About Us

Pam Petty is a lifelong educator.  She graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy and a master’s degree from North Texas University in Educational Administration.   She’s a former principal, director of special education, and adjunct professor at Texas Woman’s University. In 2010, she retired from educational administration.

Pam firmly believes in positive rewards and understands that rewards and success are directly tied to learning.   Training should be fun for both the handler and the dog.  She has taught for the Golden Triangle Dog Obedience Group for eight years. Before that time, she worked with the organization to train her own dogs and learned from the excellent trainers with whom she had the pleasure of working.

Her former Rottweiler, Gus, earned his AKC Canine Good Citizen title when he was five months old.  He earned his AKC Rally Excellent title. Gus was a rally winner at the 2019 American Rottweiler Nationals in Aurora, Colorado. Two of her girls are past AKC Therapy Pals; all three dogs have AKC titles.  Pam is a certified evaluator with the American Kennel Club.

Sheila Flanagan is interested in connecting with people and dogs alike.  She graduated from the University of North Texas with a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Student Personnel Services.  She served as a dedicated educator for 39 years, with 27 of them being as a school counselor in Argyle, Texas.

Sheila has loved dogs her entire life.  Rottweilers hold a special place in her heart as she has owned them for 48 years.  While she has put up conformation champions, her true passion is training her dogs for obedience and rally titles.

Sheila credits Golden Triangle Obedience Group for getting her involved with therapy dog visits.  Her beloved Gamegards Trinity Quanah Parker CGC CD RE THDD, “Quanah,” was the first Rottweiler to earn the AKC Therapy Dog Excellent title.  Quanah went on to earn his Therapy Dog Distinguished title.  Sheila considers these to be her proudest achievements with her beloved dogs.

Jan Lowry has a heart for serving. She graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a degree in Nursing.  After serving more than 30 years as a Maternal-Child nurse, Jan continues to enjoy serving people through therapy dogs and training dogs for that purpose.

Jan grew up surrounded by animals.  She has taken numerous pets through obedience training.  She truly appreciates the special bond one can develop with their animals through training – like the relationships that she enjoys with her Yorkshire terrier, Ellie Grace, and her mini Aussiedoodle, Cooper Doodle. Ellie has earned her AKC Therapy Dog Supreme title and her AKC Trick Dog Novice title. Cooper has earned his AKC Therapy Dog Distinguished title and AKC Trick Dog Advanced Title. They both enjoy visiting and entertaining people of all ages.

Jan joined Golden Triangle Dog Obedience Group in 2019.  She is primarily focused on puppy and Therapy Dog training at this time.  She firmly believes in training dogs by using bonding and positive reinforcement methods.  She appreciates everything she has learned from her fellow trainers and several online dog training classes. Jan is a certified evaluator with the American Kennel Club.

Sharon Betty is a lifelong teacher and trainer. She retired from Denton ISD after a thirty-year career working with children in science, gifted children, and conducting staff development for teachers in science. Since retirement, Sharon continues to work with children managing field trips and summer camps, doing library talks, etc. After retirement, Sharon also fulfilled a dream to own a therapy dog.

After attending classes offered by Golden Triangle Dog, Sharon became a member of Therapy Pals of GTDOG in 2021 with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Charlie. They both enjoy making therapy visits and are still delighted by children wherever they go.

Sharon joined the training team in 2023 working in Manners classes and Puppy Kindergarten. She is now a member of the kindergarten team and loves watching bonds grow between handlers and puppies during classes. She believes that social interaction in puppy class and the positive reinforcement that occurs changes the lives of pups and handlers.

Kristy Phillips is a lifetime animal lover. She grew up in North Texas on a farm, surrounded by everything from cows and horses to hamsters and newts. She has been training dogs and horses since she was a teenager. Kristy has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, and is currently a PhD Candidate in Information Science with a focus in Computational Linguistics.

