Our rescue dog is a menace. We love him anyway.

Two years ago, we adopted Churro (formerly Hangyeol) after he was rescued from a dog meat farm in South Korea. We knew this meant he might need a little extra love and patience. We were unprepared for exactly how much patience.
 
Our first week together was great. Churro was very sweet, but still had to wear a cone from being freshly neutered. As soon as the cone came off, he barked at us, bit us, chewed up the house, tore up the backyard, and lost his mind at other dogs.
 
Fast forward 2 years later: Private training classes. Group training classes. Online training classes. Even sheep herding classes. Now he’s… slightly less of a monster. Still a little bit of an a**hole though. He still barks at my wife just for sitting there, steals toys from other dogs at daycare, gets into mischief if left unsupervised, and it’s 50/50 whether he’ll want to be friends with a new dog we meet or want to fight them for absolutely no reason. Generally speaking, if given a choice, Churro is probably choosing chaos. 

We love him anyway. He makes every day more interesting. He’s family. And we accept him for exactly the good dog he is.

We have a saying around our house: “You don’t have to be a perfect dog to be a good dog.” Churro is not perfect. But who is? He’s working on it. And so are we. 

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Brian is Churro’s dad and co-founder of Nose of Justice, a California dog treat and advocacy group on a mission to right the wrongs of the dog world, big and small.