Meet Our Fosters

Hello! I have two adopted Pyrs from TGPR and like they don't keep me busy enough.. I utilize my spare time in helping with applicaitons, transports and the fun Terrell area Dog Events..The dog you see in my arms is a Foster named Mac, he is only 11 weeks old.. big boy huh?? Come and see us at the Petsmart in Denton and Flowermound!

I fell in love with Gentle Giants several years ago. We have both a Great Pyrenees rescue named, Josie, and a Newfoundland male named Landy. It means a lot to me to be able to save one of such a loyal breed and know he's going to a good home.

Hello, I am Weselyn. Boy do I love these big dogs! I have a Pyr mix named Lexi as well several lab and lab mixes. We enjoy our daily romps to the lake. I help with the Petsmart meet the breed, PS be careful because it was at the Denton Petsmart that I too became hooked because once you see these beautiful dogs in their gentle state your state will forever be PYR minded too!

Hello! After several years of failing to train my children to fetch my slippers, pipe, and paper I decided it was time to get a dog. Never once have we considered a rescued dog but my wife, Karen, insisted it was the only way she would okay us getting a dog. After some resistance, not only did I realize she was right but I actually volunteered to help TGPR. (As it turns out, she is as smart as she says she is!) I am a stay at home dad of three beautiful children; Twins - Aidan & Dylan, and their little brother Britton. After researching many different breeds we have fallen in love with the Great Pyrenees. To date, we have not fostered or adopted but are helping out any way we can. Until then I guess I'll have to get my own slippers, pipe, and papers. If you come to our Flower Mound meet and greets you will probably see us there!

Hi my name is Launa I have loved animals all my life. I started working with animals professionally in 1990 when I started working for the SPCA of Dallas I worked there for six years till 1996 then I started working for the City of University Park as their animal control officer and I'm still there. In my family I have 1 goat 1 Rottweiler 2 Yorkie /pom mixes and 1 main coon cat. I also have 2 grown daughters and 3 grandchildren

Hello! We are Vicki and Drew DeFord. Pictured here is our wonderful Pyr William. We are lovers of the Great Pyrenees as well as foster mom/dad and volunteers here in the DFW Area. We look forward to meeting you at our Denton events!

Josie is our adopted Pyr that we've had for about a year. What a joy to see her come out of her shell and become a fully functioning member of our pack. She likes lounging in the house and LOVES the daily pack walk. Loyal and protective, a gorgeous representative of this noble breed. After fostering a puppy I now help process adoption applications. Along with Josie there are currently 3 other rescues:Junior "Iron Gut" Border Collie, Shelby "The Wolf" Mix and Ruckus (his name says it all) the Jack Russell. I tend to follow Cesar's Way working with dogs. It works for me and mine.

Hi everyone, I'm Corey...half of the Flanagan fosters. My husband and I recently joined the TGPR to help Morgan, who has since become a wonderful addition to our family...if only for a while!!! We found her living on a chain, in her own waste with only a barrel for shelter and knew we had to try an do something to help her. After contacting the TGPR and with their guidance, we now foster Morgan who lives a wonderful dog life waiting for her furever family. In the meantime, we are working with Petsense and Tractor Supply Company to establish a rescue relationship so that our side of the DFW Metroplex can become a solution to the overwhelming pet population too. We looking forward to meeting and thanking everyone involved with the TGPR!!! I also want to thank my husband Jim, who has been so supportive of this new path in our lives. Thanks honey...you're the best!!

I was first introduced to Pyrs in 2002 when I took in a rescue from a private individual and have been hooked ever since. These gentle giants have proved to be loving & protective with personality galore. I have been blessed to be part of the TGPR since 2007 and my fosters become familiar with horses and pack living while they are here. I've always been a softee for the discarded so whoever wanders up has a place to stay until a home is located. Yes, I can't imagine life without my big, fluffy, white buddies greeting me every morning and heading out to the barn with me to stand guard while I do my morning chores, waiting statuesque at the gate for our return from work each evening. They have certainly won my heart!

Tim and I adopted our first Great Pyrenees through TGPR in Sept 2008. We named her Mercy, which means showing compassion to victims of misfortune. She lived out the last 18 months of her life with us and we feel blessed to have been part of her life. Once our hearts healed, we decided to become foster parents for TGPR. Out of the 19 fosters we have had (and counting), we did end up adopting TWO! Jackson Heitman, who has his own Facebook page, came to us in May 2010 from the Denton County shelter. He was one day away from being euthanized when I pulled him on behalf of TGPR. He stole our hearts and has been our big rowdy boy ever since. In March 2013, we adopted 8 month old Huckleberry Heitman (or just Huck as we call him). He came to us through a Good Samaritan who found him wandering her neighborhood, skinny and tagless. Aside from fostering, we also take photos of new DFW rescues for the website and Petfinder. Yu will see us at the monthly adoption events and at annual events such as our parades and Hawaiian Falls Day. What a rewarding experience it has been to help these beautiful creatures find their forever homes. I encourage everyone to share in the fostering experience. It will change your lives forever.

