There isn't much background information on Ralphie as he was admitted into the shelter as a stray and a starvation case. When we first got him, he was incredibly thin and malnourished when he arrived at his foster home. He was so weak he could barely stand. 

He is very motivated by food, so it is easy to give him his inexpensive pills for his thyroid issues, which he will need for life. He will simple eat them from the palm of your hand. 

Ralphie - or The Ralphie-nator - as he is called by his foster family - is a fighter. He is so determined to get better and tries to do "big boy" things that is indicative that he is a survivor. He is sweet and snuggly and so very endearing. He snuggles in his foster momma's neck in the middle of the night and sometimes she'll wake up to him licking her "Good Morning!". He does very well on housetraining when kept on a schedule. 

He is recovering from some skin infections and although he has a slight heart murmur, the resident of OFP isn't too concerned about this. Ralphie needs a family that will smother him in so much love that he will forget his awful past. 

PLEASE NOTE:   If you are viewing this biography on a website other than the Ohio Fuzzy Pawz website like Petfinder, Adopt-a-Pet, or another search engine (the OFP website is www.ohiofuzzypawz.com), not all information transfers to partner websites in some instances.  If you go to the  individual webpage of our dogs , you will be able to get more information each dog.

Visual breed identification in dogs can be unreliable so, in many cases, we are only guessing at the predominant breed or breed mix.  We get to know each dog as an individual and will do our best to describe each of our dogs based on personality, not by breed label.

Our Adoption Process

The adoption process has several steps involved. Please review prior to submitting an application. Our adoption process is detailed here:  http://www.ohiofuzzypawz.com/info/adoption

Our volunteers work very diligently to process each application and we try to ensure that we are making the best match possible for each dog.  We do not schedule meetings with dogs until an application has been approved.  It can take up to a few weeks to process an application or as little time as a few days, from the time you submit an application, please be prepared to adopt as we cannot hold dogs.

Special Requirements

Some dogs may have special requirements (for example, medications, a fence) -- if you apply for a dog, please be sure to read over the biography completely to see if there are any special needs and if you're home would be suitable.  If we indicate on the dog's biography that a fence is required, this means your home must have a physical fence.  Other dogs may require a "strong vet reference" which indicates that we are looking for a home that has a documented history of veterinary care with previous pets. 

The first step in our process is to submit an online adoption application at www.ohiofuzzypawz.com/forms.  The application MUST include the personal references and veterinary, grooming, and landlord references (if applicable) and their respective contact information.  If you do not include the references and the contact information, your application will be delayed as it CANNOT be processed.  Once the references have been successfully completed, a home visit is then scheduled when a rescue representative can meet all members of the family or residents of the home.  No application is approved prior to the home visit being done.   At that point, the Directors will discuss any and all applications on a foster dog and make a selection--in many cases, there are multiple applications for each dog, so please be understanding that our only priority is the successful placement of each of our foster dogs.

Out of State Adoptions

We do adopt out of state to outstanding applicants, however, our process requires a home visit, so out of state adoptions can take longer.  We do not ship our dogs, adopters should be prepared to pick up the dog in Central Ohio.