German Military Dog Related Militaria...Collectible?

[Colorado]

I have a helping of humble pie riding on this.

I say that German WW2 military Working Dog related militaria is not only rare, but highly collectible.

Another member here claims I am crazy that no one collects that. I told him I would post this so he can write in and tell me I am nuts.

I say that not only is it collectible, but that there are collectors who specialize in items related to medical or Concentration/POW camp type dog related items. How rare is a dog gas mask? Working dog related items are considered the only good animal related German militaria there is. (Not like horse items which gather dust at shows).

Did I hear wrong?

[hcliffe]

Calling me out are ya? I'm the one who thinks Jeff is off his rocker. Now, I do not doubt that there are people who specialize in German WW2 Dog items, after all, if you search the world over, you find people who like just about anything. My point is, how much market is there for it? If you have a German dog collar, worn by "Fritz" at Auchwitz, how many people want it? Will people be beating down the doors to be the first to buy it? Will it set a record on ebay for most bids on a single item? Will people be clamoring to set up their next dog mannequin? "Me thinks" not. Therefore, if there is limited market, there is limited upside in my opinion.

[Jan B]

Hello Jeff and Harry

Here's a picture of a so called "sanitäterhund" ( " Die Sanidienst des Heeres" by A. Buchner), note the sanitäter-medaillon around his neck and the food/hotdrink-container with painted rc on the "schlitten"! I can't give much more information, and I don't know of any in collections, and maybe this was a fieldmade thing. But if such a complete set ( without the dog offcourse ) was offered, it would bring up a lot of $.

Dogs were trained for rescue and other purposes, although not much information is known...

Cheers

Jan

[Colorado]

Nice Pics! Bill, that looks like it was taken in Finland.

[atcase]

Hi all,
first thanks for the great piccy`s. Jan and Bill, secondly bit of a tough call here. Sure a dog or horse gas mask would be very collectable (unlike horse saddles) the carts etc could be hard to authenticate as it looks as though they were field made, but may be a known award though issued by a regt./ division vvvvveeeeery nice (if they exist and iam sure they do).

Ashley

[Bergflak]

Dog harness for sale.....

I was offered a dog harness recently. It was sized for a German sheperd (what else!) and was supposed to have a container or pouch attached for message delivery (haven't seen it myself so I am uncertain what the seller meant). It was also clearly maker marked and dated/WaA. It came from non-collector and was army surplus. I really do doubt that it was a copy! I turned the offer down, as I have big problems imagining a market for such an item. Any thoughts?

[Gene]

I have a pair of Luftwaffe shoulder boards which I'm completely convinced are veterinary, discussed in the thread here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ght=veterinary

[Colorado]

I may be the lone voice, but if you offered that dog collar on this forum, to a dealer, or put it on a table at a show it would be gone in short order at a very good price. I don't know what that price is, but it would be good .

It meets criteria. Dogs are cool and represent an important part of the 3d Reich. It is small and it is marked. Did I say dogs are cool? Come on......who can forget the tunnel entrance on Hogan's Heroes underneath the Dog House?

[hcliffe]

Hmmm. A dog collar or a salty EM belt with Heer buckle. I'd still opt for the latter. Just me though.

[Simon O.]

Bergflak
Where from in Norway? Feldhundestaffel 550 with it's 54 dogs was based at Setermoen near Bardufoss. If something could be attributed to there i'd have snapped it up.

BTW, my wife's grandfather adopted one of the ex-wehrmacht German shepherds after the war.

Oh and FWIW, i reckon anything with a Waa stamp is collectable.


Simon

[Konigstiger]

I would definitly buy a dog item, especially a gas mask, something like this is much more intersting then just a common heer belt or gas mask or soemthing....and there are ALOT of dog lovers out there who collect ww2 german and would be interested in a ww2 german dog item

[Colorado]

Harry:

You are slowly getting outnumbered here. Will anybody defend Harry and his salty Heer belt and buckle?

If I get the dog collar I am after, I will post it here.

[hcliffe]

Yep Jeff, I guess you are right. A whopping 3 forum members have said they consider them collectible....

[Colorado]

Ouch

[hcliffe]

Hey, don't get me wrong, I like dogs! I own a dog, had them growing up, and my sister raises Labradors; really. I do think there is a certain novelty with having something like that. The point really is, I think, how many other people think so and what would the market bear.

Anyway Jeff, it's been a good thread and if you get it, I would definitely like to see it here. Thanks to the rest of you for your input. It certainly beats another "opinions on this badge" thread!