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Marine Reunited With Dog He Rescued In Iraq

San Diego Union-Tribune photo by Patty Brooks

Marine Major Brian Dennis greets Nubs, the 2-year-old mixed breed dog he rescued from Iraq, at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.

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By STEVE KORNACKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2008

Nubs thanked the man who saved his life: The German shepherd mix put his paws around the neck of Maj. Brian Dennis and licked his face.

"Nubs was a little nervous at first with all the people around us in the dark at Camp Pendleton," said Dennis, who was returning from Iraq with nearly 100 other Marines. "So, I hit one knee and said, 'Hey, buddy, what's going on?' He went crazy and made that anxious, excited noise he makes when he wants you to keep petting.

"Everyone gathered around us said, 'Awwwww.' And then they laughed. It was such a happy, special moment."

The reunion at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday was another touching chapter in a story that began in October, when Dennis wrote in an e-mail to friends and family: "I found a dog in the desert that I want to take home. I call him Nubs."

"Not in a million years did I think that would ever happen when I wrote it," Dennis said in a phone interview. "I just threw it out there, but it ended up being foreshadowing for one crazy story."

Dennis, raised in St. Pete Beach, discovered Nubs five months ago in the ruins of an Iraqi fort near the Syrian border. The wild dog's ears had been crudely hacked off, a sad instance of abuse that nonetheless gave the mutt a charming name.

"That name is part of the attraction of Nubs," said Dennis' mother, Marsha Cargo of St. Pete Beach. "It's like Spuds MacKenzie."

Stabbed with a screwdriver by an Iraqi border police officer, Nubs had been left to die when 36-year-old Dennis and his men came upon him. Border Transition Team 3/5/2 nursed the dog back to health, with major and dog sleeping cuddled together on freezing nights so Dennis could keep his new friend warm.

"I thought he was going to die," Dennis wrote in an e-mail to friends and family om Iraq.

But Nubs made it.

A few days after his recovery, the men had to leave to fight the war. Two day later, Nubs showed up at their combat outpost in the al-Anbar province. He had tracked them 70 miles.

He was a keeper.

The Marines built a dog house for their mascot, but then learned having a pet in a war zone was against regulations. Dennis sought to get him to the United States.

Nubs arrived Feb. 22 in San Diego, his inspections and flights from the Middle East financed by $3,500 contributed to an e-mail campaign.

Marine Capt. Eric Sjoberg and his wife, Chrissy, became "foster parents" to the dog until Dennis returned. Nubs is beginning to learn a new way of life: food bowls regularly filled with clean water and food, lessons with an obedience trainer, and trips to see the sights.

He's been to the Pacific Ocean once. Raised in the desert, he'd never seen anything like it, and was timid about entering the surf.

"I can't wait to take him to the beach myself," Dennis said. "Taking him from the sands of Iraq to the sandy beaches was my dream."

The Sjobergs also took him hiking on rocky Iron Mountain in north San Diego County.

"We were surprised at how many people recognized Nubs," Chrissy Sjoberg said. "They would come up to us and say, 'Is this Nubs? What an amazing story this dog has had.' And then they'd ask to pet him. They'd walk away saying, 'We finally met Nubs.'

"He's a little bit of a celebrity here."

Nubs' tale has been covered by the major television networks and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." A production company associated with a film studio wants to tell the story, and Dennis will speak with representatives once he gets settled.

DeGeneres, who plans to have Dennis and Nubs on her show soon, has donated food, treats, vitamins, an herbal healing salve and an oil supplement to make his coat shine.

"His fur was coarse but now it's soft and shiny," said Cargo, who flew to California to greet her son on his return from his second tour of Iraq. And, of course, for the Nubs reunion.

Life in California is agreeing with Nubs, who has gained 7 pounds and is estimated to be 2 years old. He likes to play hide-and-seek with Kublai, the Sjobergs' German shepherd mix, and their backyard banana trees are his favorite hiding place.

The only problem has been his left hind knee, which keeps dislocating and will require surgery.

Graham Bloem, a certified dog trainer with West Coast K9 in Encinitas, Calif., is helping Nubs transition from alpha male in a pack of wild desert dogs to beach dog. Chrissy Sjoberg said Bloem is working with Nubs on name recognition, commands, socialization and acclimation to his new environment.

"Nubs is nervous around children and Graham is working with him on that," Chrissy Sjoberg said. "But he just instantly runs up to people in uniform. He has that trust built up with Marines."

Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.

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