Interesting psychology in play. The Russians trained them by putting food under their own tanks thereby instilling a sense of comfort and reward with their own tanks. When things got scary for the dogs, they b eat feet for where they had been trained that they would find food and a familiar face/smell/feel.
I want to know what moron who knew nothing about dog training conjured up the idea. It's not like dog training was a new skill in WW2.
Now, if you want to talk wackie animal-based weapons you can't beat the American Bat Bomb. Strap bats into incendiary bomb harnesses, let them loose over Japanese cities and when they have roosted up under the eves of the homes, set them off.
The sad, and honestly shameful part of this weapon system is that they made sure the bats had time to get out of the harnesses. Nice planning - make sure you don't hurt any bats while you are making sure to kill thousands of Japense cilvilians.
But hey, we ended up dropping the atomic bomb instead....
Sad but true,