When Canelo, a 65-pound huskydoodle, arrived at the Nebraska Humane Society, staff quickly realized he wasn’t your average shelter pup. Beneath his fluffy coat and charming smile was a personality that could only be described one way: pure chaos wrapped in love.
“This is Canelo,” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “Canelo kinda sucks. He’s a frat boy disguised as a dog — with the emotional regulation skills of a toddler on a sugar high. The good news? He’s very affectionate. The bad news? His affection comes in the form of chomps.”
Canelo isn’t mean or aggressive — he’s just… extra. When he gets excited, anxious, or bored, he doesn’t know what to do with all that energy. So he bites. Not hard, not dangerously — just enough to say, ‘Hey, notice me!’
“He expresses all his feelings with chomps,” the post continued. “Excited? Chomp. Nervous? Chomp. You blinked? Chomp. He doesn’t draw blood — he draws attention.”
In his time at the shelter, Canelo has been adopted — and returned — four times. Every family adored him, but they struggled to manage his high-octane enthusiasm.
“There are no hard feelings toward anyone who’s brought him back,” said Alec Rose, digital marketing manager at Nebraska Humane Society. “Each time, we learned more about him, and that’s helped us support him better. He’s made huge improvements with our animal support team, and we’re confident he’ll keep growing once he finds the right home.”
The shelter’s now-viral Facebook post wasn’t written to shame Canelo — it was written to celebrate him, quirks and all.
“Most people appreciated the honesty and humor,” Rose said. “We wanted adopters to know exactly who Canelo is beyond the cute photos. He’s not a bad dog — he’s just a lovable disaster sometimes.”
And the internet responded exactly as hoped — with laughter, empathy, and plenty of people saying, “Why do I want him even more now?”
Canelo loves playtime, cuddles, and any activity that lets him be part of the action. He prefers men over women, can’t live with small kids, and definitely needs an experienced dog owner who appreciates a challenge.
With a little structure, consistency, and patience, the “frat boy” of the shelter could become someone’s most loyal best friend.
“He just needs the right person to help him channel all that energy,” Rose said. “With the right match, he’ll thrive.”
If you think you can handle a dog who loves hard, plays hard, and chomps harder, Canelo’s waiting at the Nebraska Humane Society — ready to find the family who’ll finally see past the chaos and love him for who he is.
