Ralphie’s adoption donation is $200 and he is being fostered in Central Ohio.  He has been neutered, microchipped, received his rabies, distemper/parvo, and bordetella vaccines, tested negative on heartworms and on prevention, as well as flea prevention. He is on inexpensive twice daily pills (Enalapril) for a heart murmur.

Ralphie is a very sweet 12 year-old Maltese-Shih Tzu mix who came in to a local shelter severely neglected. He was extremely underweight and required extensive medical and dental care. However, he has recovered wonderfully and is a happy little boy now. Ralphie loves to be with his person the most but also enjoys other dogs. He likes sleeping on a dog bed or cuddling up on your lap. He enjoys exploring outside and taking strolls around. He travels very well in the car and does well on a leash. Despite having all but two of his teeth removed, he does well with eating and looks forward to his meal times. He does well with housetraining, if kept on a schedule. Ralphie would enjoy a home where he gets to spend time with his people and no children under the age of 10 (due to his small size).

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.