This stray dog learned that when you take on a porcupine, you’re probably going to lose.The incredibly forlorn-looking Canello, a one-year-old Boxer mix, has had a pretty rough life so far.

He was first spotted running around Parker, Colorado, in freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve.

Around two weeks later he was seen out in the cold again, this time in Douglas County – a totally different part of the state.

Finally, he was caught by animal control officers on Thursday – and his face was totally covered in porcupine quills.

It must have been a pretty nasty scrap, because his shoulders and ankles were pricked with quills too.

‘Canello is going to need some time to heal,’ Parker Police Department wrote in a Facebook status.

‘After that he is going to need a new family and home to show him the love he has missed out on these past few weeks.’

According to the Dumb Friends League rescue centre, the unlucky dog is now recovering from an operation to remove the quills.