The development of the Small Munsterlander is hidden somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. After the change of the German hunting law, the increasing number of hunters and hunting enthusiasts and the systematic cultivation of the game stock, the breeding of new German Pointing Dogs began. There are reports saying that around 1870, long-coated ‘Wachtelhunds’ (German Spaniels) were well known in the Munsterland region. These dogs were firm in pointing, had enormous scenting abilities and were also able to retrieve. In 1906, the well-known poet named Hermann Löns took care of the matter: He put a public appeal into the magazine Unser Wachtelhund to give him a report on the still existing specimens of the red Hanovarian Heath Hound. However, instead of that, he and his brothers discovered a pointing Wachtelhund on the farms that they called ‘Heidewachtel’.
Apart from the Löns brothers, well known dog enthusiasts like the Baron of Bevervörde-Lohburg put efforts into getting a reasonable breeding stock in other regions as well. Mr. Heitmann, a teacher from Burgsteinfurt, achieved success with his line breeding. Several other breeding families, known as the so-called ‘Dorsten type’, appeared during the following years in Westphalia. On March 17, 1912, the ‘Verband für Kleine Münsterländer Vorstehhunde’ (Club for Small Munsterlander Pointing Dogs) was finally founded. At that time, this club expressed its aims as follows: ‘The Club pursues the purpose to promote the purity and the true breeding of the long coated small pointing dog that has been bred in the Munsterland for many decades.’ The lack of the fixed breed characteristics at that time inhibited the breeding activities as well as the Club activities.
Beginning in 1921, the breeders finally followed the breed standard that had been drawn up by Mr. Friedrich Jungklaus. Nevertheless, the true origin of the dogs of that time has not exactly been proven.
The Small Munsterlander was developed to perform many different hunting-related tasks, based on instinct rather than training. The breed is designed to hunt prey of any size, both furred and feathered; point out game to the hunter; retrieve the game that had been shot; and track wounded game. And all of this needed to be carried out in dense cover in the field or forest and in the water. In addition, the breed was developed to be an excellent family companion.
Credit : https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/small-munsterlander/
willamar.org 