Small Münsterländer

[André]

In 43 years of hunting (with 3 Labradors for small game), I have not met more than 10 of those German pointing spaniels and have always been impressed by the quality of their work. They are still not common but have won quite a following in France since a few years. In Germany, it's another story and these dogs are used successfully on small and big game, even used on blood spoors. When my last Lab Czar died in 2013, I decided to acquire a Münsterländer as my 1st pointing dog. There being only 2 breeders in my country, I put my name on the bottom of a waiting list and hoped (Münsterländers are only sold to hunters, as the result of an agreement between breeders who insist on keeping the hunting instinct intact)... Finally, I got a call that I could get –not choose- a little bitch, which came as a surprising nr. 8 as the echography had only detected a litter of 7 (all of which were pre-sold long ago). Since then, we have developed a complicity and become a hunting team I never had before. She's a true war machine, picking up the scent of game at < 10 meters under cover, before closing in and pointing, steady as a rock! She also comes along on deer stalking where she remains calm and steady (until I shoot, that is...) and follows a blood track very efficiently. She even surprised me lately : we were nearing a Roebuck I just shot and, when the comatose animal shivered, she launched herself and grabbed the dying animal by the throat, jaws clenched, strangling for long minutes, while I fumbled unsuccessfully with the flash of my camera. Only after I was able to take a photo, did she release her prey on my insistence. Field dressing the buck, I found the larynx was crushed. I called the breeder afterwards and he replied that this behaviour was instinctive and as expected... Enough said, here come a few pics of Mabel du Clos des Renards :






Mabel pointing


Mabel, silent but watchful in mirador


Mabel strangles (sorry for pic quality, taken w/o flash in the dark, then numerically brightened)


Mabel and I with latest roebuck, harvested on 05.03.2016

[dchamp]

Beautiful dog, looks and sounds like you've got yourself a wonderful hunting companion.

[pagosawingnut]

Very nice! I miss my hunting dog. Congratulations

[stokesrj]

Thanks for telling us about the breed, I've heard of the name but that's all.
Bob

[7x57]

What a wonderful companion you have. Thank you for telling the story, they are a breed that I knew nothing about. I think that it's terrific that breeders will only sell to hunters in order to preserve the integrity of the breed.

[canalrifle]

Thanks for your post. Great photos and story.

[SPEEDY]

I've always loved shaggy dogs, looks to be a good one.

[thechamp]

Same here, never heard of them. Like the concept of selling them only to hunters. He's big enough to take care of himself and evidently born with the tools it takes to be a hunting dog. Neat.

[9.3x64]

That's a beautiful dog, thanks for sharing.

[skeetshot]

What a beautiful dog

[Olsen]

We have some of them in Denmark, they are great dogs.....

[gunhunter]

Beautiful dog. I really like my Small Munsterlander, but I've only hunted birds with him.

[mchughcb]

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[André]

Wow, thanks mchughcb,

They are really that fast, no wonder the SM caught the fox (also take note how fast he also killed the fox ; one bite, some vigourous shaking and it's over. As a matter of fact, I worry when my bitch bumps into a hare, she nearly outruns it for 10-20 m and I dare not shoot for she's only a few feet behind. I also yell to my near companions to refrain from shooting until the hare has gained enough distance (which often means when he's 40-50 m away, too far to shoot... ).

[SPEEDY]

Makes me wish I had video of the staghound's catching foxes, now that's fast.
I miss my last one.