Posted April 21, 200817 yr I've been around the internet once or twice and know a fair amount about WWII but I never knew this until today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog "Anti-tank dogs, also known as dog mines, were starving dogs with explosives harnessed to their back and trained to seek food under enemy tanks and armoured vehicles. By doing so, a small wooden lever would be tripped, detonating the explosives. The dogs were employed by the Soviet Union during World War II, to be used against German tanks. The dogs would be starved, then trained to find food under a tank. The dogs quickly learned that being released from their pens meant to run out to where a tank was parked and find some victuals. Once trained, the dogs would be fitted with an explosive charge and set loose into a field of oncoming German tanks. When the dog went underneath the tank?where there was less armour?the charge would detonate and gut the enemy vehicle. Realization of that plan was less successful. The Hundeminen, as they were called by the Germans, had been trained using Soviet tanks, and would sometimes be loosed into a battle only to turn round and attack the Soviets' own forces. Other times the dogs would spook at the rumble of a vehicle's engine and run away." http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Dog_mine.jpg Can you imagine unleashing a pack of dog bombs in battlefield?
April 21, 200817 yr There are a few laboratory rats out there that are wiping the sweat from their brows.
April 22, 200817 yr Well it was WWll and the russians were getting desperate. Even though they were desperate it is still wrong.
April 22, 200817 yr Heh. They really don't care much for being humane. Remember Lakia? Being humane seems to be outweighed by being efficient, or being first in Lakia's case. Honestly, I have to applaud the Russians for this. Very smart thinking.
April 22, 200817 yr Heh. They really don't care much for being humane. Remember Lakia? Being humane seems to be outweighed by being efficient, or being first in Lakia's case. Honestly, I have to applaud the Russians for this. Very smart thinking. Smart thinking would have them train the dogs using German vehicles. It may have been a relatively good idea, considering how badly they were doing in the beginning, but it was extremely poor implementation.
April 22, 200817 yr Smart thinking would have them train the dogs using German vehicles. It may have been a relatively good idea, considering how badly they were doing in the beginning, but it was extremely poor implementation. Well, even training them with German tanks (which I'm sure the Russians just have lying around... ??), I doubt the result would have been much better. Dogs are pretty unpredictable, even when conditioned.
April 22, 200817 yr Well, even training them with German tanks (which I'm sure the Russians just have lying around... ??), I doubt the result would have been much better. Dogs are pretty unpredictable, even when conditioned. No, the results would not have been much different, but I still find it funny that they didn't at least make an attempt to build replica German vehicles for training the dogs. I guess they assumed an animal can't tell the difference. I still stand by my "interesting idea, but terrible implementation" statement.
April 22, 200817 yr No, the results would not have been much different, but I still find it funny that they didn't at least make an attempt to build replica German vehicles for training the dogs. I guess they assumed an animal can't tell the difference. I still stand by my "interesting idea, but terrible implementation" statement. I can agree that it would have been infinitely smarter to train using replicas, at the very least. I wonder why Russians use so many dogs for things? Do they have a dog problem there, do you think?
April 22, 200817 yr i was thinking while reading the start of this article, "did they use german tanks?" then i read on and o look at that. i called it. -G
April 22, 200817 yr Author 23 million Russians died as a result of WWII. I take a few hundred dog deaths with a grain of salt considering the circumstances.
April 22, 200817 yr The Russians used suicide squads during the war so I guess anti-tank dog's isn't all that bad compared to that. They would send these squads out to where they thought the Germans were to draw their fire and reveal their position. Most of the people in these squads were criminals who were promised freedom if they were seriously wounded, unfortunetly most of them were never released even after very serious wounds and ended up getting killed. Now you understand why the Russians lost more men in Stalingrad than America lost on both fronts in WW2.
April 23, 200817 yr suicide squads, spotters, line-runners, anti-tank dogs, dog-roast, and officers who shot those who retreated. It sucked to be Russian at the time, but thats what happens when you're leader is just as crazy if not crazier than Hitler himself. There are some other tactics that they employed, but some of them are still under research on whether or not they were true tactics or just used randomly by a select few. One instance is basically using civilians/women/children massed up as a means of getting explosives closer to the enemy.
April 23, 200817 yr I can agree that it would have been infinitely smarter to train using replicas, at the very least. I wonder why Russians use so many dogs for things? Do they have a dog problem there, do you think? I think cats would be a better choice because they're cats.
April 23, 200817 yr Well it was WWll and the russians were getting desperate. Even though they were desperate it is still wrong. Yeah, they handed one soldier 5 bullets and 1 soldier a mosin nagant. Spit them out and shot them when they retreated. very effed up time.
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