Birthday: October 15th 2004 Arrival Story: Hi there, I’m Ralph! (my foster-family calls me Ralphie) I spent most of my life in a laboratory. I’ve only been out in the “real world†for about a month, and boy is there a LOT to learn, but it’s SO much fun! Bio: I’m a 5 ½ year-old beagle boy. I’m one of the smaller beagles here at my foster home, I weigh about 20 lb. I probably need to put on 1-2 lbs ‘cause when I first came out of the laboratory my tummy was really, really upset and and I lost weight, but it’s all better now and I’m doing well on a diet of Natural Balance. There are a BUNCH of other dogs here at my foster home and they do things I’m not sure about yet, it’s called playing. It looks like fun, but I’m not really sure how to do it, so I sometimes just run alongside and bark. Oh, yea, I can bark, too. I like running up and down the fence-line at my foster home and try to get the people in the next yard to run with me, but usually only the little humans will do that. I get very excited when they do and I bark then, too. I think I like the little humans. I’ve met a few and my tail just goes and goes when they’re around!
The first time I saw the big dog in my foster home I didn’t want to go in the yard, but I’ve learned that he’s just big, not mean or scary. I’m still cautious of NEW big dogs, but they don’t make me that scared any more. I like cats, too. There are two in my foster-home and a “store cat†at the local pet-supply store and I like touching noses, but if they hiss at me I don’t think that they’re fun to play with anymore and go find something else to do. I don’t bark a lot or all the time, but I do bark enough that I probably would not be a great dog for an apartment or condo. I do pretty well on the leash, but a harness is strongly recommended ‘cause there are still things that startle me and I might pull loose from a collar. When I eat (I eat in my crate) I lie down next to the bowl and eat while I’m laying down. My foster-human thinks it’s kind of funny, but I don’t know why.
I like to join the humans on the couch – sometimes for a snuggle, sometimes I want my own “spotâ€, but I think furniture is SOOOO cool! Dog beds are nice too. I hear that some of my fellow laboratory retirees prefer the floor – , boy they don’t know what they’re missing! I LOOOOOVE to roll around on the couch and dog beds, it’s FUN (and it feels good, too)! I’m still working on mastering a full flight of stairs. I have no problem with the 4 steps up to the porch but that straight flight all the way to the 2nd floor is kinda scary and the first time I tried it one of my foster-brothers knocked me back down when I was about ½ of the way up. I haven’t tried THAT again.
I’m doing really well on the “housetraining†thing, but still have accidents once in a while. A big part of my “success†is that I’ve trained my foster-human that I need to go out RIGHT AWAY when I first get up, when somebody first gets home, right before I get crated if my foster-human is going out, and of course right before bedtime. (If I’m already sleeping when it is time for “last out†I try to be real small and not get noticed so I don’t have to get up, but they always find me, anyway). I've Been On Dogster Since: