Greetings gentlemen.

Panzerknacker, Crazy D, I read this thread, and thought perhaps I could offer up some information here.

My maternal grandfather, one Obergefreiter Hans Schmuck, 716th Grenadier Rgt., 153rd Field Training Division, Army Group South, Eastern Front, informed me, when I was a younger man, that his unit did in fact experience Soviet forces using dogs with mines attatched to their backs in use during combat.

He further stated to me that what the Soviet would do is to retrieve German tanks that were salvagable from a battlefield, and condition the dogs to ( apparently ) be fed, and sleep under these hulks so that they would, using Pavlov's theory, be attracted to a German tank during combat with the ingrained belief that their "dinner bell" was ringing.

He mentioned as well that at least in his unit, they applied sharpshooters to be alert for these animals when reenforced by German armor.

I have no photographs of this myself, to back me up, but it appears Panzerknacker might some day be able to assist with some photographic evidence, however, I'll take my grandfather's comments over any book. He was there.

Bill