In the early days of training anti-tank dogs, Soviet troops envisaged that dogs should carry bombs. When they ran to the target site, they would bite the loose button on the belt tied with the bomb, put down the bomb and then return to their positions. Bombs are usually equipped with timing devices, which will automatically explode after the dogs are evacuated. But after a year of training, the Soviet army found that even the smartest dog could not complete this task; Although dogs can generally cope with a single target after repeated training, once the environment or target position changes, dogs will get into trouble and even run back to their positions to release bombs-because the bombs on dogs are timed at the time of departure, this often causes casualties to dogs and trainers.
So the Soviet army changed the task of letting dogs carry out suicide bombings. They put food under the water tank, and then let the hungry dog look for food under the water tank. Over time, the dog has a conditioned reflex. At first, the training tank was stationary. After a period of training, the tank will start with food and use props such as blank ammunition to simulate the battlefield environment, so that dogs can gradually adapt. In wartime, the Soviets will tie a10-12kg mine to each dog. The mine has been modified, and there is a 20 cm long wooden wrench on it. When the dog tries to get under the tank, it will be pulled to detonate the mine.
194 1 When the Soviet-German war broke out in, Soviet troops put anti-tank dogs into actual combat. At that time, the dog training center in the Soviet Union trained 40,000 dogs, mostly anti-tank dogs. In the summer of 194 1, the first batch of anti-tank dog troops arrived at the front line, including 30 dogs, 40 trainers, 6 chefs, 6 drivers and 10 engineers. However, they encountered a big problem. In order to save fuel and ammunition, the Soviet army only used static tanks to train dogs during the training period before entering the battlefield, instead of using movable tanks and firearms. As a result, on the battlefield, most dogs are afraid to rush to the advancing tanks; Even if some dogs ran to the tank, they just sat quietly waiting for the tank to stop, so they were killed by the Germans. In addition, machine guns on tanks often scare many dogs back. As a result, many dogs will trigger mines after fleeing to Soviet positions, causing casualties among their own people. Trainers also refused to train new dogs because of conditions and fear of dog casualties, and some people were even censored by the gendarmerie. Of the 30 dogs in the first operation, only 4 eventually detonated bombs near German tanks, but the damage caused was unknown. Six dogs fled back to Soviet positions, causing several casualties of their own dogs; Three dogs were shot and killed by the Germans and taken away, which made the Germans understand the structure of this device. In order to demoralize the Soviets, German propaganda materials mocked the Soviets for being afraid of death and afraid to go to the battlefield, so they had to let dogs fight for them.