He’s a dog of war whose courage has saved the lives of dozens of British soldiers.

So when Hobo, a two-year-old black Labrador, was seriously wounded while searching for Taliban bombs in Afghanistan, his best friends fought to keep him alive.

Now just 10 days after he was almost killed by shrapnel after coming under fire during an ambush, the explosives search dog is ready to return to the front line in Helmand sniffing out improvised explosive devices and saving the lives of soldiers.

Hobo was injured on July 21 while on patrol with members of A Company 2nd battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles and the Afghan National Army in the Nahr-e-Seraj area of central Afghanistan. During the patrol, the soldiers were ambushed by insurgents armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

Hobo, who will be three-years-old on August 1, was hit in the neck and stomach by flying pieces of metal. Two pieces of shrapnel were so hot that they immediately cauterized wounds on the dogs body but another fragment left a gaping wound in Hobo’s neck.

Captain George Shipman, said: “We realized quickly that Hobo had been hit and was bleeding heavily from the base of his neck. I administered a blood clotting agent and applied pressure and a field dressing to stem the bleeding and protect from infection.”

Shipman added that “Hobo remained really calm throughout and just stood there while we treated him.”

Hobo was then put on a US medical helicopter with other injured soldiers and upon landing was quickly taken to veterinary surgery to receive further medical attention.

Private Patrick Medhurst-Feeny, a veterinary technician with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, who helped treat Hobo said: “”We met him off the helicopter and got him back to surgery where we checked his wounds and then put him straight onto fluids. We needed to make sure he didn’t go into shock which would have caused complications. The first aid administered by Capt Shipman and his patrol meant that no surgery was required. Their quick thinking saved his life.”

Feeny adds: “Hobo has recovered fantastically well. He’s an athletic 33kg [72 lbs.] and is bounding around as if nothing had happened. The prognosis is very positive. He’s in great shape.”

Corporal Arjun Limbu, from Hobo’s unit, said: “It’s great to have him back with us – it’s a real morale boost and he’s running around just like before.”

When his tour of duty ends in November, Hobo will return to the UK where he will begin his next role as a demonstration dog.

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files