Great Pyrenees Rescue Provides Wonderful Dogs To Good Homes

Great Pyrenees Rescue would love your support. You can be assured that every penny goes to support our rescued Great Pyrs.

The Great Pyrenees Club of Southern Ontario provides Great Pyrenees Rescue services to rescue surrendered, abandoned or abused dogs and relocate them to loving and caring homes. We have provided formal Rescue services for over 20 years and our involvement in rescuing Great Pyrs goes back even further. Why not take a minute and review our History?

You are probably wondering why Great Pyrs become rescues. Even though our club and many others, dedicate themselves to informing everyone about all aspects of this breed, some Pyrs still become rescues. You can learn more here.

Available Great Pyrenees Rescue Dogs

What You Need to Know

This section of our site is dedicated to helping you help Great Pyrs in need.

But before we proceed... there a few things you need to know.

First...

Agressive Dogs

We carefully screen all incoming dogs for socially acceptable behaviour and accept only those whom we feel we can place responsibly. Great Pyrs that bite, present a very high risk and absorb way more of our scarce resources than we can afford. So if a Pyr has a history of aggression and biting, we probably will not be able to help.

Second...

Purebred vs Pyr Mixes

Due to our limited resources, we can accept only purebred dogs, and are unable to accept mixes. You may be wondering why this is, but there is good reason. We know Great Pyrs and we know their temperament. They can be delightful and they can be difficult. But we know what to expect. Mixes are another matter entirely. Even though it is part Pyr, we do not know what temperament to expect and that presents a big problem for us. As well it can result in absorbing more of our scarce resources than we can afford. So we can accept only purebred dogs.

The Club’s Great Pyrenees Rescue Territory

Looking for Available Rescue Dogs?

Interested in Fostering? Great Pyrs really need your help!

Our Rescue Team is dedicated to helping as many Great Pyrs in need as we can support, however we have limited resources and limited space to house dogs waiting for permanent homes.

We need your help. Yes… simple as that… we need your help. If you believe you can help our Pyrs and us, please drop by our Foster Area to learn more.

Do you want to adopt a Great Pyr now or in the future?

You cannot manage your Pyr any longer?

If you are in this unfortunate situation of having to surrender your Great Pyr to someone else’s care, we can help. So let’s get started by going to our Surrender area and we will step you through the process.

Please note... Due to our very limited resources, we are able to provide surrender services only to pure breed Pyrs. We have no capacity to deal with the uncertainties associated with mix breeds so are sorry that we are unable to accept Pyr Mixes into our Great Pyrenees rescue facility.

You have seen a Great Pyr in need of help and don't know what to do?

How we match dog rescues with new owners

There is no simple formula for a successful rescue but frequently, once an adopting owner has rescued one dog they keep coming back for more. One benefit of adopting an adult Great Pyr is adopting owners do not have to go through the "puppy" stages. Great Pyr puppies are beautiful but they can be a handful and are challenging at times.

Quite often adult Pyrs have had at least basic training. So for those who do not want to have to manage through the puppy stage or do not have the time to spend on extensive training but still want a dog, Great Pyrs make great rescue dogs. For many folks, an older dog fits their life style very well. It is just a question of obtaining the right fit and the club’s Great Pyrenees Rescue section works very hard to make that happen.

Great Pyrenees Rescue Dogs Currently Available For Adoption

Garrett the Great Pyr is Looking for You

Our Great Pyrenees Rescue Garrett is a 2-3 year old male who was found roaming the countryside. He weighs only 85 pounds, so does need to put on a little weight, but that will come once he settles into his new forever home. He has been neutered and all his shots are up to date.

Garrett does not look his best at the moment as his hair was extremely matted and in fact several spots on his body had to be shaved to get rid of them. But the fur will grow back and he will show his true good looks.

Imagine having Garrett with you and seeing him blossom into the beautiful Great Pyr he is going to be. Make him yours. Garrett is looking for you.

Meet Magnificent Huey

Huey is a large young adult male Great Pyrenees Rescue. He is an owner surrender… according to them they “didn't know he'd get that big” and he “doesn't like other dogs”. It’s hard to believe we know, but it’s true… many Great Pyrs are surrendered because of their size.

When Huey first arrived at the Rescue he was thoroughly unnerved by the trip, frightened but came around very quickly for cookies. He's 2 yrs old, approximately 125 lbs and is a NICE dog! As it turns out, he is fine with other dogs but a little baffled as to what to do. He has a sense of humour and is surprisingly smart too.

HUEY is up-to-date with routine shots, is house trained and neutered. We REALLY LIKE THIS DOG but we have to find him a forever home.

UPDATE: We’ve watched Huey and he is an amazing dog with people and is good with kids and no problem with cats (he can 't catch them anyway).

He is OK with other dogs - he's here with 24 of them - but he is rude with them and can be unpredictable and we are going to say no other dogs for him. He is fully aware of his size and takes advantage of it with other dogs but not with people, although you need to be an experienced dog owner to have a Pyr.

We really love him in spite of his sometimes nasty behaviour with some other dogs and he's great on a leash - not even a “leash lunger” - a happy, easy going dog who is very obedient and loving.

