Four-Legged Hero Receives Britain's Top Animal Honor

Yeah, yeah, those soldiers in The Hurt Locker were pretty good at identifying IEDs — otherwise known as improvised explosive devices — but we're not sure how they would fare against the UK's Treo, an expert bomb-sniffing dog who might have single-pawdedly averted more than one disaster with his savvy snout.

Treo was so stellar at his job in Afghanistan that the British Army bestowed its highest animal honor on the now-retired 9-year-old black labrador retriever this week. He received the Dickin Medal, awarded to only 63 animals since its introduction in 1943.

Just how good was Treo at his task? According to Britain's Sky News, in August 2008 Treo was working as something called a forward detection dog in Sangin when he sniffed out something called a "daisy chain" IED the Taliban had carefully hidden at the side of a path.

A month later, his expert nose saved another platoon from guaranteed casualties, again by finding a 'daisy chain' — made of two or more explosives wired together. (And as the owner of a 9-year-old black lab, I find Treo's achievements especially impressive since the only thing my dog can sniff out is dinner!)

Sgt. Dave Heyhoe is Treo's human partner/best friend and said their work was vital to their unit.

"We are part and parcel of the search element. We're not the ultimate answer but we are an aid to search," Heyhoe told Sky News. "Another aid would be the metal detector  — but Treo is a four-legged variety." (And certainly much cuter than a metal detector!)

Treo is now living the life of leisure alongside Heyhoe at the 104 Military Working Dogs Support Unit in Rutland.

We have he no doubt that he's the toast of the other pooches for his prestigious award, which certainly seems richly deserved.

Photo by Lisa2324 via stock.xchang