Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs A dog who has spent four years at her shelter without being adopted has been given a taste of what life in a forever home feels like.There’s a special corner of Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, set aside just for Mia, the sweet pup who has spent more than half of her life living at the shelter. “Mia was brought to the shelter at 2 years old when she didn’t get along with the family cat,” Danielle Baughman, a volunteer at the shelter told Newsweek. “She has been here ever since.”Mia has struggled to drum up much interest from visitors. “I can only assume Mia wasn’t socialized very well and then being put in a shelter on top of that has had a negative impact on her,” Baughman said. “Mia is afraid of people at first so she takes time to warm up to them. It takes about three or four times meeting her and then she completely lets her guard down.”Once Mia lets her guard down though, Baughman said what emerges is a “very trusting” dog who makes for an amazing canine companion. “She loves to go to McDonald’s for chicken nuggets as treats. She loves them so much that it’s how new people win her over and she even has a chicken nugget blanket,” Baughman said. “She also loves to go to the park and run errands and she especially loves coming to our houses to hang out.”Sadly, most shelter visitors don’t ever see this side of Mia. She has the smallest of windows in which to make an impression. A 2014 study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, which looked at interactions between shelter pets and potential adoptees, found most only interacted with one dog during their visit. These interactions also only lasted an average of eight minutes.But Baughman and fellow volunteers Lindsey and Nickie have been working on that. Taking a break from the shelter is always welcome, but sleepovers can be especially effective. In 2017, researchers from Arizona State University sought to examine the potential benefits of a shelter dog sleepover on the canine involved.Researchers measured the levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress levels, in a group of dogs scheduled for sleepovers. Samples were taken from the dog at the shelter, during the sleepover and then back at the shelter.They found that just one night away was enough to reduce stress levels while anecdotal reports found that the dog not only settled quickly during the sleepover but enjoyed a long, unbroken sleep, before returning to the shelter refreshed.Baughman estimates Mia spends anywhere up to 23 hours a day in her kennel. After four years, she and her fellow volunteers hit upon a solution that allowed her to gain the benefits of a sleepover, while staying close to home: they made her up her own bedroom at the shelter.”It’s where she spends half of her day now, so she has a bedroom at the shelter. She loves it so much and loves to show it off to her friends at the shelter,” Baughman said.
Mia has been at the shelter for four years. So some volunteers decided to do something special for her.
Mia has been at the shelter for four years. So some volunteers decided to do something special for her.
TikTok/all_deez_animals
A video posted to her TikTok, All_Deez_Animals, offered up footage of Mia enjoying her first night sleeping in a real bed after years in the shelter. “Her first night sleeping in the room she joyfully brought the staff her toys when they came to get her in the morning,” Baughman.These sleepovers have provided Mia with a much-needed boost. The hope is it will be enough to convince someone to take a chance on her. Though best off in a single-pet household, Mia is fine with cats and dogs.”She really just wants to be with her human. I think if she met the right fit, she wouldn’t care if she saw another human again,” Baughman said. “She is so dedicated and loyal to the people she loves. I’ve truly never met a dog quite like her and it’s such a shame she is so overlooked.”It’s not too late for that to change though. Mia may be enjoying a well-earned rest in her very own room, but the hope is that in time she can one day lay her head down on the pillow in a bed in her very own house.
