Recently in Nubs Category

 

 

A story moved today about Sabi, a "sniffer" dog that went missing in action after a battle in Afghanistan 14 months ago.

The black Labrador has been found alive and well in the desert:

Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol when it was ambushed by Taliban militants in September 2008. Nine soldiers were wounded in the ensuing gun battle, which earned one Australian SAS trooper the country's highest bravery award. But there was no sign of the bomb-sniffing dog after the battle in a remote area of Uruzgan province.

Soldiers searched for the 4-year-old dog for nine months, but never found her. Then, last week, a U.S. serviceman spotten a dog with an Afghan man at an isolated patrol base.

The military-trained animal was handed over and she was returned to her unit at the Australians' base.

"Having Sabi back gives some closure for the handler and the rest of us that served with her in 2008," said Mark Donaldson, the SAS trooper awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing a cwounded interpreter during the battle. "It's a fantastic morale-booster for the guys."

Sabi''s handler recounted the moments when he was reunited with the dog: "I nudged a tennis ball to her with my foot and she took it straight away. It's a game we used to play over and over during her training. it's amazing, just incredible, to have her back."

 

 

 

 

This is Nubs, a wiry German shepherd-border collie mix who got his name because someone cut off his ears as a puppy.

Picking up on an ABC story, Dog Clothes Horse blog posted this week about Nubs who was adopted by Maj. Brian Dennis in Iraq. Dennis took a liking to the animal, one of a pack of desert dogs that lived at one of the Iraqi border forts his unit patrolled. The Marines treated a wound in Nubs' side, caused by a screwdriver, and nursed him back to health.

But when Dennis' unit had to relocate 70 miles from Nubs' home fort, the loyal pup wasn't about to be left behind.

As always, Nubs sprinted alongside the Hummers as they pulled away for what Dennis assumed was the last time he would see the dog. Two days later, Nubs wandered inexplicably in below-freezing conditions into Dennis' new camp, shocking the Marine unit.

"When he arrived he looked like he'd just been through a war zone. Uh, wait a minute, he had," Dennis wrote. Nubs' miraculous journey forced the Marine's hand, and Dennis and his fellow Marines unanimously decided to keep the animal.

"This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, and abuse had tracked down our team over 70 miles of harsh desert was going to live the good life," Dennis wrote.

 

 

This isn't a new story. Nubs and Dennis were reunited  last March and now live in sunny San Diego. But we figured such an inspirational story was worth revisiting. And we trust that Nubs is, indeed, enjoying the good life.

Nubs is only one of the dogs that has been brought home from Iraq. So this post serves also as a reminder that donations are still being taken for the cause.

Donations to help more of our military personnel bring home dogs that their units have adopted and kept safe from the war can be made to Baghdad Pups -- which also, by the way, has a major local online sponsor, Torrance-based ilovedogs.

 

Related Posts: Iraqi dogs  Cat Lady of Baghdad