For 40 years, beginning with Dell's beloved Pete, we used German Shorthaired Pointers to hunt pheasant, quail, chukkar, and ducks. For about 10 years we raised and trained GSPs, specializing in solid livers. Then, in 2006, while researching on the Web to purchase a female GSP for breeding, Michelle ran across an advertisement for a litter of Small Munsterlander Pointers.

Begin completely unfamiliar with the SMP breed, Michelle began checking into them and what she found really piqued her interest. Over the next few months, Michelle did more research on the breed and spoke with several breeders in the Midwest about the SMP's tendency to hunt close in heavy cover. Although the GSP is an outstanding versatile hunting breed, an inordinate amount of time was spent training them to hunt close enough to get a shot at wild pheasant on the Preserve's Iowa Prairie.

That fall, we put down a deposit for a female from Gosch's Kennel's litter planned for early 2007. We had third pick of the litter whelped on January 10th and eight weeks later we headed for western Iowa to pick up Katie. We knew almost from the minute we picked her up from the Gosch's that we had a keeper. Katie was an angel in the car, sleeping on the back seat most of the way home, without so much as a whimper. She still simply lies down on the back seat and rides patiently whenever she is in the car.

Around the house, Katie is quiet, unassuming, gentle, loving, patient and relaxed. We have never had a hunting dog who has been such a pleasure to have in the house. In the field, she's a tireless, energetic, bird hunting machine, who stays close and checks in often. Katie is the best tracker we've ever owned, tracking prey with her nose to the ground like a bloodhound. Her strong desire to please and her high intelligence have made her a trainer's dream. She learns so quickly that it's a challenge to keep her from getting bored with the lessons. We have rarely had to use any negative reinforcement in Katie's training, and when we have, all that's been needed is a slight ear pinch. She is generally sufficiently motivated with treats and praise to do anything we ask of her.

Within six months of bringing Katie home, we made the decision to sell all our GSPs and replace them with Munsters. Anna, from Riverhills Kennel, joined us in November 2007, and Grace, from Goodman's Eagle Point Kennel, arrived in May 2008. We plan to purchase a fourth female pup near the end of 2008, and will then have almost completely switched our breeding stock over to the SMP breed. At this time we are not planning to purchase a male, but will utilize the stud services available at several fine SMP kennels in Iowa and Wisconsin.