Heron was born 30 December 2019, here at Sunnynook Kennel. Her mother Krokus von Kleinenkneten is from Germany. Heron's father, Sunnynook’s Cue, is derived from a mix of imports and our own Sunnynook dogs tracing back to our original pair imported in the 1970s.

Heron has a fine-boned physique and light body at 59 cm at withers (standard = 58-63) and 23.6 kg (53 lbs). She is a ticked dog with one large black mantle and a few black ticks on white background. Her head is all black. She was scored Very Good for Body and Good for Coat in the LMAC Conformation Evaluation in September 2023.

Heron is a soft-tempered dog, so much so that she would not have done well in a heavy-handed training regime. She does not easily forgive and forget. By the same token, she is also very cooperative and trainable. For example, Heron was apparently challenged by beavers on a long-distance open water retrieve 2 years ago and because of this she avoids big open water to this day. Unless a duck is in open water, in plain sight, Heron chooses to search near-shore water and marsh, but this she does with a good nose and desire to find.

In the field, Heron is a joy to watch with a purposeful search, typically casting well out across the wind. In both water and upland she knows to use her good nose well. Heron is a natural retriever, meaning she knows no ear pinch. Heron will sit to deliver with a mere raising of a finger and sit patiently to have her picture taken. She has reached this stage by simply “encouraging” retrieving of frozen pigeons, not dummies, from puppyhood on. Her retrieving patience typically only reaches a limit working on hot days when we tend not to expect show but simply take her bird brought to hand.

Sunnynook's Fergus, was born on 8 July 2017, part of Sunnynook’s 31st litter. The Sunnynook I2 litter was Fergus’ first.

Fergus is a house dog who lives with one other dog and a cat in the home. In the words of his owners, “Fergus is the most amazing dog ever!” His calm and confident demeanor is very endearing. Fergus hunts readily even with other intact males that go about their hunting business.

Fergus hunts upland birds and waterfowl, including hunts over decoys. Fergus loves the water. Fergus will break ice to enter water, so much so that for the sake of his own health he’s not allowed prolonged exposure to ice cold water and is dried and looked after once soaking wet on very cold days. Fergus’ medium length but very dense coat helps protect him in water and brush.

Fergus has an Instagram account @following_fergus

Fergus has pointed nicely since early puppyhood. He is very cooperative and will hold point as long as needed for a shot. Fergus is a gentle retriever and often brings birds to hand still alive.

Fergus has also been trained for blood tracking of potentially crippled big game. He was moderately successful in his first test in a 4 hr. old blood track over 400 m. None of the three dogs tested on that hot and windy day were successful and Fergus and his owner plan to try again next year.

Fergus has a medium-bone frame at 65 cm high, 71 cm long and 33.6 kg or 74 lbs. The conformation judges gave him a Very Good in both Body and Coat.

Fergus was certified free of hip (Good-Excellent) and elbow dysplasia. Neither of Fergus's parents were carriers of brown coat color or Black Hair Follicular Dysplasia, so he can't pass these undesirable traits on to his pups either.