Hey I'm Megan! I began as a foster for TGPR as I am intent on adopting a Pyr in the near future..but until that time I am enjoying volunteering at our Petsmart meet and greets and as of 8/11/09 am now the proud foster of a Pyr.. We welcome you to come and visit our wonderful dogs at our DFW Flowermound Petsmart.. by the way the adorable dog you see pictured is my sweet husky mix Shelby!!

Renee offered to help Dovey and Emmanuel who came from the shelter suffering from sarcoptic mange. She didn't want to bring them home as she has 4 other dogs, including an elderly Great Dane. She was very generous about helping with vet bills to help get Dovey and Emmanuel over their mange while being boarded at the vet.

HI! My name is Mike, and I have fostered dogs and cats for several years. I first got involved with rescue when I fostered a mother cat and 2 four week old kittens for a soldier who spent 11 months in Iraq. It was very difficult to give up the kittens once the soldier came home, but the experience so enriched my life that within a week I had volunteered at a local rescue as a foster. In February of 2007, I adopted my first Saint Bernard, an 8 week old puppy that I named Remy, and I fell in love with the breed. In the picture to the left, you can see Remy sitting in (on) my lap. I have also uploaded a picture of Remy as an 8-week old puppy, primarily because he is so much more photogenic than I am. In December, 2008, I adopted Sammy, my Great Pyrenees. That's him sitting in my chair just before I left for work. He's 180 lbs and just a pudgy. He needs to go to a doggy Fat Camp. He is a big sweet puppy and epitomizes everything that the Great Pyrenees breed is all about.

We are a new foster and yep, foster adopter of King Louie. Mike and Suzy live in the DFW Area and are excited about the prospect of working applications, transports and fostering too. A personal howdy do from Mike and Suzy coming soon!

Lin and Herb have been married for eons. Their kids are grown, but the dog portion of the family keeps expanding! They have a cat, 2 Pyrenees girls from TGPR (Annie and Lacy), a Pit/boxer mix, A Chow/Sharpei mix, and a Golden/Lab mix. All the dogs come from rescue situations, and one of them rescued himself by showing up at their kitchen door. They like to joke that it's a good thing they are both nuts about animals!

Hello My name is Olivia, I love animals but really adore the big beautiful white dogs. I met this wonderful group at one of their monthly Denton Petsmart meet the breed events and I was hooked. Now I am the proud adoptive mom of Ghost. We are now the groups Pyr representatives wherever we may go!

We are the Lutz family and are currently fostering Bernadette. We rescued her from the side of the road and have fallen in love with her. What an amazing dog and an amazing breed. Fostering is not new to us. We are an animal loving family and have always had at least a couple of dogs in our lives. We have fostered special needs cases for A Different Breed of Animal Rescue here in the Dallas area, and we have given 2 very special rescue dobermans a forever home. We have a busy house with 3 teenagers and currently 3 big dogs. There is lots of love to go around here! We are glad to be a part of such a great group of people who work to better the lives of these great dogs.

Hello we are Jerry and Eunice Lytle, We have an adoptive pyr of our own. We love the gentleness of the breed but my oh my they are big! We enjoy helping at the Petsmart meets as well as joining in parades and other events. Come and see us!

Raising Boer Goats under the watchful eye of our wonderful Pyrs Quinton and Quigley on 11 acres in Poetry, Texas [8 mi. N of Terrell.] We have 4 additional rescue dogs: Old #3 a Southern Blackmouth Cur(F), Garth a Rhod.Ridgeback mix(M), Jake a Pointer mix(M), and Gus a Catahoola mix(M).

I have been saving animals since I was a child. I had never met a Great Pyrenees until I moved to Houston in 2001. Since then I have fostered so many pyrs. Great Pyrenees... a wonderful breed. I have Harry Snoodles Nesser. He is about 5 years old and a cancer survivor. My husband tolerates my fosters... but when he met Harry he knew he was a keeper. There is nothing like saving a Gentle Giant from death, mistreatment and neglect. Its the ultimate "fixeruper" for the pyr and for your soul. Its amazing how fast they improve with love, attention and proper treatment.

