Dog shelter houses dogs for several months, trains them to be ready for adoption

MEDINA — For the past four months, the Medina County Dog Shelter has had the same three dogs remain in its custody as other dogs come and get adopted. Ghost, a labradoodle, and Thor, a pit bull terrier, both have been at the Medina County Dog Shelter since October 2022. Theo, a pit bull terrier, has been at the Medina County Dog Shelter since February. "These three that have been here for a while all have certain issues," Medina County Dog Warden Del Saffle said. Both Thor and Theo are not good around other dogs and would be the best fit in a one-dog household. Thor is also not good around cats. Ghost can be temperamental, needing someone who would be able to train and work with him. "We've been working with them, trying to get them to come around," Saffle said. He and his staff members will individually work with the dogs to get them more comfortable around other people and other dogs. Since staff members are with the dogs on a daily basis, it makes it easier for them to work with the dogs since they understand the dogs' body language better and the dogs are more used to them, Saffle said. "We try to give them that chance to get adopted, and we try to work with them over time," he said. While Ghost, Thor and Theo have spent more time at the Medina County Dog Shelter, Saffle said that there are plenty of cases where dogs spend only a day or two in their care before being adopted. He said that it really depends on the type of dog and what the adopter is looking for in a pet. During COVID, Saffle said that the shelter could barely keep any dogs in the shelter with the number of people adopting. "Now that COVID has slowed down somewhat, we are tending to get more back in," he said. There are about 11 dogs available at the Medina County Dog Shelter, as of Wednesday afternoon. Saffle said that the Medina County Dog Shelter has approximately 18 bigger kennels and 10 smaller kennels for dogs in their custody. During the summer months, Saffle said that the shelter is typically busier, as there are more strays wandering around and more dogs getting out in the warmer weather. Then, once the weather cools down, the number of dogs in the shelter at once drops. Saffle emphasized the importance of registering dogs, both by updating the dog's microchip information and by purchasing a county dog license and putting it on the dog. Many dogs that come to the Medina County Dog Shelter may have a microchip but aren't properly registered in the system or has outdated information, meaning the shelter has no way to find the actual owner, he said. "All the strays that we have in here, if it had a county dog license on it, we'd be able to trace it down within minutes after being in here," Saffle said. For more information on purchasing a dog license and to see the available dogs, visit www.medinaco.org/dog-shelter. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.