He looks like a normal Jack Russell terrier, but he is far more than that.

According to Wikipedia, Patron has already detected 236 explosive devices.

And his fame is about to get even bigger.

Last weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Patron and his caretaker Myhailo Iliev.

Seriously, how cute is this dog with his signature safety vest?

 

Ukraine’s mine sniffing dog Patron awarded medal by Zelenskiy ???https://t.co/iwxmyW64ON pic.twitter.com/39LpJ01xw8

— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) May 9, 2022

 

He probably doesn’t even realize that he is saving lives. It’s pretty safe to assume that Patron has no idea about his fame on Ukrainian social media. But maybe that’s part of why his story is so heartwarming.

Patron doesn’t know anything about the war, politics, and international law, but he knows what explosives smell like. Patron doesn’t know about the dangers of bombs; he just detects them without asking any further questions.

He also doesn’t care much about the media, as we can see in this tweet:

 

The famous dog #Patron, who daily saves #Ukraine from the “gifts of the #Russian world”, fell asleep at a briefing with journalists.

It seems that we will not see anything nicer than this. pic.twitter.com/E44zZ8qJbA

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 8, 2022

My biggest hope is that he doesn’t get hurt. Saying that his job is dangerous would be an understatement. But dogs don’t care about any of that, they just go for it.

I am pretty sure that Patron isn’t the only bomb-sniffing dog in Ukraine. He is just one example of how animals make our world a better place.

And I can already hear folks joking about their own furry friends and how they aren’t saving any lives while sleeping on the couch all day. But that’s only half of the story; let’s not forget that most dogs have the skills to become heroes. We just need to train them.

The story of Patron reminds us that dogs can be heroes if we treat them well. They are willing to learn, and to be of benefit.

Instead of making fun of a dog who isn’t able to do anything special, we should keep in mind that every dog has the potential to be special.

No matter if it’s a cute Jack Russell or a stray dog.

Patron might not care about his award, but maybe that also explains why we love him so much.

Here’s a video of him doing his work. I hope you enjoy watching it!