Sunnynook Large Munsterlanders

The M2 Litter

Joe & Sheila Schmutz, R.R. 2 Site 202 Box 123, Saskatoon, SK Canada S7K 3J5

last updated January 10, 2026 by Sheila Schmutz

The proposed dam of Sunnynook's M2 litter is Sunnynook's Joli. This will be her first litter. She went to visit Prairie Sky's Church in Kelowna, BC and they "tied the knot" on January 10. Therefore we expect pups about March 14, who will go to their new homes about May 16.

Photo December 2024

Please complete a questionnaire, if you would like a pup from this litter.

Sunnynook's Joli, proposed dam of the Sunnynook M2 Litter

Joli was born 2 June 2022, here at Sunnynook Kennel. Her mother Krokus von Kleinenkneten is from Germany, as is her father, Aiko von Sundorph. Joli lives some hours each day in the house and also in the outdoor kennel.

She is 62 cm at withers (standard = 58-63) and 32.3 kg (71 lbs). She is ticked and her head is all black. She was scored Very Good for Body and Coat in the LMAC Conformation Evaluation in September 2025.

Photo October 2024

Joli is a cooperative, even devoted, dog in daily life and in the field. Joli has never needed an e-collar or an ear pinch to bring a bird to hand. She is soft in temperament and would not do well with the oft-employed training pressure. She comes from a long line of performance-bred and intelligent hunting dogs (see pedigree). This working-dog heritage is the basis for a productive hunter-dog relationship. She does wear a bark collar occasionally, when she wants to serenade the coyotes at night.

On the flip-side, this cooperation leads her to search the field but also to come back too frequently, as though saying “How am I doing?” It’s best not to respond to her then and simply walk on. Her search can be interrupted in this way, which is reflected in the Search score of 9 in HAE.

Even with a sensitive temperament, Joli applies herself when the chips are down: two examples. 1. When tracking 400 m and about to grasp a wing clipped rooster, Joli got entangled in a grass covered page-wire fence. She did a summersault and tore her skin suffering permanent damage to her ulna. She limped yet kept on tracking. 2. Returning home from a late October grouse hunt, a winged, flightless Shoveler was in a large pond with only 100 m2 open water surrounded by 3 mm thick ice. When we shot the doomed duck and showed it to Joli with a thrown stone, she swam 20 m breaking ice and brought it back. She was then allowed to shake liberally and run for about 1 km to warm up and shed more cold water before riding the rest of the way home in the car.

This illustrates the utility of a functional long-haired coat that goes a considerable way to protecting the dog from cold water, as well as thorns and cold air in a Canadian climate. The crucial insulative features are the protective outer guard hairs to shed water and a thin and wavy-haired undercoat creating insulating air spaces. These features are maintained in the breed via conformation evaluations prior to breeding – see pedigree.

However, unlike the oily coat and thick skin of Labrador or Chesapeake Bay retrievers, the LM’s coat is a compromise. It allows the dogs to deliver an enduring search on a warm September day without overheating and yet fetch a duck out of cold water as long as the dog is given time to dry off and warm up by keeping moving.

Joli scored 65 (Very Good) in Hunting Aptitude Evaluation (HAE) at 8.5 months. She ran the Advanced Hunting Aptitude Evaluation in September 2024 and scored 170 points (Very Good). Details are shown below. These tests are a breeder's tool for confirming the all-around versatile hunting qualities all LMAC LMs have. See another webpage for more information about these tests.

Hunting Aptitude Evaluation (HAE) Scores

Advanced Hunting Aptitude Evaluation (AHAE) Scores

The proposed sire of the M2 litter is Prairie Sky's Church. This will be his first litter.

Prairie Sky's Church, proposed sire of the Sunnynook M2 Litter

Church was born 22 Feb 2019, outside of Saskatoon. He lives with his owners Robyn and Greg Wiebe in Kelowna, BC. Church is a house dog who lives with another older LM male.

He is 62 cm at withers and 32.3 kg (71 lbs). He is plated and his head is all black. He was scored Very Good for Body and Coat in the LMAC Conformation Evaluation in October 2025. He is a tall male with a lighter frame.

Church has hunted Pheasant, Chukar and ducks, in Alberta and British Columbia. He’s an excellent tracker both on land and in water. He is a big-running dog with ample stamina for a day’s work.

Church scored 67 (Very Good) in Hunting Aptitude Evaluation (HAE). He ran the Advanced Hunting Aptitude Evaluation and scored 163 points (Very Good). Details are shown below. He also ran the Utility test in NAVHDA and scored 156 points (Prize III). He also ran several other tests over the years.

Robyn enjoys working with Church so that outside of hunting season she will travel and participate in NAVHDA and VHDF-Canada testing. Church has been remarkably consistent in key performance scores. Fore example, in a total of 9 tests, he’s earned top marks in Use of Nose all 9 times, and in Field Search 8 times. He earned 10 points in Search Behind Duck in VHDF but struggled with NAVHDA’s duck search twice. He knows how to work ducks. Robyn needs to minimize his access to ponds during summer exercise because he loves to search the emergent- and marsh vegetation for wild ducklings. In Retrieve of Upland Bird, Church earned an exceptional 11 in AHAE, and top marks in 5 of 7 retrieving subjects overall. The attached picture shows his happy and speedy delivery.

The Pair

Every breeder can make progress by strategically mixing and matching strengths and more modest performances in a breeding pair. Joli has a solid body frame while Church has lighter bone which should be a good balance. Church may also inject some bigger running and a more patterned search than Joli shows. Church comes from a kennel where his dam and sister work upland birds and ducks as a three-way team under a falcon. Church and Joli are not closely related with a Wright’ relatedness coefficient of 0.78 (less than 1%).

Click here for an explanation of the abbreviations used on this pedigree.

Back to Sunnynook Kennel Homepage

Please call us if you have any specific questions (306)382-8964. e-mail joe.schmutz@usask.ca or e-mail sheila.schmutz@usask.ca