Army Vet Uses Beloved Dog's Ashes In His Own Memorial Tattoo

Here's something you don't read everyday, wow.

Elana

• Published in Animal Stories
• August 15, 2021

Dogs are well known as humankind's best friend, and while cats could be a top contender for the number one pet spot, there's simply no denying that there's nothing like the bond between a human and their beloved dog. Interestingly, this has proven to be a truth for the bond between a professional dog handler and his dog, like with police dogs and in this case, military dogs.

Sergeant Dave Heyhoe is a retired Royal Army Sergeant and an Afghanistan war veteran. During his deployments to Afghanistan, Dave was a military dog handler and his partner was Treo.

The pair retired in 2009 and Treo got to live the rest of his life with Dave, his wife, and their three children. A happy family with an exceptionally devoted dog.

Treo was trained as an "explosives dog," he helped sniff out bombs and was credited with saving countless lives.

Treo was even awarded the Dicken Medal for Gallantry, which happens to be the most prestigious award granted to animals in the United Kingdom.

Treo lived a long and heroic dog life, but sadly he passed away at the age of 14.

Dave and his family loved Treo very much, and it took some serious creative thinking for Dave to come up with the perfect way to immortilize his partner and pup.

Dave decided to find an artist to mix Treo's ashes into ink for a memorial tattoo.

Dave found an artist who was willing to mix some of Treo's ashes into ink and tattoo Dave.

Dave had the tattoo placed on his leg, and it includes Treo’s paw print and a poem about military working dogs.

Dave spent a nearly immeasurable amount of time in treacherous conditions with Treo, so when the dog passed away he felt lost without him. But the tattoo with Treo's ink has helped him cope, and reminds him still that even in death Treo is always with him.

Dave also went on to write a book about his time with Treo called It's All About Treo. You can purchase the book on Amazon.

Elana