The Hounds That Built Me
By Lauren Phelps | Hounds & Faith
People often ask me how I got started with hounds, where Hounds & Faith came from, or why these dogs mean so much to me.
The truth is... hounds have never just been a hobby. They've been woven into the fabric of my life for as long as I can remember.
I was probably seven or eight years old when it all began.
I remember climbing into the truck with my daddy, mama, and my brother as we headed to Maysville, North Carolina, to buy some deer dogs from Bobby Lassiter. Looking back now, I'm sure none of them realized they were taking me to the place that would shape the rest of my life. When we pulled in, I remember walking into a building that had trophy after trophy lining the walls. To most people, they were just pieces of wood and brass.
To me...
They represented dreams.
That was the day I became hooked.
We came home with four hounds that day, and one of them was a Black and Tan gyp that I named BB. She wasn't just a dog—she was my best friend. My pride and joy.
Before long Daddy made another trip back to Bobby's, and as anyone who has ever owned hounds knows, four dogs somehow become eight... then twelve... then puppies... and before you know it, every pen is full and you're wondering where you're going to build the next one.
That was our life.
And I loved every second of it.
One day while deer hunting, BB ended up somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. I remember hearing that familiar "beep... beep..." from the tracking box as we searched for her. Daddy called. Papa called. She never came. I was too young to understand why they wouldn't let me go with them.I remember watching my Papa walk into a section of woods that had been logged and was starting to grow back up. A few minutes later, he came walking back carrying BB in his arms. Someone had shot her because she had crossed onto their property.
That day changed me forever. That was the first time I learned what it truly meant to lose a heart hound. A piece of me stayed in those woods that day.
Some time passed before Daddy & I made another trip to Bobby Lassiter’s. Once we got to Bobby’s he looked at me and said, "She'll do you good.” Another black & tan gyp was waiting for me, I was still just a little girl, so I named her BeeBee—same name, just a different spelling.
And she absolutely did me good, she taught me patience, and she never let me down and was always willing to do anything.
By then we had started running at John Stevenson's Tri-County Fox Pen every Tuesday night without fail. Tuesday evenings became something I looked forward to all week. I'd run those paths chasing crossings, listening to hounds, learning every chance I got. Later we started making Friday night trips to Tar River Fox Preserve in Creedmoor.
We'd sleep in the truck Friday night so we could cast dogs early Saturday morning.
One Friday, before the hunt started, they held a bench show. I watched for a few minutes and thought "I've got to do this.” Back then I was usually the only little girl showing against grown men who had been doing it for years. I didn't know everything they knew. But I knew I wasn't scared to try. There wasn't a better feeling than placing high in the bench show beating men who had years of experience while I was still figuring everything out.
One Friday night, right before a bench show, a man named Red pulled in with a young puppy that was already running. I begged Daddy to buy him. Thankfully, he did. His name was Jessie Duke. Those Friday nights became some of my favorite memories. I'd show dogs in every class I could, and over time I became more serious about bench showing. I practiced, I learned, and I fell completely in love with it.
Then came another unforgettable moment. BeeBee placed 10th Speed & Drive at Tar River.
Walking up to receive that trophy felt like winning the world. I still have every one of those trophies today. They're more than awards. They're pieces of my childhood.
Every afternoon after school, you'd find me in the dog pens. Feeding. Watering. Cleaning kennels. Working BeeBee on the bench. I wasn't made to sit inside. The dog pen was my playground. My classroom. My safe place.
As I got older, life happened. We slowed down going to hunts. I got my driver's license and started spending more time with friends. But I always kept my two hounds—BeeBee and Jessie Duke.
Eventually Jessie passed away.
Not long after, I lost BeeBee too.
I had just started dating Trevor. He knew I was heartbroken, but until you've loved a hound with every piece of your heart, it's hard to understand that kind of loss.
Time moved on. Trevor and I got married.
We still deer hunted with Daddy and my brother at the Dismal.
One afternoon, sitting at a crossroads on the very last day of hunting season, I looked over at Trevor and said… "Next year we're going to have our own hounds."
Trevor had always been a hunter, but he was mostly a still hunter until he started running dogs with my daddy and his brother-in-law. The following season I found a dog off Jimmy B that was for sale. I knew enough about bloodlines to know he could be something special.
I told Trevor, "We're buying him."As luck would have it, we met a man and ended up buying two dogs instead of one. We picked them up during the week. That very weekend we took them to a outside field trial. Out of 492 dogs, we placed 6th at the Sandbanks Hunt.