Mark Phillips grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and began training animals when he married his wife Kristy in 2012. He had to learn about horses and dogs quickly, since he suddenly found himself surrounded by them post-marriage. Mark has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance, a Master’s Degree in Library Science, and a PhD in Information Science. Mark works as an Associate University Librarian at the University of North Texas.

Mark and Kristy currently have two Brittanys: Ripley and Kenai. Ripley is a senior Brittany that has been to every state in the USA but Hawaii on trips with her people. Kenai is a young Brittany who is working on Rally and Trick Dog titles with the AKC. She is also the demonstration dog for Manners classes with GTDog. Mark and Kristy believe in positive reinforcement training and lots and lots of dog treats.

I’ve always had a love for animals, and growing up on a farm got me used to having them always around me. My interest in dogs started when I was around 10 years old when my best friend got an Alaskan husky from her brother-in-law, who is a Military K9 trainer and also competes in mushing and breeds Alaskan huskies. Our neighbor had a husky mix, so needless to say, I went there every day to ask if I could walk their dog, and in the winter time, we were sledding away whenever we had free time after school. I wanted to get an Alaskan Malamute, but after long negotiations with my parents, I got an English Cockerspaniel named Roope. He wasn’t much of a sled dog, but he was MY dog, and after losing him, I swore I would never get another one as it broke my heart.

Indeed, there was a long break in my life from having any pets as I went through university, competing in sports, and just settling into adult life and career that took me to Texas in 2010. Luna is my first dog over here; at the time, she was about 2 years old, a rescue pitbull mix, and there was something special about her. Therapy work seemed like a natural choice due to her demeanor and also gave me the opportunity to serve the community. In 2018, we graduated from the basic manners and therapy dog class and joined Therapy Pals. As of right now, Luna has over 270 visits in her records.

As Luna is a playful dog, she got me looking into fostering to get her a playmate. So in 2018, I started volunteering for the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas (GALT), and in 2020 I foster-failed my 12th foster, Atlas. Atlas is a retired racer and went through the same training as Luna, and he has around 75 visits as of today. Luna has also done some rally, and we joined the DFW Tracking club in 2023 with her.

I’ve always been an active person and wanted to have a more active dog that I could do something that maybe they were bred to do. After long and thorough research to find a sport and a breed that would fit the bill, I got my Belgian Malinois puppy, Yukon, in February 2025. That has gotten me into the deep weeds of dog training as our goal is to compete in the sport of IGP (Schutzhund). This first year we’ve been just working on fundamentals, building the foundation for tracking, obedience, and protection. As a side hobby, we’re also doing dock diving to beat the Texas summer heat.

Over the years, and especially after getting Yukon, I’ve really learned to understand the need for training your dog. It is not just to make your dog obey you; it’s about building a relationship with your dog that consists of mutual trust and respect. Even on days when the training is not fun or you don’t see the results, do not give up! In the long run, it’ll be all worth it, and you’ll have a happy dog who loves to spend time with you!

Cheri Morrow is happily retired after 40 years as Customer Care Manager for Global Furniture Group and resides in Corinth, Texas along with her husband Blake and 2 therapy dogs, Pico and Tiga. Retirement has not slowed her down, just allowed more time for volunteering and fulfilling her love of the outdoors by gardening, hiking, walking, and sharing her dogs with others. Pico is a 12-year-old male Portuguese Water Dog, Tiga a 10-year-old female half Portuguese Water Dog and half standard Poodle.

After getting Pico certified as a Therapy Pal in January 2019 and seeing the joy he brought to people on visits, she thought maybe Tiga could become a Therapy Pal as well! In February of 2020, Tiga received her certification and has been loving her visits ever since.

Seeing how well behaved all the dogs in the Therapy Pals of GTDOG were, Cheri began assisting with training in the manners classes and loves encouraging and teaching the handlers basic skills to bond with their dogs so they will learn these commands using positive re-enforcement. Seeing the progress the dogs and their handlers make from the 1st day of class to the final day of class where they can earn their CGC (Canine Good Citizen Certificate) is very rewarding.