It was a story about desert dogs that U.S. soldiers had bonded with while on duty in Iraq, even though the military has a “no pets” rule for deployed soldiers. Her movie is called “No Dog Left Behind,” and it shows on the Military Channel network (scroll down for a preview).

One of the Iraq war dogs featured in this documentary was Nubs. He isn’t a Tripawd, but Nubs is a real hero to us, and we love his adorable book!

The Story of Nubs

Wild packs of dogs roam everywhere in the dangerous deserts of Iraq, living short, brutal lives. But one special dog found refuge with a lonely soldier named Major Brian Dennis.

Nubs didn’t care about the military’s “no pets” rule. He stuck around, and showed this soldier and all who encountered him that love, faithfulness and companionship will always prevail, even during wartime.

When Major Dennis’ troops had to move over 70 miles away and the military gave strict orders to get rid of Nubs, our four legged hero ignored that command. This brave, formerly abused wild dog set out in freezing weather and dangerous wartime conditions to find his brokenhearted best friend.

Nubs’ book, “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle” is now in print. We received a review copy, and loved this book from cover to cover. Although it’s written for kids, the colorful photos and graphics make the story an entertaining read for adults too.

Nubs book can be purchased here. Remember, every purchase made through this link helps support Tripawds’ efforts to keep our community online!

This dynamic duo are world famous celebrities now, making public appearances everywhere, like on the Today Show:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Meanwhile, if you have cable or satellite television, you can see an in depth version of Nubs’ story, in “No Dog Left Behind.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

My pack was lucky enough to meet Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell at the Tattered Cover book store in Denver, CO recently. He was doing his first signing for the new book Guardians of Being, featuring Mutts artwork, the words of Eckhart Tolle, and that strip we love so much.

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Patrick read passages from Guardians of Being and his new children’s book Wag! He also drew some favorite Mutts characters for the crowd and took some time to chat with Jim about the Mutts strip and the Nature program in which Jim mentioned it. René caught it all on video …

As you can see, that lucky dog Wyatt got some good belly rubs from Patrick. Jim and René got their books signed, and owe Patrick a special thanks for the signed drawing of Guard Dog running free. We’ll be publishing a detailed review for Guardians of Being soon in the Tripawds Amazon Selections blog, so stay tuned for that. We just need Jim to put the book down long enough to write a review. But he just keeps reading it from cover to cover, again and again, with a big serene grin on his face!

Update: Don’t miss our in-depth book review for Guardians of Being!

Greg Hess, a viewer from Colorado, wrote to us and shared his story about a deep  commitment he made to his senior dog Stormy, whose health was in rapid decline at the same time that Greg lost his job. Greg and Stormy’s story is so beautiful, we had to share it with you. He writes:

“Rene and Jim,

I am truly sorry for your loss. What great Being Jerry was for everyone he came in contact with. I feel that your story has a very significant message too. That is, your commitment to Jerry in his time of need. Your willingness to do what it took to give him a life that many animals will never know.

I concluded in much the same way, that my own dog needed that kind of commitment. About a year and half ago, I lost my job. While thinking about the next move, I wondered how the next job would impact my our 14 ½ year old Beagle, Stormy. It dawned on me that since both my spouse and me would be gone all day, his life would mostly be just laying around being board. And in Colorado, it’s dark and cold for many months so trying to get out for a walk at night wasn’t very promising.

It wasn’t easy to commit to that. Even with the support of my spouse, losing income and one’s place in the work world presents some difficult hurdles to overcome. But the life we were able to provide Stormy for those 18 months was incredible. He went ‘everywhere’ with me. People new him from one end of the city to the other. He ate with us, walked with us, slept with us, there seemed to be no reason to exclude him from anything in our lives.

We had to have Stormy euthanized in January 2009. Like you, as his health declined, it became clear from our vet visits, that there were too many unknowns about his condition, which was probably a brain tumor or, the beginning of kidney failure. So we decided to just do everything possible to make his life good until it was time. I simply couldn’t put him through massive testing, prodding and poking to gain a couple of days or weeks.

So a grateful thanks for sharing your story. It’s really felt like I’ve been out on the fringe of society by taking off so much time to be with Stormy. His passing (as I’m sure Jerry’s did) has left such a large hole in our lives. I guess the more time one spends, the more threads we interweave between our pet’s lives and us. Perhaps it’s an unfortunate byproduct of losing Stormy, but it’s created a profound sadness in me for all the other Beings on our planet that will not come close to experiencing what dogs like Jerry and Stormy had.”

