Having bred Small Munsterlanders since 2005, I agree with the following statement by Rudolf Löns, who was instrumental in establishing the breed in 1921. He said:

“The little dog takes up the staunchest, most intense point when encountering all game—holding tight, keeping point until the hunter arrives. Then the game is flushed, the dead game is fetched, the crippled downers are tracked and securely retrieved with the utmost skill.”

Furthermore, he adds:

“It was also characteristic that the farmers had the dogs around the house, which was not usual at that time. It may well have been because the farmers had realized that not only was it comforting to have the handsome small dogs indoors, but they also showed much better performance as hunting dogs due to the dog-human relationship that developed in the home.”

Now, some hundred years later, Rudolf Löns’s statement couldn’t be truer—thanks to organizations like NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association), which have made training, breeding, and hunting more accessible.

With this in mind, the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test is certainly a major contributor in demonstrating that a breeder’s pairings produce proven bloodlines. The progeny are intelligent, biddable, and exhibit traits of a sound temperament—extremely useful for hunting and for training a pup.