Oso grinned as she gnawed on a chew toy.

A little over a year ago, several soldiers assigned to 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, serving in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, found the pup digging for food in a garbage pit.

"One of my buddies brought her back," related Sgt. Phil Bourrillion.

The undernourished pup stumbled when she tried to walk.

"I wondered if she would survive," continued Bourrillion.

The soldiers improvised, making meals from their MREs to feed the young dog.

"I didn't want to watch her die," continued Bourrillion.

The soldiers - and their newfound pet - persevered.

Ordered to move to another outpost, Bourrillion and his men were told to leave the dog behind.

Bourrillion asked his wife, Lena, to see if she could help him find a way to bring the dog home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

"I liked the dog," explained Bourrillion.  "On the day we left, I grabbed her and put her in the truck. I was not leaving her."

Meanwhile, Lena Bourrillion began looking for a way to bring Oso home.  Her research led her to Pen Farthing, a retired Royal Marine sergeant, who had established the Now Zad Dogs charity.

"Farthing's organization helped with logistics, shelter and shots," said Lena as she stroked Oso's head. She said the dog arrived home in December 2009, well ahead of her husband's return in June 2010. "They did a wonderful job of getting this dog home to us," she added.

As for Farthing, a 20-year veteran, he had deployed to Afghanistan in September 2006.

While serving at a remote desert outpost in the town of Now Zad in Helmand Province, Farthing began to care for a few abandoned dogs.

"I did not go to save dogs but to be a Royal Marine," explained Farthing during a recent promotion of his book, "One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan," at the Moore Library in Tacoma.

As his book details, while Farthing and his 53 Marines faced the Taliban on an almost daily basis, they also began to take an interest in the stray dogs they encountered.

"Dogs in Afghanistan were extremely far down in the welfare list - although to be fair, human life wasn't exactly that far up it," said Farthing.

In Afghanistan, organized dog fighting is a centuries old sport.  Most dogs compete in fights to the death. The owners of winning dogs earn money and prestige. To ensure the fights last as long as possible, the tails and ears of the dogs are cut off, usually without the use of anesthetics.

A dog owner himself, Farthing became involved in saving some of the dogs from the gruesome sport.

Farthing relates in his book the rescue of a dog tethered with wire and being tormented by AK-47 toting Afghan National Police officials.

"They had the dog wired up against a wall; they had wire around his neck and waist," Farthing told his audience at the library.

Farthing decided to return later and set it free.

"Another lad and I waited until dark, climbed over the compound wall and made our way to the police station," related Farthing.

Convincing a half-mad dog to allow the Marines to help it took some ingenuity.

"We had taken some sausage - loaded with four Valium - to calm the dog down," continued Farthing.

Two hours later the dog calmed down, and the two Marines then spent another two hours cutting the dog free.

Their actions marked a turning point. During their 13-week stay in Now Zad, Farthing and his men took in and cared for a number of abandoned and starving dogs. One of the dogs, a skinny, white stray bitch had pushed - one by one - her day-old pups under a gap in a gate to the Marine's compound before carrying them to the improvised pound they had constructed. By the time the Marines prepared to depart Now Zad, they had taken in five adult dogs and 11 puppies.

"Of course, we hadn't come to Afghanistan to rescue dogs, but kicking them out of the compound, having won their trust, to send them scavenging for survival would have been heart wrenching," said Farthing.

He contacted his wife, Lisa, and asked her to find an Afghan dog rescue center. She found one that had been set up by an American aid worker.  Eventually, Farthing managed to bring two dogs home with him.

Soon after retiring from the Royal Marines, Farthing set up the Now Zad Charity to relieve the suffering of the animals in Afghanistan and to finance veterinary training in developing countries

"He helped us tremendously in getting us this dog," said Bourrillion as he stroked Oso's head. "We're glad she's with us now."

For more information about Farthing's efforts or his book, visit www.nowzad.com.