Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Small Munsterlander

Any owners on here? I just sent in a deposit check for this spring's litter. My last three dogs were GWP but am trying a different breed this time.

Don't know that breed....tell us about them sir.

They are a smaller pointing dog looking something like a small English Setter. Seems the breeding is tightly controlled with several breeder spread out across the country. I'm sure all of you can Google up more info than you care to read. Go here if you are interested: http://smallmunsterlander.org/breed2.cfm

I became interested in them while looking for a breed smaller than the GWPs (first was an actual Drahthaar) I had been running for the last 15 years. I desired a breed that would do well in the house, hunt hard, be easy to handle, and was physically small. My GWPs loved me and provide my most memorable hunting days but my last one never warmed to my new wife and frankly she didn't want another GWP and everyone knows if mamma isn't' happy no one is happy.

I looked hard at the Brittany but had both worries and the desire for something different.

I was given the opportunity to hunted over a young female one beautiful Idaho day. I only casually knew the owner but he was glad to take me. He hunted seldom, only a couple of times of year, and had spent minimal time working the dog who was less than 3 years old. I was counting on a bust but just wanted to see how well the little dog moved in the steep Idaho drainages. I was pleasantly surprised with the little dog's drive and desire to both hunt and to stay near us. Yes, she busted more than one covey but did provide several very nice solid points on Huns and fetched all the birds to hand.

I loved my GWPs but this little dog was a treasure and before the day was over I wanted one just like her.

My buddy has one, Hes very happy with his.. I have not hunted over the dog myself.. He and his family have been Labs forever and there now all switching to small munsterlander..

I have a GWP myself love my dog as well but been eyeing up a
small munsterlander or a german long hair.....

Or another GWP but lots of breeders up here now would have to do a lot of homework... I got time my GWP is 8...

I've seen a few of those run at a NAVHDA event. Seemed to be excellent dogs and would appear to be a good fit for what you're after. Make sure to keep us posted once you get your pup!

I looked after a nice female Small Munsterlander for a year while her owner was abroad.

Lovely dog! She was so pretty that when I walked her in the park, women would come up to me and ask what kind of dog she was (they sure were NOT coming over to get a better look at me!).

She was a very sensitive dog too -- all you needed was a slight disapproving tone to correct her.

Took her pheasant hunting twice and she did just fine.

She was an excellent dog with young children, and loved to sit on the sofa -- with anybody! If a burglar broke in, she might lick him to death, but I am sure that you could not get her to bite a human if you tried.

All of this was a single dog (about 9 years old at the time), and I have had no contact with any other Small Munsterlanders so I am not sure if these traits are characteric of the breed or not. As you see though, my experiences were ALL positive.

Now, you make sure to post pictures of that puppy later!

John

I first hunted with a Small Munsterlander about 15 years ago; the dog was about 10-11 months old and had never been hunting, but he hunted like a more experienced dog. At the time, I wanted to get one but could not. I ended up getting a lab a few years later due to being in the right place at the right time.

My lab died about two years ago, my kids are older, and bird hunting is not the same without a dog. I needed a new dog. I had thoughts about getting a lab; but I never forgot the Small Munsterlander. I decided I wanted a smaller, easy-to-train dog and a pointing dog just to have something different than a flushing dog. I ended up getting "Axl" last May; he is now almost 11 months old. He is on the larger size (63 pounds) than what I was expecting, but much smaller than my lab.

Axl has been an awesome hunting dog. He seems to fit what the literature says about the breed: versatile hunting dog. He caught his first squirrel at age 6 months while in the back yard. The squirrels have since wised up. He still barks at the ones crossing the wires(electric power lines). Small Munsterlanders are know to be "vocal on track of furred game." He even stalks out the back door in hopes of catch one in the open. I even saw him hiding under the stairs of the kids' slide while watching one on the wires. I've found him pointing a rabbit on the other side of the fence; I had to chase the rabbit away to get him to move. He is always on the lookout for game. His usual perch is on the top of our couch which backs up to a large window and provides a great view of the neighborhood. He has excellent eyes.

Last year was not the greatest for upland birds. I jumped some green winged teal in late October during pheasant season. One of those teal ended up being his first bird at age 7 months. He never saw it go down since he was in some very tall grass and down an enbankment. The teal did fall on the pond's open bank where he ended up finding it. I don't know if he would do a water retrieve. Axl hasn't had much exposure to water; I usually only do a little waterfowl hunting.

I didn't really do much training with him. I just took him out hunting. He heard some gun shots during dove season, but no doves were shot in front of him. So far, he has pointed pheasant and quail. I had a couple really good days chasing quail. On the best day, we broke a covey and Axl got to point over a limits worth of singles and a few small bunches. Only my bad shooting kept me from a limit; I ended up with 3 out of a 6 bird limit. He held his points really well. I'm still not use to flushing a pointed bird, but it was fun. He is not gun shy at all.

A Small Munsterlander Club of North America (SMCNA) brochure stated that the breed "can be intense and stubborn when they believe that they are being treated unfairly." Axl is very intense and stubborn. He is completely focused on hunting while we are out. When we are not huntin, he needs daily outdoor exercise and attention (the brochure was right about this too). He wants to play "fetch" every day. He doesn't care if it is a ball or toy. I think that he thinks "being treated unfairly" is anytime he doesn't get to play when he wants. It has taken forever to write this post since Axl has needed to play several times while I was at the computer. In his defense, this is his normal play time.

Something not in the brochure: my dog eats about anything. If it is food, he'll eat it--except broccoli. He even eats used kleenex. He used to chew on everything like most puppies. He is much better now. In fact, I'd still get another Small Munsterlander. The wife agrees. He is great with the kids. He has gotten better as fast as he has grown. He is very intelligent and a quick learner. I'm really looking forward to this fall and hoping for a rebound in the upland bird populations. It is very rare to find anyone that has heard of the breed. The tighly controlled breeding you mentioned seems to have kept the breed's quality high. Axl was from a SMCNA approved breeding.

I hope you enjoy your new puppy, at least as much, as I have mine.

gunhunter, thank you for taking your time to make a very enjoyable post. It is experiences like your's which confirm our belief we have made the correct breed choice. We are getting a female from Lin Shippy and we are hoping she isn't hard headed.

Passing on a little related humor: my GWP Berlin was a wonderful dog that may have been just too intelligent. We hunted a great deal together but she didn't do ducks. Her first encounter sealed the deal. We jumped a green head from a stock pond and it crumpled on the far bank. Berlin saw it go down and raced to retrieve, picked it up, started back, stopped, spit it out, and looked at me. I hollered 'FETCH' and she immediately picked it up, took a step, spit it out, and sat down, all the time attempting to clear the taste from her mouth. I started laughing, that was the last time she ever picked up a duck. We lived on a canal bank and it was common for mallards to be in our yard, we had several successful hatches from nests that were in our landscaping. She TOTALLY ignored the ducks, it was like they weren't even there. I would holler, 'BIRDS' and she would jump up and round around but never acknowledge the presence of the mallards.

Boise, I think member "Dutch" here may have a Munsterlander as his avatar.

I researched them a bit as there was a breeder who lived near me at the time (I do not see his area code in the link you provided) but went with a small Llewellin English Setter instead.

Hope to follow your experience here as the breed is still on the radar for the next pup... couple years away.

My brother had one....He and I miss that girl.

Great dogs.

I don't own one but a friend of my sil does. The sil hunts with his friend quite often and says he is impressed with the way the dog works. I've seen the dog a few times and it is very friendly and seems quite biddable. What's not to like?

\Jim

Cockle burrs, that is my biggest fear with this breed. I hunted over several English Setters that were cockle burr magnets. One of the reasons I went to a GWP was their shorter wire-like coat that proved to shed the annoying porcupine eggs.

Burrs are a problem with the breed. I forgot how many burrs there could be in certain fields. I missed my lab's coat since nothing seeemed to stick to it; the small munsterlander has very fine hair that seems to be easily trapped by a burr. I didn't try it last season, but my breeder suggested using a spray vegetable oil prior to the hunt to help with burr removal.

I remove cockle burrs with a narrow bladed knife. Starting close to the skin and drawing outwards towards the side of the burr. What hair that doesn't get cut is combed through and away from the burr. A small knife with a narrow blade works.

I'm fairly certain my little girl will get a hair cut.

I hunt a large munsterlander and have watched many small munsterlanders at NAVHDA events. I may be biased but large or small in my opinion there is no other hunting dog than a munsterlander!

Great dogs!

We have some in our NAVHDA chapter and there is a breeder north of me. I have never heard anything bad about them. My Wife likes them for their cute face and small body.
They hunt hard from what I witnessed. (Land) I have not seen them hunt water.

My Large will do cold water retrieves right alongside labs and chessies all day long as well as superb points and retrieves dry land! Like I said Large or Small there is nothing like a Munsterlander!