Hello Everyone! I am the Dallas/Fort Worth Coordinator for TGPR. I have been doing rescue for many years now. After 10 years of planning, we were blessed with our 3 TGPR adopted Pyrs. We adopted one, then two, and well now three is company. The first picture is of Sydnie Jolene, the 2011 Denton Dog Days of Summer. Sanger Boy is having fun playing in the snow he newest kid in the pack is Solaris. Shasta was our older Pyr who is no longer with us but it is she that was the catalyst to begin the TGPR in North Texas. We have Bicardi a lab mix to round out our dog pack. Al and I have been married for 30 years and have 3 great kids. When our kids were young we tried, well, maybe me more than Al, had tried to incorporate the whole barnyard in one little patch of land but as luck would have it we were blessed with the home in Ponder, Texas just outside of Denton. We can now have most of the barnyard in our yard. Now that our kids are grown, this open time enables us to do parades, meet-and-greets as well as data and admin and the public awareness events concerning rescue as we have time for - and we all know rescue work is never done. We welcome anyone that wishes to do any kind of volunteer rescue, whether it be for us or any of God's creatures, great and small. True, it is a tough day sometimes, but when you see the adopted dogs with their new adopted families it just makes all those rough days a faint memory and oh, it so does the body, heart and mind good! Nice to have met you. See ya at the dog park! Have a Pyrfect Day today!

Hi, I’m Pam and have been in love with dogs my whole life. I got my first Pyr (Samson, a rescued Pyr-mix) as a birthday present from my best friend in 2003 and have been in love with the Great Pyrenees breed ever since. I’m now Pack Leader to four Pyrs – two of whom (Sheba & Shannon) I adopted through TGPR – and two other dogs, a chocolate lab & a golden retriever. This year, I decided to foster as well, and was given a Pyr-mix puppy named Shepherd as my first foster. I enjoy going to TGPR’s adoption events, seeing all the beautiful Pyrs together, and watching them get adopted into their new forever families. That’s what it’s all about … finding each one of these lovable giants the good, loving home they deserve.

I am Susie. I am the Livestock Guardian Evaluator. I love helping Pyrs. They are sweet, loyal and take wonderful care of my goats. My first Pyr was Badger, then I adpted Bonnie and Clyde. They help me teach the new dogs what to do. Just because they are in the pasture doesn't mean they don't get love. I go out and lay in the pasture and pet them, give them treats and play with them. I appreciate that they stay up all night keeping coyotes at bay. Look at those faces, how could anyone resist the pyr face?

Hi, I am active in events as well as foster "mom" to two Pyrs at present. I have experience with Pyrs as livestock guardians as well as pets, and can't imagine life without one - or more - of these wonderful dogs.

This is TJ and Allison and family! They are new to TGPR but not new to the dog world. Allison has been a vet tech for several years. TJ and Allison are not only new adopters but new fosters too! Dakota didn't last long as a foster he is now part of the family!

I fell in love with this breed when I worked at a groom shop. Her name was Feather, and she was the most beautiful and sweetest dog I had ever seen. I loved that dog, and learned to groom her.. My adopted Pyr is Bella. I have always wanted a large dog,but have never had room for one til now. I feel very strongly about adoption as opposed to buying from a breeder, I worked at an animal shelter and there was a lot of sadness where I worked. TGPR is the group I would like to spend my volunteer hours for in order to change the life of one dog at a time, in order to help my heart forget the many I couldn't. Sincerely Mary and Bella

Lisa and her family are very familar with Canine Rescue. They help with the Cocker Spaniels as well as the Great Pyrs. As you can see from their picture, their son gets right in there and loves on all the doggies. They live in the Grand Prairie, Texas area of the DFW Metro.

Robin and William Wallace has a great pyr by the name of Cooper. He is trained to be her Therapy dog. She is able to go shopping, eating out and etc with her Pyr. What a lucky family! No wait!! TGPR is the lucky family because they foster, transport and help administratively for us..

I have two Pyrs that I call my own. When a Great Pyrenees is in need of a home in order to find a great home I am there. They are truly a wonderful breed

Hello all, I am pictured here with a friend of mine, Ms. Pearl. I find myself fostering her to ensure she will find a great home. Friendship is what it is all about.

I was given a male Great Pyrenees right after I left college many years ago. I had my Pyr for nearly 12 years and fell in love with the breed's personality and demeanor. They unconditionally love and protect cats, dogs, humans, kids (not to say kids aren’t humans!), anything and everything. I’m not quite ready for my forever Pyrenees, but took a baby step by fostering Maddox (pictured). What a joy and challenge puppies are! Now I am helping out the TX Great Pyrenees Rescue with Adoption Applications while I am working on my dissertation in Nutrition.