Here is a beautiful essay Greg wrote about Stormy:

Life with Stormy

By Greg Hess

When I started dating Nancy in 2000, her Beagle Stormy was already 7 years old. What was life with Stormy like for the remaining 9 years? Well let me tell you, being around a Beagle is like being around a little tornado. We put childproof locks on the kitchen cabinets only to find that Stormy easily understood how to pull potatoes out through a small gap in the cabinet door and then take them into the back yard where he gnawed a bite out of each one. Or walking him in the park and judiciously scanning the ground 2 ft. in front of that little tornado who could find the smallest crumb of food left behind by an afternoon picnic. Life with Stormy was trying to eat a snack in a closed room before his nose got wind of it, otherwise he could hound you until you caved in and gave him something too. Or incredibly for such a small dog, pulling a bag of tortillas from the back of a countertop, consuming them and then laying around belching from his overindulgence. You see there is a common theme throughout his life and it was food.

Life with Stormy was often like that. Trying to keep one step ahead of that Beagle mind. Like an old man with a list who wouldn’t rest until every task was completed. Looking back I feel fortunate that we recognized these traits were what made Stormy who he was, and we loved him for that. I believe this willingness to see Stormy as his own being, allowed us to conclude that for the last 18 months of his life, it would be better for him to have one of us leave work and be there for him all the time. That is why I see the story of Jim, Rene and Jerry as so significant. It’s a story that is about more than just being a responsible pet owner. The word that comes to my mind is devotion. The story of Jerry is to me, about an act of love that utterly transcends mere pet responsibility.

What I saw in Rene and Jim was a level of commitment that I dare say some people might not afford a human family member much less, a dog. And it’s difficult to even use the word dog, cat or pet because the definition can imply that these Beings are somehow less than us simply because they weren’t born human. For the 18 months that I was able to participate fully with Stormy I sometimes had a small shadow following me that made me feel guilty for devoting that time to him rather than to a job search. Now however, having seen what Rene and Jim were willing to do, we know it was the right decision. And it’s not that their story is telling us that we have to sell our houses and leave our jobs to do right by our pets. To me it says to have love in one’s life, it doesn’t have to be solely with human being and, it requires something of us . . . sacrifice and devotion. We’ve collectively bred these Beings to be dependent on us and I hope than some day, humans can aspire to provide all Beings what Jerry’s stewards provided him; a great life of dignity and love.

I would like to say thanks to Jim, Rene and Jerry not just for sharing their story, but for showing us what the life of our pets can be. To Nancy for making it possible for us to give Stormy the life all pets could have, and to my best friend Stormy, I hope I gave you as much as you gave to me.

Being huge Mutts fans, they were excited to hear about the new Mutts Treasury from Patrick McDonnell featuring all our favorite furry friends from the funnies. Hoping it might include this strip, they requested a review copy  from Andrews McMeel publishing who kindly obliged. And guess what? Check out page 40!

Needless to say, my people were excited to review Stop and Smell the Roses. And they loved it! Here is what they had to say…

McDonnell has an uncanny ability to say it all, in just so many words. An important task for an artistic novelist whose pages are but frames and panels told over time. A task which Patrick executes exquisitely, and consistently. His new Mutts Treasury, Stop and Smell the Roses is a perfect example.

This beautiful keepsake book chronicles a year in the life of Earl and Mooch, our favorite dog – cat duo from the funny pages. And it does so with thought provoking themes throughout the seasons, along with a selection of gallery-worthy title panels.

We have always thought Mutts was a cute feature good for a quick giggle, or warm fuzzy feeling – like another favorite, Pearls Before Swine. But reading this compilation through made us quickly realize it is so much more.

McDonnell offers profound simplicity through the minds of Earl and Mooch. This struck us first with his periodic selections of quotes and proverbs, including one that Jerry himself could have coined: “It’s a beautiful day for it.”  – A Wilbur Cross quote over a single panel with Earl greeting the day with gusto.

He also offers his own short and sweet gems of wisdom, like when Earl and Mooch watch a butterfly flit all about only to say, “I’ve never seen a butterfly in a hurry.” Or some that require no words at all. Like how he captures the amazing intention of dogs simply by showing Earl’s eye on the baseball pitcher, or a blank frame where Earl beats the reader to the punchline.

It was a pleasure to catch up with the Mutts gang after missing out on our daily fix for the two years we’ve been on the road. And of course we were happy to see this collection includes the strip that means so much to us, where Earl proves that dogs always know what time it is: Now.