When other dogs charge him he goes after them even when they’re already retreating and that's rude. He can be made to stop but you need a big voice and more than that you need TO BE THERE AT THE TIME.

He hasn't an issue with cats or kids but Pyrs are an independent breed and he doesn't need other dogs. He needs exercise and is cute and funny and easy going and very obedient too. He does shed and needs regular brushing… but what Pyr doesn’t?

Final Update: Huey was in foster for approximately 4 weeks but while he tolerated the little kids there, he didn't interact well with them. He tried to stop them from running and playing and even growled at them. He loves to go on long walks, 1-2 hrs at a time, and is fine with the kids when doing so, but wants to be left quietly on his own the rest of the time.

We feel this results from a lack of exposure to little kids in his formative months and we are going to adopt him to a kid free home only or a Pyr experienced home.

At only two years of age this magnificent Great Pyrenees Rescue will respond to an experienced owner and develop into a model citizen. We are not looking for a Foster Home for Huey since we want to place him in his forever home now and let him settle in without any further turmoil in his life.

If you don’t have kids or other dogs and would love to share your life with a Great Pyr, Huey is the dog for you.

If you haven’t already completed a Rescue Application Form, the first step to bringing Huey into your life is to please complete one now and contact the Club using the contact information at the bottom of this page.

This is Great Pyrenees Rescue Honey/Bella

Honey/Bella unfortunately has not grown out of her “puppy” stage yet and would not be completely trustworthy alone in the house. She still tends to chew blankets while in her kennel, so she will need to some work to teach her what is and is not acceptable. However she appears eager to learn and is smart enough, so it will not take long to teach her acceptable behaviour. And of course, as she ages she will grow out of her “Puppy” stage and mature into a full beautiful adult.

Would you like to share your life with this beautiful Great Pyrenees Rescue? Contact us using the contact links at the bottom of this page.

Meet Great Pyrenees Rescue LadyBelle

Our Great Pyrenees Rescue Ladybelle is a 14 month old registered Pyr weighing about 70 pounds. Being a small model, she will not be much bigger. What she lacks in size, she makes up in energy. As soon as she gets to the gate and it opens, she’s off like a shot! Ladybelle has been spayed.

What a great dog for a child who wants a companion to run with! She’ll even go after a Frisbee... Hasn’t caught one yet but she’s trying. Agility, anyone?

Ladybelle was surrendered to me a couple of weeks ago. And why did this delightful girl become a Great Pyrenees Rescue? The complaint was that she was digging up the flower beds and re-arranging the new landscaping. They contended that she was excitable and nervous and destructive and fearful of thunder and lightning.

Their 12 year old Pyr had died and they went back to the same breeder to get another one thinking she would be of the same line as their former quiet beloved girl. The breeder hadn’t any but Ladybelle had just been returned at 8 months of age and was ready for a new home.

Ladybelle has turned out to be her own girl and not “like” any other. She is still an adolescent. She is smaller and will probably stay small. She is very active. She is not a quiet adult Pyr. She is a 14 month old, energetic Pyr who likes to run and play with other dogs.

I have seen no signs of nervousness nor of destructiveness, nor of hole digging since she has been here. We have had several wind and rain storms while she has been here and she has not been overly frightened. It may be the company of the other dogs that makes a difference. It may just be that she has exercise and is not bored.

I asked for information from the breeder about why she was brought back the first time and why she was placed in the second home. Ladybelle was surrendered because of a break up in a family and they were unable to keep her. She was raised with 3 children and got along well with them. She was obedience trained and was well socialized with other dogs - able to take her to the park where she would play with other dogs.

She was placed a second time with a lady who lost her 12 year old Pyr. She was looking for a replacement but was not up to the antics of a young Pyr still requiring lots of attention and exercise. As a result she is up for adoption again. She has a tattoo and I have her health records.

If you have an active family lifestyle and are looking for a Great Pyrenees Rescue to share it with, Ladybelle is willing to help you enjoy it.

Ladybelle has received some basic training and responds to well to: assis (sit), coucher (lie down), au pied (heel) and attend (wait). She also responds to the requisite hand signals.

Boo Needs A Very Special Home

When we found Boo she was catatonic. She was a feral dog and had been running wild in the Bracebridge area for almost 2 years. During that time she was shot and since she received no medical attention, one leg is stiff and cannot bend.

Given the trauma that Boo has experienced over the past 2 years, it is easy to understand why she does not do well with noise or disruption. At this time she will have nothing to do with other dogs. As a result other dogs ignore her.

However, Boo is responding to the love and affection that she has received from our rescue team and is slowly acknowledging people. She is very passive but will accept pats and attention, although she does not like her nose being touched.

She is showing every indication that she is capable of giving her trust to someone who will earn it. That is why we say that Boo is a special dog who needs a very special person.

Boo is a lovely dog and will need a lot of love and attention to bring her around. We believe that she has much love to bring to the person who has the love and compassion to earn her trust.

Here is the latest update on Boo.

Although Boo was basically catatonic when she came into care, and we had limited hope for her, Boo has in fact been coming around. She now leaves the barn on her own and has even taken to barking at the other dogs through the fence. She finally is starting to show some interest in the world and is no longer just lying around letting her life pass by. With these new developments, we have hopes for her.