Hearts Melt as Shelter’s Longest Resident Enjoys Sleepover With Volunteer – ryan

Hearts melted as one shelter’s longest resident finally got to enjoy some home comforts by having a sleepover with a volunteer.

Nina, a pit bull mix, has been at the City Dogs Cleveland shelter in Ohio since December 19, 2024. She was found as a stray before being taken to the shelter in the search of a loving home. While she’s had a little adoption interest over the past few months, almost five months later she is still waiting for a home.

Indeed, Nina has now become the shelter’s longest serving resident. But that certainly isn’t a reflection of her temperament, as Izzy, an adoption and volunteer coordinator at City Dogs Cleveland, told Newsweek that Nina is a social butterfly who would make “a great adventure buddy.”

“She’s always so happy and loves to wiggle her body with excitement. Since we have a lot of dogs at the kennel who are a similar age and size, it’s easy for some to have bad luck and get overlooked,” Izzy said. “I think that’s the case with Nina. She doesn’t have any known behavior or medical issues—she’s just waiting for the right people to come.”

In order to give Nina some time away from the shelter, she got to go home with a volunteer named Katie for a fun-filled sleepover.

During that time, she enjoyed multiple walks, snuggles on the couch, and was even spoiled with a cooked breakfast.

Although it was only for one night, Izzy explained that sleepovers are “really beneficial” for shelter dogs. They learn so much more about their behavior in a home environment, which can be so different to how they behave in a noisy shelter.

Not to mention, it’s great way for people who can’t adopt or foster a dog long-term to still help an animal in need. It may just be a sleepover, but it could make the world of difference to a dog.

Nina was incredibly well behaved on her own sleepover, and she was more than happy to relax and unwind in the peaceful home.

Following the sleepover, Katie said: “Nina is housebroken and she napped and relaxed for most of the day but had to be by my side. In the middle of the night, I woke up and heard her tail thumping. She’d army crawled up to my face and gave gentle kisses and snuggled back to sleep.

“She loves her food but takes treats gently by hand. She likes eggs and watching TV. She is an adorable, affectionate, wiggle butt and I hated bringing her back to the kennel,” she continued.

Katie noted that Nina attempted to jump out the bath a few times and she was caught counter surfing too. However, she got down immediately when told.

Footage of Nina’s sleepover was shared on the shelter’s TikTok account (@citydogscle) and it melted hearts online. In just a matter of days, the video has amassed over 386,000 views and 46,200 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.

Staff at the shelter are hopeful that this exposure will help Nina finally find the forever home that she so desperately deserves. The video has generated plenty of attention and praise, but Izzy said it’s yet to lead to any formal adoption interest as of yet.

“Nina’s a great dog with a lot of fans among our volunteers and staff, and we can’t wait for her to find a home,” Izzy told Newsweek. “She would enjoy a moderately active home with plenty of snuggle opportunities. She plays with other dogs almost daily, so she might enjoy another dog in the home, and she also enjoys going on adventures such as hikes or jogs to the park.”

The video showing what Nina got up to during her sleepover has gained over 900 comments on TikTok so far. Many social media users loved seeing how content she was, but others hated the thought of her returning to the shelter the next day.

One comment reads: “She is so cute. How in the world aren’t people adopting her?!”

Another TikTok user replied: “Someone please bless this beautiful pup with a forever home.”

While another person wrote: “How sad she must have been to be returned.”

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