It’s not everyday you hear good stories coming out of Iraq, but this is certainly a heart warming one. War can be a horrific experience, not just for us with two legs, but for the helpless animals caught in the middle. The little guys always seem to suffer when least deserved. Luckily for Nubs, a horrendous experience in Iraq was made right in the end, thanks to Marine Maj. Brian Dennis. The stray Iraqi pup was rescued by the Marine, nurtured and rehabilitated, and juts recently, flown to the US to start a new life!
SAN DIEGO – Nubs wasted no time melting hearts. Big, tough Marines said things like, “Oooohhh,” and gently stroked his fur as they cradled him. Reporters and camera crews swarmed around him. The German shepherd/border collie mix was sweet, gentle and a little on the scrawny side when he arrived at Lindbergh Field in San Diego Friday evening. But he should gain a few pounds now that he’ll be fed regularly.
Life in Iraq can be tough on a dog. Count Nubs among the luckiest. He got out thanks to a San Diego-based Marine, Maj. Brian Dennis, who befriended him and then had him flown home. War brings horror, tragedy, the most heart-wrenching of moments. At least, sometimes, along comes something like this.
“It’s amazing, he’s finally home,” said Capt. Eric Sjoberg, who’s going to care for Nubs with his wife, Chrissy, until Dennis, a Marine buddy, returns from Iraq in the spring. Nubs licked Sjoberg’s face. He panted patiently as cameras filmed and snapped pictures. “You’re seeing first-hand why the guys over there fell in love with him,” Sjoberg said.Nubs is about 2. When young, he had his ears slashed off because an Iraqi thought that would make him tough and alert. That’s why Dennis named him Nubs. That’s all he had left of his ears.And that was hardly Nubs’ worst moment. Once, he was stabbed with a screwdriver. Dennis patched him up as best he could, but didn’t think Nubs would make it. The wound was deep. He slept with him that night to keep him warm as temperatures dipped to 18 degrees.
Dennis fell for the dog hard. The e-mails he sent to friends spoke of his life in Iraq and they always seemed to mention this tough little dog, said Maj. Chris Collins, his roommate in San Diego.
“It seemed that something bad would always happen,” Collins said. “He’d get into a fight or something. Nubs was always in bad shape.”
Dennis, who is based at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, is serving along the border between Iraq and Syria, where he is helping to train Iraqis. It’s rough terrain. Nubs and other dogs lived in an old Iraqi fort and survived on food scraps. Nubs ran wild. He had no owner, no home, no collar, nobody to play fetch with, no one to bring a slipper to, no Alpo, nobody to scratch behind his ear. No name, even, until Dennis came along.
But even Dennis didn’t think the relationship would last. He’s in a war zone, after all. When Dennis and his team were ordered to move 70 miles away, he figured life with Nubs was over.
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