Pure black English BullMastiff Showing

I was at a open fun dog show yesterday & saw 2 Pure black English BullMastiffs 14 week old puppies they were lovely , I started speaking to their owners who said both their parent's are dark brindle & the breeder said the puppies will turn dark brindle as they get older. [I forget to take my camera with me when I went to check out the stalls] they left after the best puppy round so never saw them again.
They are socializing them by going to open fun dog shows so am hoping they will be at the next open fun dog show on Bank Holiday Monday, if so I will ask if I can take a photo of them as they are the very first pure black English BullMastiffs I have ever seen, have seen lots of Red, Fawn & Brindle ones.

There are Bullmastiff and English Mastiffs, but no English Bullmastiffs.
There are what is call Ultra Brindle which is found in English Mastiffs, Bullmastiffs and Boerboels, which can look black without close inspection.

Though the only way for any of the 3 to have a solid black coat is to have another breed in the mix.

They are the same breed as Scary George we have at The Rescue Home but unlike George who is fawn they were pure black [when you Google English Mastiff it comes up as English BullMastiff ?] the owners said the breeder told them they would turn dark brindle the older they got, but at moment they are jet black.

There is no such breed as English bull mastiff , also bullmastiff and mastiffs don't come in black. Sounds like they have Xbreeds and have been duped .

One won the Mastiff puppy class the other came 3rd (open to all breeds of Mastiffs) so must be 100% pedigree, not a cross breed unless the judges don't know what a Mastiff colouring should be.

I would of taken a photo but had left my camera at The Rescue Home stall, when I went round all the other stalls.

Hopefully they will be at the next open fun dog show & I be able to take a photo.

To be honest Tina, being in a Mastiff only class means nothing much at a fun show. I was entered in a fun show the other week 'non sporting breeds' and had crossbreeds winning. Most judges I've found at these fun shows don't always know their breed's that well.

I have to agree with Jackie that these pups are most likely crossbreeds and the owners have been fooled into believing they're purebreds.

Having a quick Google image search shows that the Brindles can be very dark, but they're not jet black as you say these pups were. Could they have been Cane Corso's I wonder? although I'm sure the owners would know they own a completely different breed than a Bullmastiff if that was the case.

Open Mastiff class could be a working line Neo, like the corso they come in black.
And working Neo's don't have all the wrinkles.

You said it was a fun dog show, anyone can be a judge at these shows, the local vet, and so on, that does not mean they know breeds, as above I have seen crossbreed so entered in fun shows and win a breed class....Tina it's impossible to get a black bull mastiff or English mastiff, so the dogs have to be cross breeds....

People say they have black boxers, again it's impossible ....they will be cross breed.

So sadly yes, the judge did not know his breed breed colours .

Mastiffs were one breed that I watched being judged at the National, and there was a very dark one amongst the winners. However, he did have definite brindle markings, and I believe that however dark they are, the brindle markings are always apparent from birth.

Ultra brindle can look solid black till around 6 weeks, but yes they will be a very dark brindle

That s is the same in boxers, you can get very dark brindle that look almost black, but you can see the brindle markings,,,

Everytime I Google English Bull/Mastiff it comes up with Black dogs - but like I said its the first time I have ever seen a black Mastiff.

Got this off Mastiff Forum seeing as they spelling color & not colour I am guessing its an American forum [Fawn coloured one is same Mastiff we have at The Rescue Home]

Tina , this is the breed club coat standard for Bullmastiff

Any shade of brindle, fawn or red; colour to be pure and clear. A slight white marking on chest permissible. Other white markings undesirable. Black muzzle essential, toning off towards eyes, with dark markings around eyes contributing to expression.

And this is the breed standard colour for Mastiff (english)
Colour
Apricot, fawn or brindle. In any case, muzzle, ears and nose should be black with black around eye rims, and extending upwards between them. Excessive white on body, chest or feet is unacceptable.


there is no mention of all black dogs, I don`t know where you got the above from, but the picture does not even look like either breed. and there is no such breed as English Bullmastiff, so not even sure why the diagram is relevant ??

I Googled different between BullMastiff & Mastiff & all these forum's came up the picture was in under colors (colours) in one of the forum's.

I guess its like the Staffy if you look at spec it says colours are black & white, black, fawn, red, blue & brindle, yet there are lots of fawn & white, red & white, grey & white, pure white, grey, & even tri coloured Staffies out there.

The owners of the 2 black Mastiff puppies said they were advertised as dark brindle & were told by the breeder that they will turn brindle as they got older. (They did have KC papers with them)

But has I have never owned any type of Mastiff I don't know if black is recognized colour or not, according to the Mastiff Forum it is.

Well, it's not a recognized colour here Tina. Why did the owners have the pups KC registration with them?

Will be interesting to see them if you do get pics.

Yes they had KC papers plus vet cards with them, KC papers said English Mastiff & the vets card said English BullMastiff.
Plus tattoo paperwork which said English BullMastiff, mind you my tattoo paperwork says Parson Jack Terriers on them not Jack Russell Terriers.

In support of Tina. I Googled Black English Mastiff, and sure enough there were references to black, blue, chocolate and even pied Mastiffs, on Wikipedia. There appear to be litters of black Mastiffs advertised as, 'available for around £825', I didn't bother to look where they were. No doubt they would turn out to be as pure bred as a lilac Frenchie, but it seems that they are out there!

Just did a little google too,and almost all the supposed Black English Mastiff are either another breed or xbreeds, there are plenty of very dark brindle ones, but a pure black English OR Bullmastiff is impossible for them to be pure bred and black they would need to carry the dominant Black gene,and neither breeds carry this gene

Anyone can write anything they want on Wiki,, it does not have to be true.

Has I don't know anything about Mastiffs, BullMastiff I can only go on what was on the puppies KC papers, vets card the owners had.
Then when I got home & Googled black English BullMastiff all these pictures appeared & when I looked on the Mastiff Forum I found the Mastiff colours picture.

But regardless of what breed of Mastiff they were, they are beautiful & the owners had the right idea by socializing them at open fun dog shows [no certificate shows but all dogs must be KC Registered] puppies classes are 14 weeks to 24 weeks, 7 months to 12 months.