Last updated at 20:36 21 December 2007

Most dog owners delight in teaching their pet to "shake a paw".

But the trick a German man taught his canine companion was much more sinister... it learned to do a Nazi salute.

The German Shepherd crossbreed, called Adolf, lifted its paw up high on command in imitation of the infamous raised-arm greeting used by Hitler and his cohorts.

The nine-year-old dog's owner, known as Roland T, boasted brazenly in front of police about the animal's trick - even though the Nazi salute is banned in Germany.

And the 58-year-old former car salesman chalked the name "Adolf" above the door of his pet's kennel in Berlin.

He claimed the dog was born on Hitler's birthday and he planned to have him put down on the anniversary of the dictator's suicide.

This, he said, was because he could not afford dog food after being fined for other Nazi-related behaviour.

Roland had been handed suspended sentences by courts since 2003 and was said to be notorious for openly giving Nazi salutes and wearing pro-Hitler T-shirts.

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Judges were previously lenient because of a brain injury he suffered in 1995. But they jailed him for five months over the dog salute.

Adolf has now been taken to an animal shelter, where staff have renamed him Adi.

Spokesman Evamarie Konig said: "We are retraining him to stop him raising his leg too high.

"He doesn't have anything that would make him interesting to Right-wing extremists.

"However, we think he will quickly find a new owner because he is so famous."