# How Nazi Scientists Tried to Create an Army of Talking Dogs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275 "2011-05-26T13:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/1 "2011-05-26T13:03:52Z")
I swear, sometimes I have to check to make sure it’s not _The Daily Show_ or _The Onion_. Thgis is currently up on Yahoo news: > [@](#): > > In his new book Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, Cardiff University historian Jan Bondeson mines obscure German periodicals to reveal the Nazis’ failed attempt to breed an army of educated dogs that could read, write and talk. “In the 1920s, Germany had numerous ‘new animal psychologists’ who believed dogs were nearly as intelligent as humans, and capable of abstract thinking and communication,” he writes. “When the Nazi party took over, one might have thought they would be building concentration camps to lock these fanatics up, but instead they were actually very interested in their ideas.” You just _know_ that they’d be breeding Alsatians for this. You couldn’t see SS troops with, say, talking dachshunds. (Although I could see a role for them as spies, infiltrating the houses and offices of the Allied Command and reporting back via radio. They’d have Peter Lorre’s voice.) > **[Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More](https://news.yahoo.com/)** > > The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos. > [@](#): > > An Airedale terrier named **Rolf** became a mythic figure of the project after teachers said he could spell by tapping his paw on a board (the number of taps represented the various letters of the alphabet) And he could even say his name! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/2 "2011-05-26T13:07:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And [Rolf] could even say his name! It runs in the family. His littermate Ulf could do it too. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/3 "2011-05-26T14:35:42Z")
Don’t forget the [Hitler Salute](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12139150) dog. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/4 "2011-05-26T18:30:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > An Airedale terrier named Rolf became a mythic figure of the project after teachers said he could spell by tapping his paw on a board (the number of taps represented the various letters of the alphabet) > > And he could even say his name! He later enjoyed more fame as the piano player for Jim Henson’s Muppets. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/5 "2011-05-26T19:04:01Z")
They could have called their dog-army the Woofen-SS. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/6 "2011-05-26T19:17:57Z")
Or the Woofwaffe. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/7 "2011-05-26T21:55:25Z")
Yet another weird science story from World War II, along with the bat bombs, Soviet tank busting dogs and the flying tank. Still doesn’t dethrone my personal favourite, [Project Habbakuk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habbakuk) though… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/8 "2011-05-26T22:33:46Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > They could have called their dog-army the Woofen-SS. 😉 \ ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/9 "2011-05-27T01:19:39Z")
Talking schmalking. Let me know when they shoot bees out of their mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-nazi-scientists-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/583275/10 "2011-05-27T01:36:36Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Yet another weird science story from World War II, along with the bat bombs, Soviet tank busting dogs and the flying tank. Still doesn’t dethrone my personal favourite, [Project Habbakuk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habbakuk) though… I like the [Polish artillery bear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_%28soldier_bear%29) myself.