You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog

It all started last December when Dear Hubby received a Christmas surprise of a deposit on a pup from a breeder he researched that is well known as one of the top (if not the top) hunting lab breeder in the nation.  The breeder is double Orvis certified for breeding and training.  The deposit was for a pup from Oxford, MS from a dog named Whiskey.  We found out around the middle of April that he would get the pup that he has hoped for.  Sweet college girl, dear hubby and I took off for a road trip to get the pup. 

We spent two nights in Southaven, MS which is just south of Memphis.  We tried a great barbecue place the first night.  Oh boy was it good, I took a bite of everything and tried to keep the calories in check at the same time. They seemed very proud of the pork rinds.  I have never been a fan but had to take a picture just because I think it is funny how they went on and on about them.  The accents were adorable, I had to listen hard to understand everything the folks down there said.

We took a great tour that took us all around Memphis and showed us the sights.  The tour guide sang and played guitar while showing us land marks like Sun records, the art schools, were MLK was shot, Beal street and so forth.  It was fun to listen to her tell stories about the people she knows.  She is probably about my age and is school friends with Jerry Lee Lewis's daughter.

After the bus tour we went to the Civil Rights Museum which is built in the hotel where Dr MLK was shot and killed.  It was amazing to see history some of that happened during my life time and unimaginable in our life today.

 Of course, what is a trip to Memphis without seeing the King's house?  Graceland was a lot of fun, we compared it to Disney  World where the rides dump you and the kids into a gift shop.  Much the same, go through the car museum and right into the gift shop!

Only 1/2 mile from our hotel in Southaven was an adorable yarn shop called Hank Of Yarn.  One of my favorite post cast hosts goes there for their local yarn shop.  I found a few things to buy, shown at the end of this post.

After our 2 nights in Memphis we headed to Oxford.  Oxford is the home of Falkner (Pulitzer and Nobel prize winner for literature) and Ole' Miss.

We toured Rowan Oaks where Falkner lived, very neat.  Very Southern and  we met a real nice Ole' Miss student that worked there.  She was trying to convince sweet college girl to go there for her masters.

 After touring Rowan Oaks we spent an afternoon in Oxford town square.  It was a really neat college town with southern charm and another great knit shop!  check out the bike wrapped in yarn!

The town has a really neat book store called Square Books.  Several writers like John Grishom live in Oxford.  Dear Hubby is a big fan of Grishom and he bought a signed copy of his latest book "Calico Joe". 

 Finally on Friday morning, the day to get Ken's new buddy arrived.  Wildrose Kennel was an amazing operation. They have 123 acres, several buildings that house dogs, vet clinic, shopping, training and housing.  They have several full time staff, including, trainers, obedience and hunting, vet techs and vet assistances. 

They sell pups but also partially and fully trained gun dogs.  One of the things they do is use this building full of birds, pigeons, quail and pheasant.  They have the pups retrieve dummys and have the birds fly over them the same time.  It was neat to see the demonstration of the dog they were training that day.

 They also showed us demonstrations of how the dogs will stay in one spot, here on the stump until they are to go retrieve out of the pond.  They have several ponds.

 This is the vet clinic and were the pups are born.

 This is Mike giving us information on what to do for the first 6 months.

 Here is Whiskey, we had our pictures taken later with him too.

 Here is dear hubby with his new buddy, Chance!

 They train the pups in this puppy romper room, going through tunnels, over steps and ramps at this very young age.  They also imprint them with scents like bird and diabetes. 

 He was a good boy on the way home, 10+ hours.

Dear son loves the new pup and his Ole' Miss gear.

 Here are some cool buttons I bought, they were locally made. 

 Sock yarn from Hank of Yarn, this was specially dyed for them, Hanky Panky is the color.

 A yarn bowl that Dear Hubby thought I should buy, also locally made.  I've always wanted one.

Some lovely locally spun and grown, goat yarn.

Wrigley is not impressed by any of this and really seems to think Chance should go back south now.