History Of Caledonia

Caledonia Kennel started in the early 1970’s with Ch. Caledonia Mary of Lovecreek. The purpose at Caledonia was to breed a good, healthy mastiff. A good mastiff would be one that is successful in the show ring, whelping box and health testing arena. Caledonia was founded by Lt. Col Bill Armstrong and his wife Phyllis. A few litters were bred and as time went by a friendship grew between Susie Farber and the Armstrongs. The Armstrongs eventually retired and Susie took over Caledonia with one of the first multiple group placing mastiffs, Ch. Caledonia Eric the Red. This was in the early 80’s when the working and herding groups were combined. The years went by and some of the most famous mastiffs passed through Caledonia with the names Tyson, Jackson, Posey, Butler, etc.

Under the guidance of Susie, Mike Reid started taking over the kennel in the late 1990’s. Today, Susie is retired, spending lots of her time with her grandson, and Mike has moved the kennel to Texas. They still spend a lot of time on the phone. Susie talks about how far the breed has come and Mike brings up how much further it needs to go.

We have had the opportunity of a lifetime to have bred, owned and lived with some of the greatest mastiffs of all-time. They were not all great show winners, but they were all good friends. The above pictures are certainly not all of them, just a few of which you will find behind our dogs today.

In almost 40 years, records were made and broken. Good dogs were born and even better friendships were made. With the addition of Mike's wife, Heather, the future of Caledonia looks bright!