragdoll.
Our Sires
Nacho
Nacho is my blue-merle stud. He is a friend to all and loves to work on obedience training. He is bright and affectionate and never takes a bad photo, as you can see. He’s got great tan points and a nice blaze, as well as a more compact body style, which is our preference here.
Hugo
Hugo was retired in 2022 after siring just one litter for us. We loved his personality, his structure, and his great blaze, but he just never stopped growing. Before he was even a year, he was weighing in at 51 pounds, which is a little heavy to be siring miniatures! His son, Bruno, is his spitting image in a much smaller package [so far], so I’m hoping lightning won’t strike twice. Hugo now lives with a very nice couple in my hometown, Virginia Beach. He is now an only dog and is incredibly spoiled, which is the only reason I was able to let him go. I miss his goofiness all the time around here.
Rosie
Shelby’s daughter, Rosie, is being raised by some wonderful friends of ours, but will be returning here in 2024 to whelp a litter. I’m hoping she will give me a double-furnished daughter with her blocky body structure and her great blaze. She is a bright and sweet showstopper and has never met a stranger.
India
India, “Indy” for short, has a soft, straight coat that I love to keep long and shaggy, as well as a stocky, low-slung body structure more reminiscent of the Bernese, just in a tinier package. She is very bright, affectionate, and incredibly mellow. She is about as floppy, lazy, and complacent as a dog can be, which is a comfort on some of my busier days, especially with a houseful of doodle dogs! Something of note about India is that, though she started out as a crisp, deeply saturated tri-color pup, within a few weeks, there were indications that she was a silver. Indy most likely has two copies of the poodle fading gene. So often when she and I are out, people ask if she is an Olde English Sheepdog. At only a few months old, she had exhibited dramatic fading, or clearing, as it’s often referred to, resulting in her beautiful silver coat. Silver coloring in poodles is one of the rarest and most sought after colors, and I think it’s easy to see why. Onyx eyes peering out of a platinum face make for a beautiful combination. Silver is still a very unpredictable, as yet untestable gene, so it’s impossible to know whether her pups will be traditional tri-colors, or silver as herself.