Driving is a difficult skill to master. Some people, such as the woman that failed her driving test a whopping 150 times, never get the hang of it, but it would appear motoring comes quite naturally to the animal kingdom. An animal charity in New Zealand has managed to teach a number of its four-legged friends to drive a car.
The stunt, which was the work of the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), is designed to highlight the intelligence of dogs in a bid to try and rehome some of its current residents, which includes a giant schnauzer called Monty and a whippet cross called Ginny.
SCPA staff managed to train the dogs, one of which was given up for being too ‘unruly’, to start a car, accelerate and even steer on command — all without the trainer sat next to it.
Okay, so the speeds achieved by Monty and crew were almost glacially slow, and they haven’t quite mastered the art of powersliding, burnouts or handbrake turns. But still, dogs driving cars – it’s internet video gold.
How long to train a dog to drive car, you ask? Just two months, as long as you have a patient mutt and a shedload of doggy treats. Not bad going considering most of us find it hard enough to get a dog to fetch a ball and bring it back in the same year.
The furry stars will be demonstrating their driving skills on live television in New Zealand next week. Have a butchers at them in action in the video below.
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