This holiday season, a dog who has spent his life in two shelters is hoping to finally find a family to call his own.
Four-year-old Ryker, a bull terrier mix, spends his days at Cache Creek Rescue inside Alsip Home and Nursery in Frankfort.
Anthoula Pena’s 6-year-old daughter Gianna only wishes to help Ryker get adopted for Christmas. So, every time Pena visits the store to buy dog food, she stops by to see Ryker and posted on Facebook in hopes of finding him a home. Within hours, her post was shared hundreds of times.
“She told me, ‘Mommy, I don’t want anything else for Christmas. All I want is for Ryker to have a home,'” Pena said.
The animal shelter said that Ryker needs a home without small children, so the family can’t adopt him.
We took in Ryker when he was 8 months old from another shelter after he was found as a stray living on the streets in Southern Illinois.
“We don’t care about an adoption fee,” said Cache Creek Rescue manager Missy Ryerson, speaking of the dog who’d been in the shelter his entire life.
Not only does the shelter provide a free in-home trainer, but they are also required to do so Ryker can adjust properly to his new home.
“He knows how to follow some commands,” Ryerson said. “We will show the family how to help him learn better tricks and manners while they’re at home.”
The problem is that Ryker is too familiar with Cache Creek from being there for so many years. “He wants to play but doesn’t know how,”Ryerson said. “He’s a 90-pound baby who doesn’t know his own size.
Ryerson believes that an ideal candidate to adopt Ryker would be a person who lives in a quiet house with not many visitors, or perhaps a single person. He doesn’t do well with cats, but is okay around bigger dogs.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ryker, contact Cache Creek Rescue at 815-469-1044 or visit them inside the Frankfort Alsip Nursey. The address is 20601 South La Grange Road.
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