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Copyright The Large Munsterlander Club 2010
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ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR LARGE MUNSTERLANDER
OF THE BREED
Large Munsterlanders are first and foremost a Hunt, Point & Retrieve Gundog but are capable of achieving a high standard of competence in other various activities and hobbies, obedience, agility, flyball, working trials, heelwork to music to name but a few.
Large Munsterlanders are energetic, intelligent and quick to learn and as a breed with strong working instincts benefit from doing something to give them mental as well as physical exercise.
Large Munsterlanders are gundogs very much still capable of doing what they were bred to do, to HUNT, to POINT and to RETRIEVE. There are various outlets for you and your Munster to get involved in, joining a local shoot, taking up rough shooting or competing in gundog working tests or field trials. Our Natural Aptitude Test or one of our training days would be a good start for anyone interested in building on their dogs natural ability.
Showing is another hobby that may be of interest.
In showing we are asking the judge to measure our dog against the Kennel Club standard for the breed. The competition in the ring is only part of
the reason why so many people enjoy dog shows. It is a good day out for you and
your dog where you will meet many friendly and like-
Please see ‘Field & Show’ on the main menu for more detailed information on working and showing Large Munsterlanders.
Obedience
Competitive obedience uses the basic dog training requirements of walking to heel, coming when called and fetching articles and develops them into tests of precision and accuracy in how those exercises are performed. It requires a great deal of concentration from both dog and handler to achieve a high level of precision which, you hope, will be performed with style and enthusiasm.
The challenge in competition is to achieve a high degree of precision but maintain
style, drive and motivation. There is always a danger that you can teach an exercise
but lose enthusiasm this can happen very easily with ‘the other breeds’ (non Collie).
Modern motivational and positive reinforcement training methods suit the Munster
temperament very well. Modern training is fun for the dog and handler.
Working Trials
Working trials are the civilian equivalent of police work, however for the competitor it is purely for competition. All breeds can take part and several Large Munsterlanders have done the breed proud in recent years, excelling at this discipline.
It is a fairly complex sport and can be physically demanding so both dog and owner must both be physically fit. There are five stakes in Working Trials: Companion Dog, Utility Dog, Working Dog, Tracking Dog and Patrol Dog.
The elements involved are Control (including heal work, sendaways, stays & steadiness to gunshot), Agility (including a 9ft long jump, 3ft high jump and a 6ft scale), Nose Work (including searching out articles in a marked out square and tracking human scent).
Agility
Agility is the negotiation of a course of obstacles in as fast a time as possible, without being eliminated or picking up faults. Courses consist of jumps, long jumps, tyres and tunnels and weave poles if it is a jumping course, or if an agility course it will also include some contact equipment (the A frame, Seesaw and Dogwalk). It is a hugely popular sport and although dominated by Collies, many different breeds successfully compete. There are also ABC (anything but a Collie) classes to give other breeds a sporting chance! Dogs must be 18 months to compete and serious training shouldn’t start until the dog is at least 12 months so as not to damage growing joints. Although a lot of the ‘control’ training can be done before then: teaching your dog to wait, to go left or right on command & exercises which work towards training your dog to stop on contacts. If you turn up at your first agility class and there is a fully set out course that you are given free reign to try out, you would do better to try a different club, if you want the most out of the sport for you and your dog.
Flyball
Flyball is an incredible sport that is exciting for both you and your Munsterlander. It is essentially a relay race where your dog negotiates four hurdles, triggers a box to release a tennis ball, which the dog must catch and return to the handler. The next dog then takes its turn. The sport is very fast, very noisy, which will suit most Munsterlanders down to the ground! Any breed of dog can compete in flyball, big or small, as the height for each jump is determined by the smallest dog in the team. Although flyball is a Border Collie orientated sport, don’t let that put you off! The dogs in the team have to work very closely together, as one dog comes back the other has to be away, which means a good temperament is imperative, the dogs will be very, very hyped up. Your Munsterlander must be fit and well to compete and also to have finished all his/her growing before any training commences. Flyball is a super fun, supercharged sport. Go along to a competition or sit in on your local club’s training to see if it’s the sport for you.
Heelwork to Music
Heelwork to Music is the dog working on the left and right side of the handler as well as other close positions. The dog can move in any direction i.e. forwards, backwards and sideways. Additional movements should be linked via heelwork. It is more restrictive than canine freestyle which requires no heelwork and allows the dog and handler to be more creative. The dog can be at any distance from the handler for all or part of the routine and can perform any number of moves. Large Munsterlanders just love to keep their brain occupied and heelwork to music is a good, full of fun sport. You can just train for you and your dog to have a bit of fun, or there are competitions to be entered at different levels from beginners and upwards. The training of the moves can be done with toys, different treats (chicken, cheese, liver cake or sausage usually work well). The clicker is a very good training aid but you must know how to use the clicker properly and get your dog used to the click and reward.
Would you like to know more about the various disciplines outlined, how to get started or where you nearest club or society is.
Contact the Events & Training Co-
to be put in touch with an experienced person living in your area who would be willing to offer advice and helpful information.
The club wants to help both owners and dogs make the most of each other’s talents
