In 2001, I began my search for a male Kleine Munsterlander for our kennel. The main attributes I looked for were a sturdy frame, an intense point, and good cooperation, which were the skills I believed, was needed to strengthen our breed. I wrote to many owners of German stud dogs and asked for the names of the females they would be breeding to in the upcoming year. To be truthful, not many breeders responded to my inquiries, but I was pleased with those who did respond to my letters.
I picked up Cody from Manfred Morber in Germany in March, 2003. He seemed to know how to hunt from the start. The first time I took Cody out to the field to find some quail, he pointed a single and after it flushed, he ran to where it fell. He began tracking that bird; each time he lost the scent, he came back to me and began the track over again. He did this until he found the bird and pointed it again. I was so pleased with his tenacity and concentration for such a young pup. I was so happy that this gamble of importing him would pay off.
Together, we forged ahead through the NAVHDA and JGHV tests. Cody scored a 112 point Prize I when he was seven months old in the NA test, His Utility test score of 204 points Prize I was accomplished when he was three years and eight months old. He passed the lnvitational when he was four years and seven months old. I felt that I needed to run Cody in the JGHV tests for his breeder, Manfred Morber, because he trusted me enough to let me import him. Cody scored 74 points in his VJP test and 285 Prize ll in his VGP test. I had never seen either test, so I purchased the JGHV rulebook. Along with my NAVHDA experience, I trained how I pictured it should be done, using both sources of information. He was the first Small Munsterlander in the U.S. to run both tests.
Cody has always been cooperative and a forgiving learner. I learned how to train the advanced level tests with him and he never let me down. He always picked up each task quickly. I enjoyed the process of training and running him in a hunt test, but hunting him was always the biggest joy of all. He was methodical in his search and covered ground thoroughly. He consistently found birds for my gun.
Cody’s staunch point and cooperative nature was passed to his prodigy. He sired six SMCNA NA Breeder Award litters. Cody’s puppies have an average NA test score of 102.4 points. Six of his sons and daughters who are breeding have had pups test in the NA test and their average NA test score was 106.6 points.
Cody enjoyed being the Judas dog at honor at the blind for dogs that were training for a current NAVHDA Invitational. He was my “go to” dog for guiding at the local hunting preserve. And, he was my old reliable hunting partner. He always knew if something was amiss on the farm and alerted me when something needed my attention. But most important, he has always been my sentinel in the house, the farm, and the field. When my husband let the dogs out for our walks, Cody waited for me at the door until I put on my coat and shoes. He has always had the ability to know what we are going to do next.
Progeny Number / Percentage
# of Puppies born 91
# of Puppies tested 55 62% of puppies tested
# of puppies with Prize I 26 46% who tested scored Pr I
# of puppies with Prize II 11 20% who tested scored Pr II
# of puppies with Prize III 13 23% who tested scored Pr III
# of puppies with No Prize 5 9% who tested scored No Prize