Just like that… I was hooked all over again. This time, Trevor finally understood exactly why.
From there, we made the transition into the fox pen. At first… We struggled. We didn't have the right dogs. We didn't know exactly what we needed. But instead of quitting, we did our homework. We studied bloodlines. We learned from mistakes. We kept improving.
Slowly… Our kennel name started getting called. Those moments mean more because we know what it took to get there.
Today, TLP Kennels has become something we're incredibly proud of. The dog that got our name called continuously at these hunts was Jack. He never won a hunt, but placed nearly every time he was turned loose. He has placed high as 2nd multiple times but just couldn’t never pull out a win. Once Jack derby’d out we ran him in some all age hunts, and then we took him to the deer woods. Jack has became one of our jump dogs and is one of the best deer dogs we have. Then Jet came along, I remember scrolling on facebook one day and picking Jet out in a video of dogs running, he wasn’t first on the crossing I picked him because of the way he moved, and the way he sounded. Jet got us our first win in the pen, and won numerous of times, and placed in multiple different pens. He hurt his ankle when he was young, so we couldn’t run him as much as we wanted too after he got hurt. He has went with us to hunts since then and he still has placed numerous of times, and he’s one of them hounds that you just feel better when he’s in the dog box. The next year is when Nova came along, off the same daddy as Jet. Nova has done very well for us, winning multiple hunts including one at Pooles. She has placed everywhere we have taken her.
Teddy is currently leading the All-Age points race at Poole's—a blessing that still doesn't seem real when I stop and think about it. Last year Trevor & myself set ourselves a goal to try to win the points at Pooles for year (2026) and we have stayed consistent and put the dogs in the positions they needed to be in. We have placed and we haven’t placed, but we have remained humble in every placing and every disappointment that comes along with field trialing. I know that if its meant to be, it will happen and I'm keeping my faith strong that we will pull through.
Every placement reminds me how far we've come.
One thing that has always stayed close to my heart is the bench show. A few years ago, I attended the Virginia International at Poole’s. I didn't even have a show dog. But standing there watching those hounds, I remember thinking...
"One day, I'm going to have one."
The very next year, I did.
Today, I have been blessed to own and show dogs like Cricket & Bishop. Now I'm looking forward to watching my young prospects, Jobe & Knox grow into what I hope will be something special.
One person I've always looked up to in the bench show world is Angela.
Watching her passion, consistency, and success has inspired me more than she'll probably ever know. It's amazing how one person can motivate someone else simply by doing what they love.
But somewhere along the way, this story became bigger than just hounds. It became about faith.
There have been days I've walked into the dog pen carrying burdens no one else knew I was carrying. Days when life felt heavy. Days when I questioned things. Days when all I wanted was a little peace.
Without fail, I'd walk those kennels, hear the hounds barking, feel the excitement in their eyes, and somehow everything else became a little quieter. God has always met me there.
Among muddy boots. Feed buckets. Early mornings. Late nights. Fox pens. Bench shows.
And endless miles behind a pack of hounds.
People often ask how Hounds & Faith came to be. The answer is simple. It wasn't built because I wanted to sell shirts. It was built because I wanted to tell stories. Stories about the people who still carry on this heritage. Stories about women proving they belong in a sport they love. Stories about families who have passed this tradition down through generations.
Stories about the dogs that change our lives.
Most importantly...
Stories about a God who never leaves us, whether we're standing in church on Sunday morning or standing beside a dog box before daylight waiting to cast hounds. Hounds have taught me patience, humility, hard work, & perseverance.
They've taught me that some victories take years to earn and that not every loss is the end of your story. Besides my two boys, these hounds have become my home. They're my confidence when life gets crazy, They’re my peace when the world gets loud, They’re my happy place, & They’re where I reconnect with the person God created me to be.
I don't know what tomorrow holds for TLP Kennels. I don't know how many more trophies we'll win, or how many more times we'll hear our kennel name called.
But I do know this...
As long as the Lord gives me the opportunity, you'll find me somewhere in a fox pen before daylight, standing beside a bench show ring, or listening to the sweetest sound beneath the trees—a pack of hounds in full cry.
Because this has never been just about dogs, It’s about family, It's about heritage, It’s about faith.
And it's about honoring every hound that helped shape the woman I am today.
Here's to the memories behind us, the hounds beside us, and the faith that continues to lead us forward.
Chase Hard. Pray Harder.
Design by Lauren Phelps