My name is Ralphie!

UPDATE 1/6/2013: Ralphie is an approximately 4 year old Morkie mix who was rescue from a high kill shelter. Ralphie is a fun dog, but has a distinct personality and would be best in a home of someone with terrier experience, or with a trainer. Please read his bio below for more details.

UPDATED BIO 10/2302012: Ralphie is a 2 or 3 year old Yorkie and Maltese mix – a Morkie! He is living in his foster home in West Palm Beach. He is an active little dog that gets along with other dogs and cats. He is enjoying his morning walks now more than ever with the changing weather. After his walks, he pretty much relaxes for the rest of the day and likes to look out the front to check on the goings on – until late afternoon when it’s dinner time and dog park time!

Ralphie is a sweet and affectionate dog, but he needs to have an experienced home that understands his past might not have always been so kind to him, and he can have some trust issues if he thinks something bad is going to happen to him. He also can not go to homes with children.

UPDATED BIO 08/11/2012: Ralphie is a 2 to 3 year old Yorkie mix (Maltese and Yorkie – a Morkie!) who was saved from a local high kill shelter and is being fostered in West Palm Beach. Ralphie was underweight and had a dislocated leg when he came into rescue. In January, he received a procedure called a FHO – Femoral Head Ostectomy. He recently returned to the orthopedic vet surgeon for his follow up. He weighed in at 8.6 lbs, which is a perfect weight for him. Upon examination, she discovered he had completed mobility and no pain in the leg that was operated on. The vet gave him two thumbs up and declared the surgery a complete success!

If you did not know that he had a bad leg in the past, you never would guess there was every anything wrong with him.

Ralphie has spent the summer wondering why he's had to share the house with other foster animals - after all - shouldn't he be the one any only homeless foster animal in a house?! He's had to deal with 4 tiny kittens and watch them grow from blind and deaf creatures to playful felines that can not resist the wagging of a long tail - Ralphies to be exact. After his initial shock at no longer being an only foster child, he took to the kittens quite well and enjoys playing with them, and they in return reward him with a tail smack down at least once a day. I don't think Ralphie will be too sad to see them go.

Ralphie loves his morning walks - even in the heat he is a trooper and keeps going, and looks forward to his evenings romping and playing fetch at the dog park. When relaxing, his favorite position is either on the top of the couch pillows looking out the front door, and next to his foster mother where he can remind her he's there and needs to be petted. His foster mother practices what he has learned in his obedience class on a daily basis so he doesn't forget his sits, stays, downs, waits, etc.

Ralphie is a playful, outgoing and affectionate dog who has not always had an easy life. He is looking for a home that has experience in Yorkies or small dogs. Also, because of Ralphies background, we feel at this time, he would not be a good fit for homes with children under the age of 16.

UPDATED BIO 06/11/2012: Ralphie is a 2 or 3 year old Yorkie mix (Maltese and Yorkie – a Morkie!) who was saved from a local high kill shelter and is being fostered in West Palm Beach. Ralphie was underweight and had a dislocated leg when he came into rescue. In January, he received a procedure called a FHO – Femoral Head Ostectomy. He recently returned to the orthopedic vet surgeon for his follow up. He weighed in at 8.6 lbs, which is a perfect weight for him. Upon examination, she discovered he had completed mobility and no pain in the leg that was operated on. The vet gave him two thumbs up and declared the surgery a complete success!

Ralphie was lacking in manners, so he was taken to basic obedience for 6 weeks, and he just graduated on June 9th!. There, he has learned to sit, lie down, stay, wait, come, drop it, leave it, heel and some other basic obedience commands. He has learned to walk very nicely on a leash, and is very good at ignoring other people and dogs. His training however, is ongoing, and his new owner will have to understand that they have to continually reinforce what he has learned, and not teach him bad habits. He also now sleeps in his own little bed next to his foster parents and is perfectly happy in it. He is still not crate trained, but will go in the crate and eat his food. Since Ralphie is house trained and he doesn’t destroy furniture, his foster mom doesn’t feel that crate training is a priority at the moment.

Ralphie still has some issues that he has not quite worked out all the way, and we feel it is due to his former life and not being treated so nicely. He is a very loving and sweet dog who has a lot of energy and loves to play. His favorite game is fetch, and he will take his toys and drop them in your lap for you to throw. Of course, he doesn’t always like to give up his toys and want to play tug of war instead.

Ralphie is looking for a home that has experience in Yorkies or small dogs. Also, because of Ralphies background, we feel at this time, he would not be a good fit for homes with children under the age of 16.

UPDATED BIO 04/26/2012: Ralphie is a 2 or 3 year old Yorkie mix who was saved from a local high kill shelter and is being fostered in West Palm Beach. Ralphie was underweight and had a dislocated leg when he came into rescue. In January, he received a procedure called a FHO – Femoral Head Ostectomy. He recently returned to the orthopedic vet surgeon for his follow up. He weighed in at 8.6 lbs, which is a perfect weight for him. Upon examination, she discovered he had completed mobility and no pain in the leg that was operated on. The vet gave him two thumbs up and declared the surgery a complete success! He has great range of motion in his leg and it has healed accordingly, although he will continue to heal and build muscle for another year. Yay Ralphie!

