Ralph the Beagle: The Dog Who Started a Movement

In February 2024, our nearly 14-year-old Beagle Ralph was diagnosed with lymphoma. The oncologist recommended chemotherapy, and we faced an impossible question:

"How will we know if treatment is helping him—or just prolonging our goodbye?"

We needed objective ways to measure Ralph's quality of life. Our vet mentioned the HHHHHMM Scale—a veterinary tool for palliative care assessment. But there was no simple way to track it daily.

We found ourselves asking:

• "Is he eating less, or does it just feel that way?"
• "Is his mobility declining, or are we being overprotective?"
• "Are there more good days than bad, or are we holding on for us?"

Our love for Ralph was clouding our judgment. We needed data to see clearly.

Ramon and Rinaldo immediately started building the first version of Ralph. It was simple: evaluate six criteria daily using the HHHHHMM Scale, see trends over time.

What we hoped it would do:

• Allow us to monitor Ralph’s overall wellbeing objectively, rather than relying on emotion or memory
• Reveal if mobility scores were worsening despite pain medication adjustments
• Most importantly: Help us separate our fear of loss from Ralph's actual experience

Over time, Ralph (the app) has evolved based on real user feedback. Pet parents using Ralph - Quality of Life Tracker asked for more tracking capabilities—especially lump monitoring. We listened and built Pet Lump Tracker.

As requests grew for symptom tracking, weight monitoring, and comprehensive health management, we created Pet Wellbeing Hub—combining everything in one modular platform.

Ralph is now used by many other families navigating similar journeys:

• Senior pets with arthritis and mobility challenges
• Cancer patients undergoing treatment
• Pets with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, heart conditions
• Families facing the hardest decision of all

Every app is free. Forever.

Why? Because compassionate care tools shouldn't have paywalls. Ralph's legacy is helping pets—and that shouldn't depend on someone's ability to pay.

As long as we can sustain this mission, Ralph will remain:

• ✓ Free forever (no subscriptions required)
• ✓ Privacy-focused (your data stays on your device)
• ✓ Ad-free (no distractions during difficult times)
• ✓ Open to all (dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, birds, reptiles—all pets matter)

If Ralph helps your family, and you're able to support our mission, we gratefully accept donations. But if you can't—download anyway. Ralph the Beagle would want it that way.