ralphie

RALPHIE is a 1 year old, 41.5 lbs., male Australian Shepherd mix that came into the Orange County shelter as a stray on 12/16/2025 from the City of Orange. His owner hasn't shown up to claim him and take him home.

RALPHIE was brought into the shelter on a catch pole. He was biting the pole, so his mouth was bloody upon intake. Shelter notes say he was more fearful than aggressive.

In his kennel, RALPHIE is more interested in treats than toys. He seems to want to engage with staff but is extremely overwhelmed by all the noise and chaos going on around him.

On 12/20/2025, RALPHIE was taken out of his kennel:

* 12/20/2025: At front of kennel today during morning cleaning. Opened kennel door, RALPHIE laid down and allowed leashing. Opened kennel door wide, dog urinated then dashed out, pausing and freezing in between short bursts of dashing. Noise level of bldg 1 rose significantly after we walked out of kennel, dog continued dashing and displaying increasingly frantic behavior. Able to quickly coax him out of bldg, defecating as we walked. Dog froze and laid down outside of bldg 1, flopping on his side. Leaned against brick wall while slightly crouched ~3ft away sideways to him and allowed him to decompress. After about ~30 seconds, dog glanced at me; I avoided eye contact and kept face parallel to him. Noticed him stand up and crawl towards me. Kept still. Dog then dashed past me and began thrashing on leash, anxious whining, flailing and flipping himself on leash in attempts to remove leash pressure. Used paws to attempt to pull leash away. Attempted to guide hand with him to ease leash pressure, dog continued flipping and flailing. Dog began chewing through leather leash quickly. ACAs saw and quickly opened doors as I walked him back. Dog continued flailing and attempting to chew through leash, noticed several large holes in leash as he chewed. Dog became frantic and dashed towards staff and myself in walkway, unsure if he was charging or attempting to minimize leash pressure. Able to place him back in kennel with leash attached.

 

 

RALPHIE has displayed moments of curiosity and seemingly affiliative engagement in kennel with staff. However, this behavior does not generalize beyond in kennel. When removed from kennel, RALPHIE demonstrates a marked increase in stress related behaviors, indicating that exposure to the shelter environment exceed his capability to self-soothe and regulate. Attempts at handling out of kennel result in extreme fear responses, including intense fixation on fleeing by: chewing through leather leash, flailing and attempting to pull the leash off, defecating and urinating. Due to RALPHIE'S inability to tolerate routine handling, he will not be considered for public adoption. We are recommending placement with rescue only.
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