After having lived with Ralphie for several months, his foster family feels that he didn’t come from a loving and gently home, but rather may possibly have been subjected to abuse. Because of this, he is going to be starting a 6 week training course, and until he finishes training, he will not be available for adoption. Please don’t forget about this little dude though! He is a very fun little man with a lot of playful energy, but he needs to learn some better manners. He will make someone a great pet, but he does need the right home. Please check back as we will be updating on his training as he goes along.

UPDATED BIO 03/22/2012: Meet Ralphie in person this Saturday, March 24th! Ralphie will be in West Palm Beach at the South Florida Pet Expo from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm! Meet him at the UYR booth, just look for the Yorkies!

UPDATED BIO 03/07/2012: Ralphie is a 2 or 3 year old Yorkie mix who was saved from a local high kill shelter and is being fostered in West Palm Beach. His leg was dislocated and he was unable to put any weight on it. UYR sent him to an orthopedic surgeon in January, where he received an FHO so he could walk like a healthy dog. It’s been almost 2 months since his surgery, and if you did not know there was ever something wrong with Ralphie’s leg, you never would! Take a peak at the before and after video to see the difference. He still needs to go back to the surgeon for a follow up visit and OK, but we are sure he is going to pass with flying colors. That should happen in the next couple of weeks or so.

Ralphie was very also very underweight when he came in to rescue, but he has no problem with his appetite, and is at a healthy weight now – about 9.5 lbs. He is a very active little dog, who loves to fetch, run and go for walks and is looking for an active household. Ralphie is learning manners at his foster house, but his foster mother does need to be diligent in reminding him. However, he is a very smart little dog and he catches on quickly. Ralphie gets along with other dogs and cats and he is house trained – although his foster mother works from home and does let him out several times during the day. If you are interested in finding out more about Ralphie, feel free to send an inquiry over!

UPDATED BIO 01/19/201: Ralphie is a 2 year old Yorkie mix who was saved from a local high kill shelter and is being fostered in West Palm Beach. His leg was dislocated and he was unable to put any weight on it. UYR sent him to an orthopedic surgeon where he received an FHO so he could walk like a healthy dog. We are happy to report that Ralphie is recovering fantastically after his FHO! He went up the stairs for the first time and came down all by himself. He is beginning to use his leg more and more, although he still favors it. He went to the dog park for the first time also, and he had a blast! He had a great time playing and running with the other dogs!

Ralphie is a very spunky, confident little guy is still underweight and needs to gain another pound or so. He has been called both a pistol and a stinker by the two vets that saw him – whatever else Ralphie is mixed with, he is still terrier! He gets along fine with other dogs and some cats – he seems to prefer mellow confident cats. His ideal home would be one where he can go on walks several times a day, get plenty of exercise, no large dogs, and no children under 16. Could yours be his forever home?

Update 01/10/12: Updated Bio 1/10/2012: Ralphie had his FHO surgery today, and came through it fine. He is staying in the hospital overnight and will be coming home in the morning. We are looking forward to a healthy little Ralphie who can eventually walk on all four legs.

UPDATED BIO 01/06/2011: Check out our video of Ralphie! In the video, you can clearly see Ralphie’s inability to use his left rear leg. Ralphie is a 3 year old, 7 lb Yorkie mix who was recently rescued from a high kill shelter. Ralphie is not a stranger to this shelter as he found himself there in August 2009 where he was adopted. Sadly, his new family did not take very good care of him, and he found himself back at the shelter 1 ½ years later with a dislocated hip. Luckily though for Ralphie, UYR spotted him and stepped up to get him out! Ralphie can not use his left rear leg at all as his hip is completely out of the socket. He is scheduled to have an FHO done to relieve his pain and let him walk and run like a normal healthy dog. His surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday, January 10th. Surgery like this is not cheap, and even with a discount, it will cost between $1,200 and $1,500. His bills aren’t going to end there, as the surgeon has said his muscles are so atrophied he will need physical therapy – we don’t know yet how much that is going to cost. Can you find it in your heart to donate to his cause? Any amount helps and even if you can’t donate, maybe you can spread the word as well? Without help from our wonderful supporters, we can’t continue to take in the precious little Yorkies that so desperately need our help. Thank you!

INITIAL BIO 12/31/2011: MEET RALPHIE! Ralphie is a 3 year old, 7 pound Yorkie mix who was rescued from a high kill shelter. We think he might be mixed with a Schnauzer or perhaps a Maltese, making him either a Schnorkie or a Morkie! He is a very friendly and outgoing little guy who is underweight – we believe he should gain at least 2 pound to be at his ideal weight. Ralphie came from the shelter infested with fleas and ticks and flea bite dermatitis. However, with a bit of TLC, that is all clearing up Ralphie is very cute as he has a bit of an under bite and that gives him a unique look to him. Sadly, he does not use his rear left leg, and it appears that he has an old injury that was not properly taken care of, and the muscles have atrophied. X-rays reveal that he has a dislocated hip, and that his hip ball is not in the joint at all, causing him to be in a great amount of pain and resulting in his inability to put weight on that leg. He saw an orthopedic surgeon today, and she recommended him for an FHO, which she feels that coupled with physical therapy should get him right back on the road to complete recovery. He is going to take an anti-inflammatory for a week or so, and then he will have the surgery. We expect the FHO to cost over $1200… would you consider helping out with the high vet costs of this little guy?