But best of all, we got to see new segments of the Mutts saga in their entirety. Episodes, if you will, that we never even knew existed. Being big Lewbowski fans for instance, we especially enjoyed Mooch’s “Dude” phase. The cat on the rug really does tie the room together.

Another treat is the selection of to do lists – both deep and sincere in there simplicity – which gives this Mutts treasury it’s title. One of which, Lalla taught us to live by long ago …

To Do List:

1. Stop
2. Smell the Roses

And another is one which Jerry would be proud if we all followed …

To Do List:

1. Seize the Day.

It also hit home to see Earl and Mooch hit the road in a “Kitty Car”. Seeing them enjoy a road trip like we did with Jerry strengthens the connection we feel with Patrick McDonnell’s work. As do his Shelter Stories about the special needs pets, like the deaf dog or one-eyed cat.

There are two things at which McDonnell excels with his work in Mutts. He addresses important topics – like saving the tigers – without being preachy. And he’ll make you laugh when you least expect it.

So if you’re a Mutts fan, or just want a copy of that now famous strip we spoke of on PBS, check out Stop and Smell the Roses – A Mutts Treasury. And if this is the first you’ve heard of Mutts, now is your chance to see what treasures you’ve been missing.

Drumroll please! The winners have been announced! PBS had over 700 entries, and as you can see, there’s some real great looking fur kids there! Visit the PBS Nature website to see them all.

Or, you can watch the entire episode online at pbs.org. (See parts 2 & 5 for Jerry’s story.) Here’s a preview* …

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re new here and asking, “So what?” … this was a big deal for us here at tripawds.com because this episode of Nature features me and my pack on the road sharing that incredible bond which only true animal lovers can understand.

Check it out and tell a friend! There’s also only one week left to submit your pet photos for Nature’s Why I Love Cats and Dogs Photo Contest so act now.

*EDIT: We have replaced the preview clip originally posted above with the first segment from Why We Love Cats and Dogs. View the entire episode online at PBS.org for the rest of Jerry’s story.

We must give a special shout-out to producer Ellen Goosenberg Kent and her crew. Since they first followed us around Santa Fe last March, we’ve wondered what would come of the hours of footage they shot.

Well, Ellen did a simply amazing job telling Jerry’s story! We have now seen it about a dozen times and still cry every time.

And the feedback has simply been overwhelming. Just check out some of the heartfelt comments people are leaving on our posts about Jerry’s last days.

We are just astounded to think that our story has touched so many people, in such profound ways. If the response here and on the Nature website is any indication, Ellen is sure to be nominated for another Emmy!

And if traffic is any indication of our future success with this website, Jerry’s legacy is bound to live on here forever.

We typically averaged about 900 unique visits a day. Yesterday alone we had more than 6,000 visitors!

Thank you Ellen. Thank you Nature. Thank you PBS.

And special thanks to all the viewers out there who dropped by to discover Jerry’s full story and share their own puppy-love stories with us. Thanks to all of you, we continue to spread the word that it’s better to hop on three legs than to limp on four.

Be sure to tune in at 8:00 p.m. (check your local listings to be sure). You’ll also hear from many other pet owners and various animal behavior experts like the awesome Sarah Wilson.

You can comment on the video at YouTube. Read more about Jerry’s stardom here, and don’t forget to submit your favorite pet photo for the PBS Why I Love Cats and Dog photo contest!

We will be in the Tripawds chat room live before and after the show airs in all time zones. Please stop in to say “Hi!”

The show’s been getting great write ups, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, the Times Standard, the San Francisco Examiner, and the Tribune News Media Service among others.

So just the other day, KVEC’s Dave Congalton had us on his program for a phone interview about the upcoming Nature – Why We Love Cats and Dogs to air February 15, on PBS (check local listings for time and channel).

Dave had some great questions and we wanted to thank him for sharing our story. But rather than us telling you about it, you can download the KVEC podcast here and listen for yourself!

For Jerry’s whole story, be sure to tune in at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, February 15! You’ll also hear from many other pet owners and various animal behavior experts. Check your local listings for exact time and station.

Please mark your calendars, and tell your friends! You can comment on the video at YouTube or below. Read more about Jerry’s stardom here, and don’t forget to submit your favorite pet photo for the PBS Why I Love Cats and Dog photo contest!

UPDATE: Watch the full episode of Nature, Why We Love Cats and Dogs online or search local listings for future air dates!