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‘Fire-breathing demon’ dog looks for forever home

If your home is missing something, such as a fire-breathing demon dog, then an animal shelter in New York has the perfect companion.

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Ralphie is up for adoption from the Niagara SCPA, and the workers at the shelter are pulling out all of the stops to get him matched with a family.

It seems like they want him gone if you read a recent Facebook post.

“At first glance, he’s an adorable highly sought after, young dog. People should be banging down our doors for him. We promise you, that won’t be the case,” it starts. The writer continues to not pull their punches, saying, “Ralphie is a terror in a somewhat small package.”

Ralphie was at his first home, but that relationship ended. He had a second home, but he was surrendered after two weeks because his new owners said he annoyed their older dog.

The SPCA workers translated that as, “Ralphie is a fire-breathing demon and will eat our dog, but hey, he’s only 26lbs.”

They even said “He’s a whole jerk - not even half,” warning “if you show a moment of weakness, prepare to be exploited.”

We've become pros at writing animal adoption posts. With the adorableness we encounter daily, we have tons of material....

Posted by Niagara SPCA on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

They made an additional post with a video showing how Ralphie acts and proving that he has some issues that could be corrected by the proper training with the right family. He is, according to Tuesday’s post, still up for adoption but the shelter workers are being selective on who he is placed with because of his behavior needs.

Oh, Ralphie.

Edit: Ralphie is not being teased in this video. This is a snapshot of behavior that was captured to help us figure out how best to help Ralphie. We are getting him out daily for exercise and training and working on his guarding behavior in his kennel. There is also no evidence that suggests he guards because he was abused or neglected. Some have asked for evidence of Ralphie's bad boy ways so, without further adieu... This is Ralphie. In this video, a staff member is trying to go in his kennel to retrieve a toy he has gutted. He's not just jumping here. He's trying to bite their fingers as they unlatch the kennel. Their hesitation (due to fear for their fingers) is a signal to him that he's controlling this situation. He guarded his kennel in his last home and does so in the Shelter as well. He does have a bite history of some sort. We don't know the circunstances because his first owner won't return our phone calls. Other, more... fearless staff members go right in and body block him and just leash him and are pretty successful. He will also let some just walk right in and leash him. Getting the leash off is sometimes a different story, but it depends on the person. This is just the beginning of his shenanigans. He is so severely leash reactive- we can't get him within 20' of another dog. He was in an office at the Shelter and a staff member tried to step around him while he was lying on a bed and he lunged to grab her leg. He is not awful with everyone nor is he completely unhandleable. He picks a person and that person can do just about anything to him including pick him up which we're told by way of a surrender profile, is a no-no. While we've used humor to help make his behaviors more palatable for public consumption, his behaviors are no joke. His only saving grace is he is small and has some obedience training. He really needs a no nonsense owner. Otherwise, there may be no hope for him. That's why we're being super picky about his adopter. If you've called and have children or other dogs, you will not be considered for adoption. If you tell us this in a message, we will not return your phone call. We would hope that no one would be dishonest about their household circumstances just to adopt him- that will not end well for you and it will be an incredible disservice to Ralphie. Children and other pets are not only potential targets for him, but also provide less one-on-one time for his training and that's why we have drawn a hard line there. He 100% is a full jerk, but we believe he has potential to be a good boy- if only a percentage of the time.😏

Posted by Niagara SPCA on Tuesday, January 24, 2023

The workers also took Ralphie for an outing, where it didn’t go the greatest, but overall, the post said, “it was a good trip. No blood was shed. They weren’t told to never come back.”

Apparently, Ralphie isn’t alone when it comes to being a “demon.”

The Today show found one Facebook response that said, “If he’s anything like my frenchie, he’s a drama Queen with a Napoleon complex.”

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