large musterlanders

[Lynn]

All HPR Field Trials are AV HPR, so LM's compete against all other HPR breeds. Karens bitch has an amazing record of wins as well as her 2 Open wins that make her a FT CH
30 yrs ago my first LM had a FT award at our first trial. He knew an awful lot more than I did at that stage and taught me a lot - he lacked style and pace but was an excellent game finder and one of the best retrievers I have ever had. He had HD which might have accounted for his lack of pace. The Judges on the day commented that he was the perfect rough shooters dog.
Over the past 13 years (since the introduction of the Pet Passport) several working bred bitches have gone to German stud dogs and a couple of German bitches have been imported. The present day LM's from working kennels now have style, drive and are excellent game finders and retrievers. They will also beat most HPRs on water work

[trekmoor]

Mike, I think in all or certainly in most HPR trials here competing in them is open to any of the HPR breeds. Lagopus's bitch will have taken on and beaten all comers from every breed. GSP's win most of our trials but not them all. I have won trials competing against GSP's and all other breeds present with a Brittany.

Small Munsterlanders ..... I have never seen one in the flesh so far at work or at trials or even at dog shows. I'm told they aren't as good pointers as the other HPR breeds but that is only hearsay stuff because very, very few other folk have ever seen one here either. They do not seem to appeal to most of the British shooting or showing people.(neither does the Brittany which I think is for the good of the breed as fewer show only people want to have one.)

I am aware of the American breed exclusive trials and titles but I do not like that way of doing things. I prefer the way it is here at present of letting all the HPR breeds compete against each other and may the best breed ,or dog of that breed, win "on the day."

I would quite fancy my chances with the vizsla bitch I train if the trial were held in woodlands for example but she would be rubbish out on a big stubble field. Others have the opposite problem , their hard running dogs would need an awful lot of controlling in woodlands. We do not "bell" our dogs and nor do we ever compete with them while they wear locator collars or any other kind of collar. We do not have men out there on horseback whose job it is to find our lost or missing dogs for us.

To become a F.T.Ch. it is very likely that Lagopus's bitch will have competed in grouse moor trials, stubble field trials, woodland trials and general rough ground trials and trials held in big fields of game crops, or sugar beet ,turnips etc. Having a dog good enough to win in all of those environments takes a bit of doing. I would have loved to be able to have a pup from her recent litter from that bitch.

Wullie

[monkeyboy]

I'm sure Lagopus won't mind me posting these pictures, taken on a spring Grouse count, pleasure to watch her at work.

[urzzzzz20]

What a fantastic looking dog.

[crackerd]

Indeed - and lots more intensity than the (few) Large/Grossers I've seen in NAVHDA. Eyes are very telling.

Ironically, I've seen more than a few Small/Kleiners and not been impressed, even though they are athletic and willing dogs. Don't have the point for an HPR, nor a lot of retrieve, and too "spaniel-ish" (which is why I would imagine they're hardly seen in the UK) without the best spaniel traits for an HPR. But they could be a breed still to make a mark, though if I were looking for a "darkhorse" among the relatively undiscovered versatile breeds, it would be the wachtelhund. As I understand it, Sm. Munsters used to be called wachtelhunds until the wachtel gained a breed standing of its own.

Bill, your buddy Mr. Koshyk, or "chien" as he's known in some precincts, has a pretty good take on the small munsterlander: http://pointingdogblog.blogspot.com/201 ... ander.html

That's got me wondering if he might've included Lagopus' FTCh in his recent book on the continental breeds.

MG

[Lynn]

trying to post more photos - not working I will try again

[monkeyboy]

If you want to see some more shots of her, and other HPRS in action on the day, click on this link.

http://www.workinglineimages.co.uk/WORK ... OUSE-COUNT

[Lynn]

hunting small2.jpg

another FT award winning LM

[killid]

Hi

I am a new member and just seen this thread re Munsterlanders.

My wife and I have a Small Munsterlander (11 months old) which we take to the Wiltshire Gundog Club (http://www.wiltshiregundogclub.com/) for training etc. I can confirm that there are only a few SM's in the UK and as far as I know noone is breeding them at present. In order to get our SM we had no choice but to go to Europe to find a puppy. The overall process was well organised by the breeder and we are extremely pleased with our puppy.

A few observations from our experiences and observations:

Most LM's we have seen have been larger than SM's but we understand that there are overlaps re size.
.
LM's and SM's are not related - the similarity is only that they come from the same area in Germany ie. Munster.

One reason for very few SM's here in the UK is that the Germans want to and seem to have some control of the breed in that they want to ensure they remain true gundogs and not just show dogs (we had to confirm / untake that our dog would be gundog trained and used in the field).

SM's are great all round gundogs and as such may not be the best in very specific areas they are however great allrounders. They were originally bred for small farmers (near Munster) who wanted a smaller economical, versatile and alround gundog.

From our researches it seems they were originally bred (many many years ago) from Spaniels and Setters with a splash of Brittany.

They are great family dogs who love being involved with people, they do however need regular physical and mental exercise.

I hope these notes help clarify some aspects re SM's. We just love our SM's character and willingness to work etc.

David

[Stacia]

Thank you and interesting to read. I thought there were no Small Munsterlanders in UK so good to read there are. My limited knowledge of them was through an American Versatile Gundog Forum some years ago.