Table of Contents

• LMCNA History and Current Breed Clubs in North America
• History of the Large Munsterlander in North America - 50 years
• History of the Large Munsterlander in Germany - 100 years
• Origins of the Large Munsterlander
• Profile of the Large Munsterlander

History of the Large Munsterlander Club of North America^®

The Large Munsterlander Club of North America^® (LMCNA) was founded in 1977 by Joe and Sheila Schmutz, with the encouragement of the Verband Großer Münsterländer of Germany. A charter of incorporation was granted by the Minister of Agriculture of Canada in 1999. Randy Haines suggested that an application for a service mark in the United States be prepared and this was registered on December 5, 2000. For 34 years, LMCNA operated as a cooperative group of owners and breeders who believed in its performance-based registry as the sole registry for Large Munsterlanders throughout North America.

In 2012, two daughter organizations were formed.

The Large Munsterlander Association of Canada (LMAC) will continue to maintain the LM in Canada. LMAC strives to participate on an international basis in maintaining the essential hunting form and function of the Large Munsterlander as originally conceived in 1919. LMAC invites Canadian and like-minded U.S. breeders to participate in the breed's future and can offer the proven coordination and protection of the Animal Pedigree Act of Canada.

The Large Munsterlander Association of America (LMAA) will continue to maintain the LM in the United States, and is committed to building upon the performance-based breeding principles and standards that successfully guided the LMCNA for nearly 35 years. LMAA provides services to LM breeders and owners in the United States. We are committed to maintaining the essential hunting heritage of the LM as originally conceived in 1919. We offer membership to LM enthusiasts in the US.

The aims of the Large Munsterlander Club of North America ^® (LMCNA^®) were to introduce the Large Munsterlander to the North American hunter. LMCNA^® fostered a breed-management program which maintained the dog's versatile hunting qualities as a hunter, pointer, retriever and tracker. For offspring to be called Large Munsterlanders dams and sires had to demonstrate adequate performance in hunting, health, temperament and conformation with prior breeding approval by LMCNA^®. LMCNA^® provided potential buyers of Large Munsterlanders with objective information about all litters born in North America, and invited owners to participate in the breed's management.

Beginning in 2012, the Large Munsterlander Club of North America^® (LMCNA^®) became a historic entity. All LMCNA^® performance and registration records accumulated in its 34-year history from 1977-2011, are stored in Canada, for posterity.

Origins of a Large Munsterlander

Long before 1919:

• Research indicates that dogs were domesticated from Gray Wolves 15,000 to 30,000 years ago. Most of today's 350 dog breeds arose in the past 200 years. Where and how does the Large Munsterlander fit into this timeline?
• Greek and Roman writers mention a black & white, long-haired hunting dog maintained by the Celts living in what is now Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and southern Germany. The reports already mention pointing as one of the dogs' traits. One of several names in use then was Silk Dog, for its fine hair.
• These ancestral longhairs became popular in the Middle Ages for bird and small game hunting with nets, falconry and later guns small enough they could be swung. They became recognized as "bird dogs" and at this time brown & white individuals were first mentioned.

Before 1919:

• These so-called Black and Whites had been part of the Deutsch Langhaar breed, the German Long-haired Pointer (GLP). Its breed standard was formalized in 1879 and allowed brown or black color.
• This black color variant of the GLP was only reluctantly included then. The mantra was "pure-breeding" and the dominant-recessive inheritance mechanism that controls black and brown pigment was confusing and not generally understood at this time.
• In 1908, the Verein Deutsch Langhaar decided to exclude black color once and for all, retaining only solid brown or brown-and-white dogs within its breed standard.

Profile of a Large Munsterlander

The Large Munsterlander is one of several continental breeds of versatile hunting dogs. It gained breed recognition in the Münsterland of northwestern Germany in 1919. Although this makes the LM the last of the German breeds to gain official representation by a separate breed club, the LM was recognized as a black color variant of the brown German Longhaired Pointer going back to its breed club formation in 1878. Even before that time, the forerunner of the modern LM can be recognized in artists' representations of hunting scenes as far back as the Middle Ages.

The LM is a black and white dog with hair of medium length. They weigh 50-75 lbs with males about 60-67 cm and females 58-63 cm at the shoulder. In its German homeland and some other countries, this dog has been bred for over a century for hunting and not show. Hence coat color is highly variable, ranging from predominantly white to predominantly black. Markings occur as solid white patches, or ticked or roan regions.

This field dog characteristically is calm, gentle and intelligent, and therefore also valued as a family dog. The versatile and cooperative characteristics of the LM provide for a reliable companion for all facets of hunting. It is well suited for a variety of game, including the tracking of big game as practiced by some owners. On average, LMs search well outside of gun range in open country but are still responsive and not independent. LMs excel as bird finders before and after the shot due to excellent noses and a purposeful searching style with good coverage, rather than speed. Many LMs point with intensity from puppyhood on, and many honor naturally. Given their passion for retrieving, steadiness needs to be encouraged through training, especially in the exuberant youngster. LMs tend to be strong in the water. The LM's long and thick coat protects them against cold and allows them to search dense cover thoroughly. Even so, their coat is a compromise well suited for temperate climates. Short-haired breeds may be better suited for upland hunting in the hot South, while the oily and dense coat of retrieving specialists makes them better suited for prolonged water work in the late-season North.

Please direct general questions about the content of this page to: e-mail

Back to Homepage