German shepherds sit and watch cat walk by

I don't doubt this photo is real, but I am very curious about its origin. I really want to find the correct, verified source to credit for this photo, along with the story behind it.

Does anyone know when and where this was first published? Since it always seems to be in this size or smaller, I'm assuming someone scanned it from a magazine to begin with and it's just made its rounds.

[RivkahChaya]

It's probably a deliberate distraction done as part of training. When you are teaching police or service dogs not to run after squirrels and such, they need practice. If you have a cat that isn't especially sensitive to dogs (unusual, but not unheard of-- we had one. He was not freaked out by anything, liked to travel, and went visiting to retirement homes and elementary schools), he'll cooperate for a treat. You might google dog training images.

Thanks for the quick answer. I figured it's a planned distraction, maybe part of a certification. Any time I see the image, though, there's no credit given. I'm Googling my fingers off.

[UEL]

With the stance of the dog that is the nearest to the camera, poised, ready to pounce, I'm hoping to see the photo from three seconds later.

Black and white flash followed by brown and black flash.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

It's probably a deliberate distraction done as part of training. When you are teaching police or service dogs not to run after squirrels and such, they need practice. If you have a cat that isn't especially sensitive to dogs (unusual, but not unheard of-- we had one. He was not freaked out by anything, liked to travel, and went visiting to retirement homes and elementary schools), he'll cooperate for a treat. You might google dog training images.

I've seen that picture before and IIRC, that's exactly what it is.

[RivkahChaya]

It looked right away like a training photo to me. After looking at it for awhile, though, I can see a lot of humor in it. It looks a little like the cat is reviewing the troops.

[llewtrah]

It has been circulated for many years and in newspapers and last time someone investigated it (can't recall if it was Snopes or Museum of Hoaxes) it was indeed a photo from police or military dog training.

[Andrew of Ware]

I really misunderstood the thread title. I thought the German shepherds were human shepherds from Germany. I asked myself, 'What is unusual about a shepherd watching a cat walk by?' (Unless of course it was a big cat, like a lion, which was after his sheep - but even I am clever enough to know that there are not many wild lions in Germany.)

[Biggles]

I'm impressed by the posture of the cat ... tail high in the air, doesn't give a second glance to the dogs ...

[RivkahChaya]

The cat looks like it's stalking something, which may be because someone is dragging a catnip toy or something, to make sure it crosses in front of the whole row of dogs.

[rockstar1976]

I understand the whole distraction theory, however, it would be kinda cruel to the cat if the dogs weren't as obedient as thought, and ripped the cat to pieces. Surely there's other ways to test their discipline, isn't there?

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by rockstar1976

I understand the whole distraction theory, however, it would be kinda cruel to the cat if the dogs weren't as obedient as thought, and ripped the cat to pieces. Surely there's other ways to test their discipline, isn't there?

I've seen somrthing similar on TV shows (albeit involving other dogs as the distraction (yes 'Dog Borstal' laugh at me) but when there was any doubt, the dog being trained was seperated from the distraction animal by a wire fence.

I'm guessing the trainers wouldn't set this up without a high degree of certainty that the dogs were obedient enough.

If one or two dogs went rogue, I'm guessing the cat could outrun them anyway.

[RivkahChaya]

The cat can probably make it up a tree, but the dogs at any rate may be on loose leashes; if one gets up, it gets its training collar jerked, and can't move forward more than a foot.

A well aimed swipe across the nose generally discourages a dog from being too over-enthusiastic where cats are concerned... especially if that swipe has five very sharp claws on the end of it.

When I got a kitten and introduced her to my dog he decided to have a good sniff. The kitten didn't take too kindly to that, and scratched his nose for him. He never bothered her again.

[snopes]

[Singing in the Drizzle]

One of my coworkers trained helper dogs. They were very happy to find a cat to bring to the training sessions that loved to torture the dogs, especially after finding out the dogs got in trouble reacting to them.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by bobs

A well aimed swipe across the nose generally discourages a dog from being too over-enthusiastic where cats are concerned... especially if that swipe has five very sharp claws on the end of it.

A well aimed swipe isn't much good when there are multiple dogs though (I have several photos of cats killed by fox-hunting packs )

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by llewtrah

A well aimed swipe isn't much good when there are multiple dogs though (I have several photos of cats killed by fox-hunting packs )

It is also helpful if the dog is on a lead and the cat isn't.

no, the advantage is very much to the dogs in that instance, and especially dogs bred to hunt. But for a lot of dogs, one very pissed cat is enough to discourage them.

[Sister Ray]

This one looks like a picture from a herding trial to me. Some Shepherds are still used in that purpose, and herding ducks or geese is a common challenge.

Sister "go working dogs" Ray