"The little dog has a beautiful intense point for all sitting game which it keeps until the hunter reaches the dog, the game is flushed, the dead game retrieved, the crippled game tracked and retrieved – all with great assuredness."

This is how Rudolf Lons, a German writer, described the dog we know as the Small Munsterlander, known also as "The little Spy" by affectionate owners, in his book, Dog-Sport-Breeding: A Beginner’s Book, published in 1921.

Though the brothers Lons were possibly the first and certainly the primary writers about the SMs, these dogs have an ancient and proud heritage. The Spaniels and Wachtel-dogs from they are descended can be traced back to the 13^th and 14^th centuries. Chaucer wrote about the breeding of a dog he called "Spagnell" and another English author, Dudley, mentions a "pointing spaniel" in 1555. "Wachtel-dog" was phrase first used in the 1500s, a writer named Sebitz discussed a dog that he called by that name in 1580 and described him as having a good search and an intense point. In the 17^th century, German, Italian, and Dutch masters included dogs very much like our SMs in their work, and today there hangs in a castle in Denmark and English painting of a dog that is clearly a 200-year old ancestor of today’s SMs.

Interestingly, the Small Munsterlander was not accepted as an independent breed until 1912, when it got its own standard. One reason may have been the land reforms, which took place in Germany in the late 1840s, when the handsome little dogs were well known as the partners of meat hunters.

Following the land reforms, which took away the vast spreads of moors and bogs in which meat hunters had roamed for centuries and turned hunting into a rich man’s sport, the SMs lost their popularity and indeed may have been threatened with near extinction. Not until the late 1890s, 50 years later did serious breeding start. But by 1903, interest had grown, and a club for owners and breeders of these little dogs was organized: The Deutsche Wachtelhund Verein.

About the club, a writer commented, "during the recent past, people have started collecting the remains, so that they could recreate the lost forms, but if this is not to be a stillborn child, it will be necessary for breeders to show great self-sacrifice and tenacity."

We have the names of some of those pioneers. A man named Friedrich Robert started the movement to bring back the Wachtelhund; Dr. Jungklaus who in 1921 wrote the book "Der Kleiner Munsterlander Vorstehhunde," the brothers Hermann, Edmund, and Rudolf Lons were the major figures in the revival. In particular, Edmund Lons reached tirelessly for an acceptable base fore breeding. In his search, he met a schoolteacher in Burgsteinfurt name Heitmann, who owned some of the dogs, and reported Lons, had been line-breeding for 40 years and could trace his line back and additional 70 years. Lons was overjoyed at his find; he had feared that the dog had totally disappeared.

But they had not. Others were discovered, the pets so often of village priests and teachers that they were nicknamed "The little Magisters." And in his search for the dog he firmly called the "Heidewachtel," Edmund Lons found others on remote farms, where farmers had kept the line pure by keeping only one bitch for breeding and culling the rest of the females.

Lons commenting on the dogs, wrote "it was also characteristic that the farmers had their dogs around them in the house, which was not normal at that time. It may very well have been because the farmers realized that not only was it comforting to them to have the beautiful dogs in the house, but they also got much better performance from them as hunting dogs because of the continuing animal/human relationship that became developed in the house." It is very clear to me that the SM is not a kennel dog – it needs human companionship to thrive.

In 1912 another club was established for breeders of the SMs. Verein fur Kleine Munsterlander Vorstehhunde (Heidewachtel), it was called, and it is interesting to note that the name combined the name by which we know the dogs today and the name by which they were known before they became an independent breed.

In 1949 a new name was adopted, Verband fur Kleine Munsterlander Vorstehhunde, when breeding – which was, of course, minimal during World War II – started again, and members took as their motto: "Health, Performance, Character, Form."

In Denmark, the first SMs may have been introduced around 1914. One of the first two dogs imported into the country from Germany is shown in a photo of the Baroness Camilla Rewentlow, taken in 1916. "Tasso" is unmistakably a Small Munsterlander. It is said that the game warden Errboe used the dogs ("Tasso" & "Mira") for hunting on the grounds of the Danish manor house, Brahe Trolleborg. The two dogs were never bred, however.

Denmark’s first recorded account of and SM is that of Anna-Lis Fischer, who imported a bitch, "Dania mein kleiner Kerl," in 1955. The dog was bred several times with good foreign sires and had good puppies, which, however, became family dogs because Ms. Fischer had difficulty selling them to hunters.

She persisted. In 1963, she imported "Freya vom Birkenfeld," a bitch that won first prize in a field trial only after four days of training with a game warden. Hunters now showed interest, and dogs began to be imported from Germany, Holland, and Norway. Today, there is a very active Munsterlander Club in Denmark. Founded in May 1968 it has approximately 500 members. The breed is found in the top-20 dog list, where its position varies from 12 to 16.

Imports are still being made, and an increasing number of Danish dogs have participated in German tests since 1975. The German tests are referred to as VJP, HZP, and VGP, which correspond roughly to the NAVHDA Natural Ability, utility and advanced utility tests. One of the first Danish SM’s entered in VJP in Germany was a bitch "Assi," and she was also the first dog to be invited to participate in a memorial VGP test for the well-known German dog fancier Rudolf Neddermeyer. Between 1975 and 1981, 16 Danish dogs qualified in a VJP, 11 in HZP and 4 in VGP.

In discussing the SM’s popularity, it may be of interest to review the number of registered puppies in the Danish Kennel club between 1976 and 1980.

1980 1979 1978 1977 1976

GW 1650 1610 1415 1469 1496

GS 888 777 848 743 861

SM 469 408 467 461 527

Clearly, the SMs, which underwent a renaissance in Germany and achieved great popularity in Denmark, are prized in those countries, and there are indications that their popularity is spreading. Today, there are a few SMs in Canada, and my wife and I are proud that we are pioneers in the United States in the introduction of these handsome dogs. As far as we know, we have the only two dogs – Bliss and Peto’s Alpha – that have qualified in a NAVHDA Natural Ability Test (Rhode Island, April 1978). We are also the happy owners of the first SM, Peto’s Alpha (after Vigsberg’s Duff, HZP Prize II and Assi VJP 72 points, HZP 174 points Prize I, and VGP 268 points and Prize III) to qualify in a NAVHDA Utility Test in Dover, New Hampshire on September 12^th, 1982 with a score of 193 points and a Prize II. The following week (September 19^th) Peto’s alpha ran in Batavia, New York and received 176 points and a Prize II.

We have recently imported a new female puppy, "Beta" after "Asta vom Holtkamp (VJP 63 points and HZP 181 points Prize I) sired by "Ferry v.d. Ochtum" (VJP 67 points, HZP 177 points Prize I, and VGP 303 points Prize I). We are obviously excited about this pup’s potential, and with "Peto’s Alpha’s" qualification in utility, we are looking forward to some great hunting years.