Brief Historical Summary
The development of the Small Munsterlander is hidden somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. After the change of the German hunting law, with 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, they had enormous scenting abilities and were also able to retrieve.
In 1906 the heath poet Hermann Löns placed a public appeal into the magazine “Unser Wachtelhund” (Our Spaniel/Our Hound) to give him a report on the still existing specimens of the red Hanoverian Heath Hound or Hannover Bracke. However, instead of that he and his brothers, Edmund and Rudolf Löns, discovered a pointing Wachtelhund, that they called “Heidewachtel “(heath quail dog) on the farms of Lower Saxony.
“Edmund Löns, in cooperation with Dr. Jungklaus, worked tirelessly to improve the breed. They came in contact with schoolteacher Clemens Heitmann from Steinfurt in 1907 and found in his dogs the basis for a breeding program. For 40 years Heitman had been breeding the same line, and was able to trace it as a purebreed for nice looking dog, short in the back, long legged with a great gait, plenty of smooth hair and with beautiful feathers on the tail. The head was long, and the nose often showed a slight downward curve. The mouth was strong, moderately full, but never short. The ears were small, about middle-length, with good coat and they give the head a refined expression; they were set high and at the bottom they become small, good closure and they gave the dog a pretty and trustworthy expression. The height of the dogs was from 38 cm to 50 cm and none of them showed a distinct forehead stop. They had excellent hunting qualities, were dapper, easily handled, very social, and they bayed when tracking.” (2)
Other well known dog men such as the Baron of Bevervörde-Lohburg also put efforts into getting a reasonable breeding stock in other regions.
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. From 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 is not exactly proved.
The development of the Small Munsterlander is hidden somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. After the change of the German hunting law, with 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, they had enormous scenting abilities and were also able to retrieve.
In 1906 the heath poet Hermann Löns placed a public appeal into the magazine “Unser Wachtelhund” (Our Spaniel/Our Hound) to give him a report on the still existing specimens of the red Hanoverian Heath Hound or Hannover Bracke. However, instead of that he and his brothers, Edmund and Rudolf Löns, discovered a pointing Wachtelhund, that they called “Heidewachtel “(heath quail dog) on the farms of Lower Saxony.
“Edmund Löns, in cooperation with Dr. Jungklaus, worked tirelessly to improve the breed. They came in contact with schoolteacher Clemens Heitmann from Steinfurt in 1907 and found in his dogs the basis for a breeding program. For 40 years Heitman had been breeding the same line, and was able to trace it as a purebreed for nice looking dog, short in the back, long legged with a great gait, plenty of smooth hair and with beautiful feathers on the tail. The head was long, and the nose often showed a slight downward curve. The mouth was strong, moderately full, but never short. The ears were small, about middle-length, with good coat and they give the head a refined expression; they were set high and at the bottom they become small, good closure and they gave the dog a pretty and trustworthy expression. The height of the dogs was from 38 cm to 50 cm and none of them showed a distinct forehead stop. They had excellent hunting qualities, were dapper, easily handled, very social, and they bayed when tracking.” (2)
Other well known dog men such as the Baron of Bevervörde-Lohburg also put efforts into getting a reasonable breeding stock in other regions.
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. From 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 is not exactly proved.